#ASGWorthy: Altuve leads deep group at 2B in AL

The 2016 Esurance MLB All-Star Ballot has been released, and while the season is still young, it’s never too early to start evaluating candidates. Many have already begun to stand out, while others are sure to hit their stride in the coming months leading up to the 2016 All-Star Game presented by MasterCard on July 12 at San Diego’s Petco Park.

As fans cast their votes for who they deem worthy of 2016 All-Star status, MLB.com is going to look position by position through each league, continuing today with the American League second basemen.

• Cast your Esurance All-Star ballot #ASGWorthy players

The stalwarts The Astros’ Jose Altuve has made the All-Star team in three of his four full seasons, and he is putting himself in good position to make it four out of five. Altuve, who turns 26 on May 6, is batting better than .300 for the third straight year (.330) and is leading the Majors with nine steals. More surprisingly, he is sporting a career-best walk rate and slugging a robust .659 with six homers.

The Mariners’ Robinson Cano is batting a modest .247, but his power stroke has been locked in this season. The six-time All-Star smacked a grand slam and drove in six runs on Tuesday, then homered again on Wednesday, giving him eight homers and 24 RBIs in his first 21 games. During his slow start in 2015, Cano managed six homers and 30 RBIs in the entire first half.

Ian Kinsler has made the AL All-Star team in each of the previous four even years, including in 2014 with Detroit. Will he make it five straight? He certainly is taking his best shot at it, batting .337/.364/.518 with four homers, 18 runs scored and 12 RBIs.

Dustin Pedroia had only a .620 OPS through 13 games, but numbers change quickly at this time of year. The four-time Red Sox All-Star has six multihit …

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