DURHAM, NC – Former St. Paul Saints RHP Tanner Scheppers (pictured) has a chance to represent the American League in the MLB All-Star Game next Tuesday. Now with the Texas Rangers, Scheppers has pitched exceptionally well out of the bullpen in 2013, but his spot on the A.L. roster hinges on a vote by the fans.
Scheppers made four appearances for St. Paul in 2009 before the Rangers purchased his contract and sent him to Double-A Frisco. He shot up to Triple-A that year before making his major league debut in 2012. Scheppers’ 2012 numbers were respectable, earning a 1-1 record with a 4.45 ERA, but he has really impressed this season. The right-hander holds a 5-1 record with a 1.88 ERA and opponents are hitting a lowly .205 off of him.
Those numbers have landed Scheppers in MLB’s annual Final Vote contest. For the 12th straight year, fans have the power to decide the final player selected to each league’s All-Star team. This year’s A.L. ballot consists of five right-handed relief pitchers: Scheppers, Toronto’s Steve Delabar, Detroit’s Joaquin Benoit, the Yankees’ David Robertson and Boston’s Koji Uehara.
Fans can vote online at MLB.com, via text message or on Twitter. To vote online, click here, select the player for whom you want to cast your vote, fill out the information at the bottom of the page marked by red asterisks and click “submit your vote.” Online balloting ends at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 11.
To receive a text message ballot, text “VOTE” to 89269. Once you have received your ballot, text your selection to 89269 using the proper message assigned to each player by Major League Baseball. You can find out how to text your vote for specific players here. In Canada, fans should text their votes to 101010. Text message voting also ends at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 11. Standard text message and data rates apply.
Finally, fans can vote using Twitter from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 11. Major League Baseball’s voting rules stipulate that “any tweet that includes a designated player hashtag will be tabulated as part of the overall vote total used to determine the American League and National League winners.” Each player’s corresponding hashtag information can be found here.
