By Jon Weisman
For the second year in a row, four Dodgers have been named to the National League All-Star team.
Adrian Gonzalez, Yasmani Grandal, Zack Greinke and Joc Pederson were selected by a combination of player vote and NL All-Star manager Bruce Bochy. (Pederson and Greinke were by player vote, Gonzalez and Grandal by Bochy.)
As noted Sunday, Greinke and Pederson are each in the running to end up as All-Star Game starters. Greinke is probably the No. 1 alternative to Washington’s Max Scherzer, while Pederson is one of the top candidates to be an injury replacement for either Giancarlo Stanton or Matt Holliday.
Notable Dodgers not selected as reserves include J.P. Howell, Kenley Jansen, Howie Kendrick, Clayton Kershaw and Justin Turner.
Turner was stuck behind a crowded field at third base including starter Todd Frazier, Nolan Arenado and Kris Bryant. With Kershaw, it’s hard not to chalk up his omission to what happened in October, with Giants lefty starter and World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner making the team despite not performing as well in the 2014 or 2015 regular season as Kershaw.
As a setup man, Howell didn’t have much of a chance, while Jansen was partly thwarted by the fact that two teams, the Phillies (Jonathan Papelbon) and Brewers (Francisco Rodriguez) had relief pitchers as their mandatory selection. Another reliever, Mark Melancon of Pittsburgh, doesn’t have the WHIP or strikeout rate of Jansen, but he leads the NL in saves.
Pederson received 365 player votes, fourth among NL outfielders behind fan-elected starters Bryce Harper (680) and Giancarlo Stanton (626), and then Andrew McCutchen (421). Greinke received 227 player votes, third among NL starting pitchers behind Max Scherzer (354) and Gerrit Cole (274).
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