Carpenter needs push in bid to win Final Vote

ST. LOUIS -- Seeking a spot on his fourth National League All-Star team, Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter will need a frenzied final push in order to earn that invitation through the 2018 Camping World MLB Final Vote.
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As of the final provided by Major League Baseball on Wednesday morning, Carpenter sat in fifth place among the NL players on the ballot. Ahead of him, in order, were Milwaukee's Jesús Aguilar, San Francisco's Brandon Belt, Los Angeles' Max Muncy and Washington's Trea Turner. MLB did not reveal how many votes separate the various candidates.
Fans can continue to cast votes for the final player on each league's roster -- on computers, tablets and smartphones -- exclusively online, as well as via the MLB At Bat and MLB Ballpark mobile apps, until Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT.

Though Carpenter hasn't done much of his own public campaigning, several have been doing so on his behalf. The Cardinals teamed up with the Red Sox with a #VoteCarp and #VoteBenny partnership to generate support for Carpenter and American League Final Vote candidate Andrew Benintendi.
The St. Louis Blues, Texas Christian University (Carpenter's alma mater) and University of Missouri have used their social media accounts to encourage votes for Carpenter as well. Even the Twitter account for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County -- an account that became famous during this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament -- is drumming up support for Carpenter.

"It's cool, you know, just to be on the ballot alone is an honor," Carpenter said before Tuesday's series opener against the White Sox. "I'm happy to be a part of it, considering where my season started. Yeah, it's been good."
Carpenter catapulted himself into the All-Star conversation with an offensive surge that has masked his poor start. He entered Wednesday hitting .261/.367/.511 with an .879 OPS. Those numbers are even more impressive considering Carpenter was slashing .140/.286/.272 through the team's first 40 games.
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"I was just able to piece it together week-by-week, and just build on it as time went on," Carpenter said.
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