Yasiel Puig named All-Star starter; three more Dodgers make NL team

By Steve Dilbeck

Baseball Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw Zack Greinke Dee Gordon Yasiel Puig National League

Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig is named a National League starter for the MLB All-Star game

Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Yasiel Puig and Dee Gordon are selected to play in MLB All-Star game

So you get honored with four All-Star selections. Should you be happy? Or a teensy bit disappointed there weren’t more?

Go with greedy.

Four Dodgers were named to the National League All-Star team Sunday -– starting pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, second baseman Dee Gordon and outfielder Yasiel Puig.

Puig was elected as a starting outfielder in voting by fans. Kershaw and Gordon were voted in by fellow players, and Greinke was chosen by St. Louis Manager Mike Matheny.

It is the fourth All-Star selection for Kershaw, the second for Greinke (first in the National League) and the first for Puig and Gordon.

This is the first time the Dodgers have had four All-Stars selected since 2010 (Andre Ethier, Jonathan Broxton, Rafael Furcal, Hong-Chih Kuo). The last time they had five was 1995 (Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, Jose Offerman, Mike Piazza, Todd Worrell).

The Dodgers, of course, were holding out hope that pitchers Kenley Jansen, Josh Beckett and even J.P. Howell and Hyun-Jin Ryu would be named to this year’s team.

There was a cry for Puig to make the All-Star team last year after his sensational start with the Dodgers, even though he'd been in the major leagues for barely a month. That went for naught, but this time he was one of three leading vote-getters in the outfield almost all along. The other starting outfielders are Carlos Gomez of Milwaukee and Andrew McCutchen of Pittsburgh.

Puig is hitting .307 with 12 home runs, 50 RBIs and 50 runs.

Kershaw is 10-2 with a 1.85 ERA that would lead the majors if he had pitched enough innings to qualify (he's short by only 1 2/3 innings). He has an 0.87 WHIP, 115 strikeouts and only 12 walks in 87 1/3 innings. Kershaw missed about six weeks early this season with a sore shoulder. Oh yeah, he also threw a no-hitter last month.

Greinke is 11-4 with a 2.66 ERA and has struck out 119 in 111 2/3 innings. Gordon leads the majors with 42 stolen bases, has scored 50 runs and is batting .302.