All-Star voting: Cruz overtakes Ortiz, Wieters still leads at catcher

Nelson Cruz already tops the major leagues in home runs and RBIs. Now he leads in another category.

Cruz, who has hit 20 homers and collected 52 RBIs this year, is now the American League leader among designated hitters in the most recent All-Star Game balloting results.

Cruz jumped ahead of Boston's David Ortiz in the latest figures after setting an Orioles record for the most RBIs before the end of May. Cruz has received 888,855 votes and leads Ortiz (766,631), Victor Martinez of the Tigers (625,279), Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays (388,459) and Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees (336,112).

The O's slugger has gotten a hit in 17 of his last 19 games, and is batting .403 during the stretch with 10 walks, seven doubles, 10 homers, 22 RBIs and 16 runs scored.

But Cruz isn't the only Orioles player leading in his respective position.

Despite being on the disabled list with a right elbow strain, Matt Wieters is atop the leaderboard among AL catchers. Wieters has collected 842,775 votes, and is trailed by Brian McCann of the Yankees (605,941), Derek Norris of the A's (569,752), Kurt Suzuki of the Twins (337, 704) and A.J. Pierzynski of the Red Sox (300,347).

Before his injury, Wieters was hitting .308 and had picked up 32 hits, five home runs and 18 RBIs in 104 plate appearances. Wieters has begun throwing again, but will not be ready to play within two weeks, according to MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko.

Cruz and Wieters are leaders in their positions, but other Orioles have a chance to join to them. Chris Davis and Manny Machado are both fourth in their positions, and J.J. Hardy is third amongst A.L. shortstops with 488,948 votes. Among American League outfielder, Adam Jones is in sixth and Nick Markakis ranks 10th.

Voters will have the opportunity to elect their favorite starting players up to 25 times at MLB.com until Thursday, July 3 at 11:59 p.m. The 2014 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show will be held during the weekend of July 5-6, and the game will be played on July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Keep the votes coming, and you may see some Orioles in the All-Star starting lineup come July 15.