The FanSided 2012 NL All-Star Team

The fan-selected starting lineups will take the field in Kansas City tonight for the 2012 MLB All-Star Game, but we at FanSided MLB weren’t content to let the nationwide vote stand unchallenged. So we held a mock All-Star vote of our own.

Thirty-three writers from around the network offered their picks for the best players in each league between June 28 and July 2 (the dates coincided with the end of the fan voting). Here are the results from the National League (AL results here).

No surprise to see Joey Votto end up with the highest vote total in either league. The fans got this one right.

In contrast, Votto’s teammate Brandon Phillips squeaks by with the lowest winning total in either league. Jose Altuve, Aaron Hill, and fan pick Dan Uggla are right behind Phillips, who failed to get even a third of the vote.

Another extremely close contest goes to a somewhat surprising winner: the young Starlin Castro, who beats out fan pick Rafael Furcal and Jed Lowrie.

The other blowout in the Senior Circuit rightly belongs to David Wright. Note how commandingly he trounces real-life winner Pablo Sandoval.

Buster Posey set a new NL vote record but he didn’t get many from this crowd, finishing a distant third to Carlos Ruiz and Yadier Molina.

Boy, this was a close one. Andrew McCutchen has our clear support, but no one else crosses the 50 percent threshold and only two votes separate the Nos. 2, 3, and 4 finishers as Carlos Beltran and Ryan Braun barely edge out top fan pick Melky Cabrera.

Here’s a breakdown of how our lineup compares to the fans’:

I’ll cop to my ballot: Joey Votto, Aaron Hill, Jed Lowrie, David Wright, Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Braun, Andrew McCutchen, and Michael Bourn.

How do you think we did? I’d love to hear others’ explanations for their votes.