Los Angeles Dodgers Kenley Jansen, Clayton Kershaw and Corey Seager were named to the National League roster for the 2016 All-Star Game. It’s a first trip to the Midsummer Classic for Jansen and Seager, while Kershaw earned a sixth consecutive bid since his first in 2011.
All three reached the All-Star Game via Major league players submitting their own votes for position players and pitchers in each league. Kershaw, however, won’t participate this year at Petco Park in San Diego as he’s on the 15-day disabled list with a mild disc herniation.
While the left-handed ace began a five-step rehabilitation program, the Dodgers aren’t yet certain of a timeline for his recovery. Given Kershaw was included but won’t be able to appear, he’ll be replaced by another pitcher.
Seager trailed throughout the fan voting process, which ended June 30 at 9 p.m. PT. That’s despite his batting .305/.363/.540 with 20 doubles, 17 home runs and 41 RBIs. He leads all NL shortstops in WAR, as calculated by FanGraphs (3.9) and Baseball-Reference (3.5).
Seager was named NL Rookie of the Month for June, and led 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.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently called Seager the top NL shortstop and the Dodgers’ best player. Jansen’s inclusion in the All-Star Game ends a multiyear stretch where he was snubbed.
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. Since blowing a save against the San Francisco Giants on June 11, Jansen has converted eight consecutive opportunities.
Kershaw received most votes from players among NL starting pitchers, Seager was tops at shortstop, and Jansen second among relief pitchers.
Adrian Gonzalez, Yasmani Grandal, Zack Greinke, Kershaw and Joc Pederson represented the Dodgers at the Midsummer Classic last year. The 2016 All-Star Game will be played on Tuesday, July 12.
The complete American League and NL rosters can be viewed here.
