Frazier gains ground on Carpenter in NL All-Star voting

Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier may very well get to start for the National League All-Star team in front of his hometown fans next month at Great American Ball Park.

Though Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals seemed destined to start at third base in the 86th Midsummer Classic, his once comfortable lead over Frazier shrunk considerably during the last week. Frazier, who has seven home runs in his last 11 games, now sits just 62,980 votes back of Carpenter despite trailing the 29-year-old by almost 1.2 million votes last week.

Frazier, a reserve on last year's All-Star team, trails only Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals for the NL lead in wins above replacement, while his 25 home runs are just two shy of the NL league lead held by Giancarlo Stanton.

A number of players all but guaranteed a spot in the starting lineup over the past week, according to the voting update released Monday. Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, for instance, stormed out to a comfortable lead of more than 3.65 million votes over four-time All-Star Adrian Gonzalez.

Harper, meanwhile, padded his record-breaking vote total, bumping his tally up to 11,363,949 with three days left before polls close.

The starting position players for the upcoming Midsummer Classic will be announced Sunday night on ESPN's "Esurance All-Star Starters Selection Show".