Fielder, Gallardo eye All-Star nods after Royals steal starting show

The voters have spoken, and the Texas Rangers did not have a starter selected in fan balloting for next week’s All-Star Game in Cincinnati.

Thanks to Kansas City’s ballot-box stuffing being rebuffed, the door for a Prince Fielder selection Monday night has been pushed a little further open.

As it is, the Royals still bagged starters at four positions on the American League team.

Fortunately, common sense prevailed at second base, where Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros will start instead of the Royals’ homerless, .231-hitting Omar Infante.

The pitchers and reserves will be announced Monday night. The Rangers are expecting to hear Fielder’s name called.

“I don’t know how he couldn’t,” manager Jeff Banister said.

Right-hander Yovani Gallardo (7-6, 2.56 ERA) is another possibility for the Rangers, thanks to his surge over the past five weeks. Fielder, though, has been a clear-cut choice since a scorching May, but a numbers crunch could have left him off the roster.

Former Rangers slugger Nelson Cruz will be the AL starter at designated hitter. Had he finished second in the voting to the Royals’ Kendrys Morales, Fielder might not have been a lock.

Fielder was a first baseman on the fan ballot, finishing third, but he was a designated hitter on the players’ ballot. Had Cruz won the players’ vote, he would have been on the team behind Morales, and Fielder would have had a more difficult time making the AL roster.

Fielder will find out around 6 p.m. Monday if he has made an All-Star team for the sixth time in his career. He entered Sunday batting .346 and hit his 13th homer in the first inning off C.J. Wilson.

“It’s definitely an honor every time you’re on the All-Star team,” said Fielder, the MVP of the 2011 game for his three-run homer off then-Rangers starter Wilson. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Gallardo is scheduled to start Sunday, two days before the game, but said he would pitch if selected to the team. Game day, July 14, would be his normal between-starts bullpen day, and he feels like he could give the AL team an inning barring a heavy workload in his final start of the first half.

“I would want to; that’s no doubt,” said Gallardo, an All-Star in 2010. “You would always want to be a part of it if you’re there. I’d like to have that opportunity if it comes down to it.”

This story was originally published July 5, 2015 at 8:27 PM with the headline "Fielder, Gallardo eye All-Star nods after Royals steal starting show."