Bryce Harper has to be considered the favorite to win the NL Final Vote for the last spot on the All-Star team, but he said after Sunday’s game that, “I’d vote for Chipper.”
Harper and Chipper Jones are in the mix along with Michael Bourn, Aaron Hill and David Freese in the Final Vote, but really, it figures to be a two-man race. In typical buddy-cop-movie fashion, it’s the brash, young rookie versus the weary veteran a few months away from retirement.
Ideally, there’d be room for both, and if Matt Kemp is forced to skip the game with his hamstring injury, as seems likely, perhaps there will be. Harper, though, thinks Chipper should go to one last game at age 40. Jones has been to seven All-Star Games, including last year’s. At .292/.375/.455, he’s been plenty productive this year, though he’s played in just 44 games. Harper is hitting .274/.348/.471 in 57 games.