Atlanta's Freddie Freeman fended off Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig to receive the fan vote as the final player chosen to the National League All-Stars. Freeman received 19.7 million votes to punch his ticket to Citi Field -- a very impressive number when you consider Atlanta's notoriously jaded fan base (the NL East-leading Braves average 31,262 fans per home game in a stadium that holds 50,096).
If you look at their statistics, Puig has the more impressive numbers with a .394 batting average, eight home runs, 27 runs scored, 19 RBI, five stolen bases, a .428 on base percentage and a .634 slugging percentage. Of course, that's only over five weeks of baseball. Freeman has a .314 batting average, nine home runs, 60 RBI, 49 runs scored, a .394 OBP and a .479 slugging percentage since April. Freeman has shown a fair amount of consistency at the plate over a longer period of time than Puig, who has slowed down considerably since compiling a .436 batting average in June.
While Puig certainly has burst into the baseball world in a big way, I have to give credit to the fans for voting Freeman in. Freeman isn't as flashy as Puig, but he has proven himself to be worthy of All-Star consideration over the course of three months.
As for Puig, it's safe to say he won't be snubbed in next year's All-Star voting. Even if he hits at a .300 clip with a 25-home run pace, he's the kind of player who has superstar potential because he plays with all-out abandon.
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