The 2016 All-Stars were announced Tuesday, just a week before the game is set to be played at Petco Park in San Diego. The three Los Angeles Dodgers voted in by Major League players were Kenley Jansen, Clayton Kershaw and Corey Seager.
For Kershaw it’s his sixth All-Star Game selection, while it marks the first for Jansen and Seager. Despite being on the disabled list with a back injury that will prevent him from being able to pitch, Kershaw said he will attend the Midsummer Classic.
Kershaw received the most votes from players among National League starting pitchers, Seager was the top-vote getter at shortstop, and Jansen second among relief pitchers.
The honor is a big one for Jansen in particular, as the Dodgers’ all-time saves leader has been snubbed the past few seasons despite perhaps being worthy of making the team. According to Joey Kaufman of the OC Register, Jansen isn’t letting that damper his excitement:
“It definitely means a lot,” Jansen said. “Everybody has their own opinion and the last few years I’ve been overshadowed by a couple guys. You can’t worry about that. Now that I finally have that chance, I’m happy to be a part of it. It’s a blessing.”
Jansen is in the midst of his best season. The right-hander owns a 1.30 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, leads NL relievers with a 1.44 FIP and ranks second in the Majors with 25 saves. He has also struck out 44 and walked just five in 34.2 innings.
Seager also expressed his gratitude for being voted into the game by his peers:
“It’s really cool,” Seager said. “It’s nice to have your peers see you like that. The fan vote’s awesome. It’s awesome to have the support of fans. It’s nice that your peers voted you in. It’s nice that they saw everything. It was really cool for sure.”
Seager has not only been the Dodgers best offensive player this season, but one of the best in the entire league. Entering play Wednesday, he was batting .304/.362/.539 with 17 home runs, 41 RBIs and 58 runs scored.
He also had an 18-game hitting streak and is less than one week removed from being named NL Rookie of the Month for June, leading all rookies during that span in batting average (.343), hits (35), home runs, runs (20), total bases (69) and slugging (.676), and paced NL rookies in on-base percentage (.409) and eight doubles.
Seager’s trip to San Diego will not just entail playing in the All-Star Game, as he said he will participate in the 2016 Home Run Derby.
