As all baseball fans know, the 2022 All Star Game will be played in Los Angeles this year. Dodger fans are notorious for not voting in the All Star fan vote portion of the selection process, but this year may be different. At least I would hope so. When this is published, there will be a little more than 24 hours before Phase I is complete, and we will learn of the top vote getters going into Phase II. The ballot will be available until 5:00 PM ET on June 30, final day for Phase I, and can be found here:
The top two vote-getters at each position, including designated hitter, and the top six outfielders in each league will be revealed on MLB Network at 5:00 p.m. ET on June 30. The leading vote-getter in each league will receive a spot in their team’s starting lineup while the other top vote-getters will advance to Phase 2 of voting. If an outfielder is a league’s leading vote-getter, only the next four outfield finalists will move on to Phase 2 to determine who starts at the two remaining spots. As of the last reporting, Mookie Betts is the top vote getter in the NL and will automatically be on the roster if it ends that way.
The other players will move onto Phase 2, which runs from 12 p.m. ET on July 5 through 2 p.m. ET on July 8. Votes from Phase 1 do not carry over and fans can only vote once during this period. The starting position players in each league will be revealed later on July 8.
Next, pitchers and reserves are selected by a player’s ballot. Five starters and three relievers from each league will be chosen by the players, in addition to another position player, for each position and DH. Once the players are done, there will be 26 roster spots filled in each league.
If the top vote-getter at a position has also been selected via fan voting, the second-place finisher in this category is selected.
Finally, the last six spots are filled by the Commissioner’s Office. Four will be pitchers and two will be position players on each side. While managers used to have a say in this vote, that’s no longer the case. This is where each team without an All Star in either the fan or player vote will be determined.
Key dates ahead of the 2022 MLB All-Star Game
- Phase 1 fan voting begins: Wednesday, June 8
- Phase 1 fan voting ends: Thursday, June 30 at 1:59 p.m. ET
- Phase 2 fan voting begins: Tuesday, July 5 at noon ET
- Phase 2 fan voting ends: Friday, July 8 at 1:59 p.m. ET
- All-Star Starters Reveal Show: Friday, July 8
- 2022 MLB All-Star Selection Show: Sunday, July 10
- 2022 MLB All-Star Game: Tuesday, July 19
Finally, the new CBA allows the commissioner to add a special selection to each squad — something that has long made sense as a way to honor all-time greats nearing the end of their careers. This looks like a perfect spot for either Yadier Molina or Albert Pujols.
The most recent reporting of the votes can be seen here (as of June 27 AM):
As previously slated, Mookie Betts is currently the leading NL vote getter and is about 80,000 votes in front of Ronald Acuña Jr. If Acuña does pass Mookie, Mookie would still be moved to Phase II, there is little danger in him being caught by the fifth OF in votes received.
The Dodgers have one other that looks safe to move on to Phase II. Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson will be very hard to catch for the SS vote.
Freddie Freeman has an outside chance of catching Pete Alonso for 2nd place, but he is really the only chance of any other LAD advancing to Phase II. He is about 200,000 votes shy of Alonso. Paul Goldschmidt is way ahead of both.
Will Smith is about 350,000 votes shy of Travis d’Arnaud for #2 catcher. The #1 catcher vote getter, Willson Contreras, should pass through to Phase II easily.
Currently, Bryce Harper is the leading vote getter for DH with William Contreras #2. The third place vote getter is Albert Pujols, but he is about 430,000 votes shy of Contreras. Here is a scenario I would like to see.
Bryce Harper will be replaced as an injured player, and I can think of none better than Tio Albert. He is a much better choice than Max Muncy, J.D. Davis, and Luke Voit, the next three DH vote getters. If this happens, then the Commissioner can select Yadi Molina as the special selection.
I do not think Will Smith will either be voted onto the All Star NL roster by the fans or the players, meaning he is going to need to be added on by the Commissioner’s office. I do not know what teams will be without an All Star, so this will be difficult to handicap. But I do think there is sufficient evidence to support Will being on the team.
Vote Dodger Blue.
Betts, Freeman, Trea and Gonsolin and Anderson are the only Dodgers worthy of being on the team. Freddie might make it as a Sub, but not sure Mookie will be healthy enough to play in the game. He is a hard pass. But should be introduced on the field anyway. Heading back home to Colorado Friday. Been here in Lala Land way too long.
The Athletic:
most likely to be traded
Los Angeles Dodgers: Ryan PepiotThe Dodgers opted to keep Ryan Pepiot over top pitching prospect Josiah Gray in executing their blockbuster deal last year to bring Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to Los Angeles. It’s easy to see why they like him — that changeup has the potential to be one of the most devastating pitches in the sport. But he hasn’t yet flashed the consistent command in the strike zone to be a guarantee to help the Dodgers this October, and moving Pepiot might be their best path to getting what they need at the deadline. — Fabian Ardaya
News from Internet:
Fromm various chats:
Tim (Los Angeles):
Bobby Miller and Pepiot get all the hype but Gavin Stone has far outperformed both this season. Does the scouting report match the stats and can he be an impact starter for LAD down the road?
Kyle Glaser: The scouting reports match the stats. Stone is the real deal. He’s going to be a big riser in our next Dodgers Top 30 update.
mike: Better prospect – Maddux Bruns or Ricky Tiedemann?
Eric A Longenhagen: I’ll take Bruns but not by a lot
Kip: Dodgers – Braves round 3 feels inevitable. What roster additions do you see each team making between now and the trade deadline?
Ben Clemens: That’s a strong use of inevitable as I think that the Dodgers will be on the hunt for arms, any arms they can possibly find, be it relief or starting. I think they might be a surprise entrant in trade talks if any incredible bat other than Contreras (awkward fit with Smith in tow) is available. But mostly they should just look to add pitchers
Run Flagstaff: is Cody Bellinger simply a good defensive outfielder with some occasional power at this point? Seems we have enough data suggesting he is about as likely to recapture his 2019 form as the dinosaurs are to walk the earth again
Ben Clemens: Yeah, that’s basically where I’m at with Bellinger. I do think he’ll cut down on strikeouts a bit from here, he’s shown that he has that in his toolkit, but I don’t think the prodigious power is going to return. I have him as a nice defensive outfielder, like you said. That’s a useful player, although not one who would get a contract like he currently has
Guest: Best shortstop currently excluding an injured Tatis?
Ben Clemens: Lindor!
Eh, that’s probalby not right, he’s my favorite to watch though.. I think I’ll take Bogaerts, Turner, Lindor in that order. No disrespect to Dansby Swanson or Tommy Edman, just, I value track record
The Dude: Trea Turner over/under $250m next contract?
Avatar Jay Jaffe: Unless he picks up the pace a bit and more or less matches last year’s production, I’ll take the under because he’ll be heading into his age-30 season
Recent trades I found on the trade Simulator:
Knack, Pages and Vargas for Luis Castillo
Pepiot, Sheehan and Vargas for Moll and Frankie Montas
From Kyle Boddy @Driveline:
MiLB Org pitching stats. Let’s do something different than xERA: Whiff% – total # of swing-and-miss divided by total # of swings.
Top 4: CLE #1, NYY #2, SFG #3, LAD #4
Bottom 4: COL #27, KCR #28, STL #29, OAK #30
Given what orgs typically develop pitching… makes sense, yeah?
At the Great Lakes, Carlos Duran has been piggybacking with Emmet Sheehand over the last three starts.
Duran: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 K
Emmet Sheehan:9 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 4 BB, 17 K
There is an ex-Dodger that is probably moving on to phase II.
Against lefties:.259.286.519.805
Against righties: .276.358.589.947
4th in average exit velocity
5th in Brls/PA%
Zach McKinstry somehow came down with a pain in the neck to go onto the 10 day IL to make room for Jake Lamb. Lamb finally gets the call and he will be in LF to start the game. I wonder if this is one of those “timely” injuries to make room for a player reported to be brought to LAD by July or release him.