The Los Angeles Dodgers already had Mookie Betts and Trea Turner voted among National League starters for the 2022 MLB All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, and they will be joined by Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin, who were selected as pitchers.
Kershaw was named to the All-Star team for a ninth time of his Hall of Fame career. The 34-year-old has only thrown 63.2 innings, but he has been highly effective, posting a 2.40 ERA and 2.57 FIP while striking out 27.6% of batters and walking 4.8% with 1.9 WAR.
With the event being held at Dodger Stadium, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been pushing for Kershaw to make his first career All-Star Game start. Freeman also endorsed the idea.
Gonsolin earned his first career All-Star selection thanks to a breakout season. The 28-year-old leads MLB with a 1.62 ERA to go along with a 3.35 FIP across 88.2 innings while striking out 24% of hitters, walking 6.9%, and accumulating 1.7 WAR.
Roberts was hoping for Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Julio Urías to earn selections to the squad, but none of them were selected.
Smith was perhaps the team’s biggest snub after hitting .258/.351/.452 with 13 home runs, 40 RBI, 32 runs scored, a 129 wRC+ and two WAR. Since his debut, he has been the best offensive catcher in the game and has now been passed over for a second straight season despite being arguably the most deserving player each season.
Freeman is batting .296/.376.477 with 10 home runs, 53 RBI, 52 runs scored, seven stolen bases, a 140 wRC+ and three WAR, but he faced a stacked position group at first base.
Urías made a strong case for the second consecutive year but once again fell short of the selection. The 25-year-old has pitched to a 2.57 ERA and 3.92 FIP in 87.2 innings with 1.9 WAR while striking out 23.9% of hitters and walking 6%.
2022 MLB All-Star Game rosters
National League All-Stars
C: Wilson Contreras, Travis d’Arnaud
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, Pete Alonso, C.J. Cron
2B: Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jeff McNeil
3B: Manny Machado, Nolan Arenado
SS: Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson
OF: Ronald Acuña Jr., Starling Marte
OF: Mookie Betts, Juan Soto, Ian Happ
OF: Joc Pederson, Kyle Schwarber
DH: Bryce Harper, William Contreras
SP: Clayton Kershaw, Sandy Alcántara, Luis Castillo, Tony Gonsolin, Max Fried, Corbin Burnes, Joe Musgrove
RP: David Bednar, Josh Hader, Edwin Diaz, Ryan Helsley, Joe Mantiply
Special Selection: Albert Pujols
American League All-Stars
C: Alejandro Kirk, Jose Trevino
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Luis Arraez
2B: Jose Altuve, Andrés Giménez
3B: Rafal Devers, José Ramírez
SS: Tim Anderson, Xander Bogaerts
OF: Aaron Judge, Andrew Benitendi, Julio Rodriguez
OF: Mike Trout, Byron Buxton, Kyle Tucker
OF: Giancarlo Stanton, George Springer
DH: Shohei Ohtani, Yordan Alvarez
SP: Shane McClanahan, Nestor Cortes, Alek Manoah, Framber Valdez, Martín Pérez, Paul Blackburn, Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Ohtani
RP: Emmanuel Clase, Jorge López, Clay Holmes, Gregory Soto
Special Selection: Miguel Cabrera
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