Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Fan voting for the 2022 All Star Game is already underway, and while the game is still a month away, it’s not too early to start thinking about which Dodger players have earned a spot on this year’s roster. Of course, there was a lot of chatter at the beginning of the season that this year’s Dodgers were going to be a “team of All Stars,” but while some of the team has lived up to expectations, others are still looking to recapture their All Star form of years gone by. Let’s look, position by position, at the National League’s best, and where our Dodgers fit in that pecking order.
Pitchers
The pitchers are not voted on by the fans for some reason, so it’s hard to actually handicap this like the other categories. As far as starters go, you would have to consider Joe Musgrove, Sandy Alcantara, and Pablo Lopez as locks to make the team. However, I could certainly see Tony Gonsolin as right up there with those guys. A longer shot would be Julio Urias, who is having a good season, but not spectacular. Tyler Anderson is having a solid season, but it doesn’t feel like it’s quite enough to crack into the elite of the NL.
Clayton Kershaw would be the wild card in the group. If he has a good couple of starts, I could certainly see him added to the roster, at least for the “sentimental value” of it possibly being his last All Star Game, and he could go out in front of his home fans.
As far as the bullpen goes, I wouldn’t think any of the Dodgers have much of a shot to make the team. Nobody has had a lights-out kind of season that would really justify inclusion into the Midsummer Classic.
Catcher
Willson Contreras has to be considered the leader in the NL right now. His .900 OPS puts him a good 100 points ahead of the pack. However, I do think Will Smith could sneak in there as a reserve. You would have to think it would be Smith or the Phillies JT Realmuto, but Smith’s numbers have been better than Realmuto’s in every category. Oddly enough, Smith was even more deserving of the honor last year. But better late than never, right?
First Base
Former MVP Freddie Freeman is sure to get a lot of votes from the LA fan base, but I would put him at only third among NL first-baggers this season. The Cards’ Paul Goldschmidt is having a career year, and the Mets’ Pete Alonso has better power numbers than does Freeman. It will be interesting to see how this race shakes out among the fans.
Second Base
Oddly enough, I think second base is one place in the Dodgers lineup where the LA player is being undervalued by the marketplace. Quietly, Gavin Lux is putting together a solid season. His average is just under .300 as I write this and his defense seems much improved this year. However, I would think that the Mets’ Jeff McNeil and the Cards’ Tommy Edman will also get plenty of attention in this category. The only way I see Luxy making it is if he goes on a tear for the next few weeks that really starts to put some eyeballs on his performance. Otherwise, he will probably be relaxing during the All Star break.
Third Base/Designated Hitter
Whether it’s Justin Turner or Max Muncy out there, the Dodgers simply haven’t gotten much consistent production out of this position in 2022. And certainly, nothing that would warrant a spot on the ASG roster. Look for it to be a dogfight between Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado to start at this spot in July. Machado is having an MVP-like season in 2022, and Nolan is, well, Nolan, so it seems the vacancies have been filled at the hot corner. As far as DH goes, it’s Bryce Harper in a walk, even if the position has been sort of forced on him by injury.
Shortstop
Here’s where the Dodgers have the best chance to have a starter in the lineup. Trea Turner should be an absolute lock to start at short for the NL squad. Nobody else is even close to putting up the numbers that he is this year. Dansby Swanson is having a good year in Atlanta and Francisco Lindor is sure to get a lot of fan support from the New York market, but please. Trea’s your NL shortstop this year. Take that one to the bank.
Outfield
Until about a week ago, I would have said Mookie Betts is a lock to make the team, and given the support he has from the fans, that still might be true. However, we Dodger fans are hoping that he pulls out of his current slump quickly so that he can truly deserve the spot, and not just be the recipient of fan largesse. Ian Happ is having a good year with the Cubs, and the Cubbie fan base is sure to turn out for him, and we could say the same for Mike Yastrzemski of the Giants, and Mark Canha and Starling Marte from the Mets.
As far as the other two Dodger outfielders are concerned, it’s looking less good. Cody Bellinger has got no shot with the season he’s got going right now. It’s starting to look like 2017 Cody is gone forever. As for Chris Taylor, he’s having a pretty good year, but his numbers are a little down from last season when he did make the squad. Unless he gets hot in the next 30 games, I don’t see it happening for him this year.
Too-early predictions
Given the Dodgers’ massive fan base, usually the team is well represented in the first round of voting. I would expect 5 or 6 of our guys to make it to the top three in their categories. Probably, when it all shakes out, I could see four or five Dodgers on the field at some point during the Midsummer Classic. To make sure that happens, you can start stuffing those ballot boxes. Let’s turn the field blue in July. Click here to vote!
