Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant on All-Star ballot, 12 days into career

Kris Bryant, the Chicago Cubs’ third-base phenom, was not in the major leagues when the season started. He was not in the major leagues two weeks ago.

But he is on the All-Star ballot, thanks to a change in the balloting program.

Major League Baseball has abandoned the paper ballots distributed in ballparks in favor of online-only voting. As a result, teams no longer have to select their nominee at each position at the start of the season. The deadline this year was Friday, and so the Cubs could select Bryant as their nominee at third base.

Bryant, called up to the majors April 17, is batting .341 with a .471 on-base percentage in his first 11 major league games. He has no home runs, but he hit nine in the Cactus League.

The New York Yankees nominated Alex Rodriguez at designated hitter, as The Times reported Sunday, even though the Yankees have signaled their intention not to pay him the $6-million milestone bonus he is owed with his next home run, which would tie Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time list at 660.

The Dodgers’ nominees: Adrian Gonzalez at first base, Howie Kendrick at second base, Jimmy Rollins at shortstop, Juan Uribe at third base, Yasmani Grandal at catcher, and Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford and Joc Pederson in the outfield.

The Angels’ nominees: Albert Pujols at first base, Johnny Giovatella at second base, Erick Aybar at shortstop, David Freese at third base, C.J. Cron at designated hitter, Chris Iannetta at catcher, and Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun and Matt Joyce in the outfield.

The All-Star Game is July 14 in Cincinnati.