Who of the Atlanta Braves seven will start the All-Star game in Cleveland?

The Atlanta Braves and the rest of baseball are coming down the home stretch to the All-Star break.

For some, it will be time to visit family and friends, but seven Atlanta Braves players have advanced to the final voting stage and are in competition to gain starting jobs at the mid-summer classic.

Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, Josh Donaldson, Dansby Swanson, Brian McCann, Ronald Acuna Jr., and Nick Markakis will be all in contention to earn the starting spots on the National League roster via fan vote, which begins Wednesday.

Here are the latest voting totals that set things up for the finale. The Atlanta Braves dominated the voting as the only NL East team to advance players to this stage.

That’s right, zero Marlins, Mets, Nationals, or Phillies have a chance to start on July 9 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. The Braves joined the Chicago Cubs with seven nominees.

Catcher

1. Willson Contreras, Cubs, 2,384,622

2. Brian McCann, Braves, 1,762,917

3. Yasmani Grandal, Brewers, 1,193,352

First base

1. Freddie Freeman, Braves, 2,214,793

2. Josh Bell, Pirates, 1,831,933

3. Anthony Rizzo, Cubs, 1,545,682

Second base

1. Ozzie Albies, Braves, 2,190,518

2. Mike Moustakas, Brewers, 1,758,636

3. Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks, 1,102,419

Third base

1. Nolan Arenado, Rockies, 2,483,867

2. Kris Bryant, Cubs, 1,400,401

3. Josh Donaldson, Braves, 1,376,228

Shortstop

1. Javier Baez, Cubs, 2,598,426

2. Dansby Swanson, Braves, 1,719,262

3. Trevor Story, Rockies, 961,384

Outfield

1. Cody Bellinger, Dodgers, 3,685,170

2. Christian Yelich, Brewers, 3,646,071

3. Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves, 2,553,169

4. Nick Markakis, Braves, 1,425,889

5. Charlie Blackmon, Rockies, 1,242,552

6. Albert Almora Jr., Cubs, 1,071,664

7. Jason Heyward, Cubs, 1,040,260

8. Kyle Schwarber, Cubs, 997,340

9. Joc Pederson, Dodgers, 961,515

If you want to see a different visual representation of the voting, check out Mark Bowman’s tweet:

To see how things progressed, here’s the AJC’s data from June 11, and Major League Baseball’s data from June 17.

For the Atlanta Braves, I think Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna Jr. are surefire starters. Dansby Swanson and Brian McCann compare well with their foes ahead of them, and statistically, Ozzie Albies, Josh Donaldson, and Nick Markakis probably shouldn’t be in the discussion. Here’s why:

The shoo-ins…

At first, I felt like Josh Bell had a case to beat out Freddie Freeman. But Freddie caught fire at the right time, as he’s hit .393 over his last seven games with two homers and 12 RBI, and just about doubled those production numbers over the last 15, bumping them up to 4 bombs and 20 batted in.

Freddie is on pace for his best career season and could eclipse it by a wide margin. In 2016, Freeman finished his season with a .301 average with 34 homers and 91 runs batted in.

Assuming his production doubles at the true halfway point of the season, he’ll hit 42 dingers and drive in 122 runs.

For Acuna, it comes down to good individual numbers and a lack of real competition from those that got votes. The Chicago Cubs outfield of Kyle Schwarber (.231-16-35), Jason Heyward (.256-10-26), and Albert Almora (.249-7-22) don’t really come close to Acuna’s production of (.286-18-50).

Rockies’ star Charlie Blackmon (.332-15-49) is statistically comparable with Acuna, in fact, his numbers might be better, Colorado-padded or not.

I think he is the most deserving on the list after you get past the top three.

You can kind of make a case for…

I think that you can toy with cases for both catcher Brian McCann and shortstop Dansby Swanson.

McCann’s numbers in a platoon stand well on their own (.287-7-29) and if he played every day, I believe he may come close to Willson Contreras’ line of (.290-15-42.)

But, would he?

McCann is not a spring chicken, he’s 35, and if given the load daily, would he tire? Still produce? I can’t see it at this stage in his career.

For Swanson, Baez edges him in every statistical category. That’s .019 in batting average, four homers, and just a single RBI more.

It’s hard to measure how much each player means to the team by other means. Baez was unconscious last season and was runner-up in the MVP race.

Swanson ranks third on the Atlanta Braves with his 47 runs batted in on an Atlanta Braves offense that is being compared to one of the best in team history, 2003’s roster.

Not this year…

Because the All-Star vote is a popularity contest and Atlanta Braves fans have flooded the ballot boxes, there are three players that I feel don’t deserve to start at the All-Star game in Albies, Donaldson, and Markakis.

Albies is simply out produced by both Mike Moustakas and Ketel Marte. Respectively, Ozzie’s competition has socked 22 and 20 home runs respectively, combined to drive in 100 runs, and Marte is hitting a cool .309.

The issue? Marte plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

At the end of the day, if Albies continues his production he’ll be a bargain for the seven-year, $35 million extensions we signed him to this season, and will continue to win the hearts of fans with his helmet losing hustle.

Josh Donaldson has turned things on in a big way, averaging a home run every 8.3 at-bats over the past two weeks. He has started to look like the ‘Bringer of Rain’ that fans were introduced to in 2015.

Kris Bryant has better numbers than him across the board, and when you’re competing with Nolan Arenado, his .324 average, 19 home runs, and 62 runs batted in and .973 OPS blows everyone out of the water at the position.

For Markakis and everyone ranked under him, the outfield voting is just a dog and pony show, as Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger, and Ronald Acuna Jr. are your clear and runaway favorites.

When you evaluate Nick among who he’s ranked with below the top three, he could easily be at the bottom of the top nine, or honestly, even out of the rankings.

All-in-all, the Atlanta Braves have a good chance of having at least two players start in this year’s All-Star Game. Voting for starters will begin on Wednesday, June 26 at 12 pm ET and will conclude on Thursday, June 27 at 4 pm ET.