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Youk movement

The Red Sox want to give Kevin Youkilis a chance to make the All-Star team.

Having been left off the fans' ballot in favor of David Ortiz at first base (with the game in an NL park, there is no DH category), the Red Sox reportedly asked Major League Baseball to substitute Youkilis for Ortiz on the ballot distributed to players, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.

This change would help Youkilis's chances to make the All-Star team as a reserve, since the 45 pitchers and reserves are determined by a combination of the player balloting and a decision by the two All-Star team managers -- Tony La Russa of the Cardinals and Jimmy Leyland of the Tigers -- and MLB.

Youkilis is currently batting .335 with eight homers and 33 RBIs.

Olney writes:

There are just 15 full days remaining in the fan balloting. In the most recent ballot results announced by MLB, Ortiz is by far the leading vote-getter among AL first basemen, with 1,055,260 votes, more than double the second-leading vote-getter, Minnesota's Justin Morneau.

Because it appears that Ortiz will be the starting first baseman for the AL, based on the fans' voting, the team asked Ortiz if he would be OK with it if Youkilis could be listed on the ballot sent to players.

"He was all for it," said one Major League Baseball source, "and excited about Youkilis' chances."

Major League Baseball does not require that the same players who are listed on the fans' ballot appear on the ballots given to players.

Fan voting for the 78th All-Star game ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on June 28. Rosters will be unveiled at 7 p.m. ET on July 1.

Fans will also have the chance to choose the final position player for each league's 32-man roster at MLB.com. The "Final Vote" will allow fans the ability to cast votes from a list of five players from each league over a three-day period.

For the fifth straight year, the league that wins the All-Star game will earn home-field advantage for the World Series. The American League has won the last nine games.

(2:49 p.m.: Information from MLB.com was used in this update)

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In other Red Sox news, manager Terry Francona, in his weekly appearance on WEEI earlier this afternoon, said that center fielder Coco Crisp would probably lead off tonight against the Rockies, and Alex Cora would replace Dustin Pedroia in the lineup.