Johnson has a 1.21 ERA and is 20-for-21 in save chances. The rest of the American League East lost its opening day closers to injury, so the competition has thinned a little. Mariano Rivera is on the disabled list. Jonathan Papelbon is in Philadelphia. The All-Stars are aligned for Johnson. Shortstop J.J. Hardy deserves to be chosen for his defense alone, and his 11 home runs lead all shortstops, but his .254 average works against him. Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen must be considered. They're both 7-2. Hammel ranks sixth in ERA at 2.87, while Chen is 11th at 3.36. I pretty much dismissed their chances earlier this month, but Hammel is beginning to sway me. He's also recorded 77 strikeouts and opponents are batting .219 against him. And he just gained national attention by taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning Saturday night in Atlanta and finishing with a one-hit shutout. Again, so much depends on the teams with one representative and whether Washington deems the Orioles worthy of three or more players. I'm not stating a case for Pedro Strop, Darren O'Day or Luis Ayala simply because it's extremely difficult, though not unprecedented, for a non-starter and non-closer to make the All-Star team. Here's how the voting stacked up last week at positions that include the Orioles: Catchers: 1. Mike Napoli, Rangers, 1,640,160 2. Joe Mauer, Twins, 912,997 3. Matt Wieters, Orioles, 904,425 4. A.J. Pierzynski, White Sox, 733,282 5. Russell Martin, Yankees, 602,983 Second basemen: 1. Ian Kinsler, Rangers, 1,920,364 2. Robinson Cano, Yankees, 1,732,359 3. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox, 1,037,522 4. Robert Andino, Orioles, 402,083 5. Jason Kipnis, Indians, 357,651 Shortstops: 1. Derek Jeter, Yankees, 2,419,508 2. Elvis Andrus, Rangers, 1,448,544 3. J.J. Hardy, Orioles, 663,042 4. Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians, 514,741 5. Alcides Escobar, Royals, 493,947 Outfielders: 1. Josh Hamilton, Rangers, 3,833,504 2. Curtis Granderson, Yankees, 2,033,239 3. Nelson Cruz, Rangers, 1,398,534 4. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays, 1,357,784 5. Adam Jones, Orioles, 1,318,091 6. David Murphy, Rangers, 884,522 7. Nick Swisher, Yankees, 862,648 8. Jeff Francoeur, Royals, 654,999 9. Brett Gardner, Yankees, 612,306 10. Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners, 605,663 11. Austin Jackson, Tigers, 545,032 12. Alex Gordon, Royals, 520,156 13. B.J. Upton, Rays, 504,914 14. Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox, 503,912 15. Nick Markakis, Orioles, 502,615 If you ask me today, I'm saying Jones and Johnson make it and Hammel could join them if he doesn't get shelled in his next few outings. Back in 1970, the Orioles sent Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Davey Johnson to the All-Star Game. How many did you guess correctly?