Pirates' Josh Bell loses NL All-Star election to Braves' Freddie Freeman

Josh Bell will not be a part of the National League starting lineup in the All-Star Game after the Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman lost to the Atlanta Braves’ Freddie Freeman by 1.1% of the fan vote.

Bell was in line to become the first Pirates player in four years named an All-Star starter. The game will be played July 9 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, with Bell likely getting a nod as one of the reserves.

Freeman, a four-time All-Star, received 38.5% of the vote to Bell’s 37.4. The third finalist, Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs, got 24.2% during the two-day fan vote. ESPN reported it was the second-closest race in the fan voting.

A switch-hitter, Bell is expected to participate in the home run derby the night before the game, possibly swinging from both sides of the plate.

So a player from Atlanta beat out a player from Pittsburgh in an All-Star vote popularity contest. Atlanta has 2 1/2 times the population of Pittsburgh. So just like how the Pirates have no chance to compete in the salary game they can’t compete vs the big boys for votes either!

— Bob Greenburg (@BobGreenburg) June 27, 2019

It was no easy victory for Freeman.

He was leading the voting at 12:30 a.m. Thursday, with Bell second and Rizzo third. Bell’s deficit steadily declined during the day, especially when he homered and doubled during the Pirates’ 10-0 victory in Houston.

Freeman also homered against the Cubs at Wrigley Field — both players have 22 — but his advantage was trimmed to 1.2% by 4 p.m. It had been 4% at 6:30 a.m., 2.5% at 8:30 a.m., 2.4 % at 10:30 a.m. and 2.3 % at 12:30 p.m.

Bell, who has played in 78 of 79 games in his third full season in the majors, is hitting .311 with an MLB-leading 70 RBIs and 29 doubles. He also has 54 extra-base hits, second-most before July in Pirates history to Willie Stargell.

Freeman is hitting .312 with 63 RBIs.

Bell, who was the team’s second-round draft choice in 2011, was nearly the first Pirates player to start an All-Star Game since center fielder Andrew McCutchen in 2015. A total of 12 Pirates over the past 50 years have started in the game. That list includes outfielders Matty Alou, Stargell, Roberto Clemente, Dave Parker, Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke, Jason Bay and McCutchen, pitchers Dock Ellis and Jerry Reuss, third baseman Bobby Bonilla and catcher Jason Kendall.

The remainder of the players on the National League and American League All-Star teams will be named Sunday. Reserves and pitchers will be chosen through players’ votes and commissioners’ rulings to ensure each team has at least one representative.

Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez, who is 1-0 with a 1.91 ERA and 19 saves to rank fourth in the National League, and outfielder Bryan Reynolds, who is hitting .354 to lead all rookies with more than 42 at-bats, are candidates to make the team as reserves.

The Pirates had multiple players in the game in seven of the past 10 years.