Michael Saunders has Jays' fans voting in droves
Victoria native proving he's worthy of last American League all-star spot
For a player who almost wasn't a Blue Jay this past February, Michael Saunders is making quite a name for himself in Toronto and across the league this week.
On Tuesday, Saunders was nominated as one of five players vying for the final spot on the American League All-Star team, to be decided by a fan vote.
Send Saunders to the ASG by voting here: <a href="https://t.co/rXLylpqcZB">https://t.co/rXLylpqcZB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteCaptainCanada?src=hash">#VoteCaptainCanada</a><a href="https://t.co/QlkdCmZdt7">https://t.co/QlkdCmZdt7</a>
—@BlueJaysOn Wednesday, Saunders was making his case. He hit his 16th home run of the season in the fourth inning and a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth to lead the Jays to a 4-2 win, completing their sweep of the defending champion Kansas City Royals. The 29-year-old is having the best season of his career, posting 40 RBI through his first 78 games.
Another reason to send Saunders: <a href="https://t.co/p7tpGUuwMD">https://t.co/p7tpGUuwMD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/budcanada">@budcanada</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteCaptainCanada?src=hash">#VoteCaptainCanada</a> <a href="https://t.co/OxCvhp0ecR">pic.twitter.com/OxCvhp0ecR</a>
—@BlueJaysJust one day into the voting, Saunders had already collected 4.8 million votes to lead other AL candidates George Springer, Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler and Evan Longoria.
AL <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FinalVote?src=hash">#FinalVote</a> update: <br>1. Saunders, TOR<br>2. Springer, HOU<br>3. Pedroia, BOS<br>4. Kinsler, DET<br>5. Longoria, TB<br>VOTE: <a href="https://t.co/NwgNVi2dEj">https://t.co/NwgNVi2dEj</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ASG?src=hash">#ASG</a>
—@MLBA native of Victoria B.C., Saunders also has arguably one of the best Final Vote hashtags (#VoteCaptainCanada) as assigned by the MLB — at least compared to candidates like Springer (#VoteSpringer), Kinsler (#VoteKinsler) and NL candidate Brandon Belt (#VoteBelt).
Fans will be able to vote using each player's hashtag from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET on Friday in a final push before the last roster spot for the NL and AL teams is announced.
Michael Saunders’ 41 XBH are good for 13th most in <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB">@MLB</a>. <a href="https://t.co/cD8gvEXZej">https://t.co/cD8gvEXZej</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteCaptainCanada?src=hash">#VoteCaptainCanada</a> <a href="https://t.co/hKuCarMUUi">pic.twitter.com/hKuCarMUUi</a>
—@MLBStatoftheDaySaunders home run! Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays">@BlueJays</a> fans, go <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteCaptainCanada?src=hash">#VoteCaptainCanada</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ls4CDjC2pl">pic.twitter.com/Ls4CDjC2pl</a>
—@Alleycat17And it seems almost all of Canada is getting in on the voting action, with MLB.com reporting that Saunders has accounted for 98.5 per cent of the votes north of the border.
Every tweet with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteCaptainCanada?src=hash">#VoteCaptainCanada</a> = a vote to send Saunders to the All-Star game!<br><br>RETWEET & SPREAD THE WORD!!! <a href="https://t.co/LIiOlWDRjy">pic.twitter.com/LIiOlWDRjy</a>
—@normHooray for Saunders! Gonna spend the rest of the night voting! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteCaptainCanada?src=hash">#VoteCaptainCanada</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> <a href="https://t.co/XY9scKGu9n">pic.twitter.com/XY9scKGu9n</a>
—@JoseMeowtistaWhen the whole squad has your back! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteCaptainCanada?src=hash">#VoteCaptainCanada</a> 🇨🇦⚾️ <a href="https://t.co/CiAM80XWwm">pic.twitter.com/CiAM80XWwm</a>
—@BlueJaysThough every team with a player in the final vote is rallying behind them, "ewe" won't believe what lengths the Arizona Diamondbacks went to in their campaign for third baseman Jake Lamb.
But wait. There's MORE! Even a lamb with a sombrero will <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteLamb?src=hash">#VoteLamb</a>! 😆 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteLongo?src=hash">#VoteLongo</a> too <a href="https://t.co/T03RjwHHeo">pic.twitter.com/T03RjwHHeo</a>
—@FOXSPORTSAZJust your typical Wednesday in the <a href="https://twitter.com/Dbacks">@Dbacks</a> clubhouse. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteLamb?src=hash">#VoteLamb</a> <a href="https://t.co/5s6h60dmTN">pic.twitter.com/5s6h60dmTN</a>
—@PGoldschmidt_44The winners will be announced shortly after voting closes at 4 p.m. ET on Friday, but no matter what the outcome, Michael Saunders just seems happy to be in the running.
Michael Saunders, on being first in AL <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Final?src=hash">#Final</a> Vote balloting on first update. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bluejays?src=hash">#Bluejays</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jays?src=hash">#Jays</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KeepItGoingCanada?src=hash">#KeepItGoingCanada</a> <a href="https://t.co/QNTiKBhAZA">pic.twitter.com/QNTiKBhAZA</a>
—@Wilnerness590