Victorino, Phils looking forward to All-Star break

A year ago at this time Shane Victorino was the people’s choice — literally — as he was voted onto the National League All-Star team by the fans.

This season — despite threatening to shatter his previous career highs in homers (14) and RBIs (62) with 13 and 47, respectively — he wasn’t even a consideration. But, when the All-Star break comes Sunday for the Phillies, Victorino said he’s already looking forward to it.

“It’s been a little bit frustrating — average-wise,” said Victorino, batting just .251. “I’d like to be hitting .300. Beyond that, it’s about the team and winning and we’re definitely not where we want to be. To me that’s more important than individual things. I want to have another World Series ring.”

The Phils’ history suggests they’ll make their move right around now. At the same time, Victorino acknowledges the only way for history to repeat itself is for them to start playing better.

“It’s our cliche that we’ve been here before,” he said. “We say that we’re not panicking, but we know we have to play good baseball the second half to win our division.”