Dodger All Stars dim during recent woes

All Star voting started last week, but the way the Dodgers have been playing lately, it’s hard to make a case for any of them to make the National League All Star team.

The Dodgers were swept by the surprising San Francisco Giants over the weekend. The Dodgers scored only four runs in three games against the Giants. The Giants closed the gap on the Dodgers in the National League West standings. They are in third place and 3½ games out of first.

The Dodgers are still in first place in the NL West, but the race got a lot tighter after the series against the Giants.

Julio Urias was the hard-luck loser on Sunday. He dropped to 3-6 despite striking out 10 Giant batters in six innings in a 2-0 loss.

The Dodgers offense has mostly disappeared over the past two weeks. They went 2-4 last week and are 2-6 in their last eight games.

Ouch!

Still, there are some Dodgers who are All Star worthy despite the recent struggles. Here are the players on the Dodgers who should be All Stars and the players who are longshots to make the All Star team.

The locks:

Mookie Betts leads the National League in runs scored with 52 and is second in the league with 16 home runs. He is also fourth on the Dodgers with a .278 batting average.

Trea Turner leads the Dodgers with a .298 batting average, 46 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. He is third in the league in stolen bases, fifth in the league in RBIs and 18th in the league in batting average.

Tony Gonsolin is tied with five other pitchers for the league lead in wins with seven. His 1.58 ERA is second in the league and he has become the ace of the Dodgers staff in the first half of the season.

Tyler Anderson also has a league-leading seven wins and a respectable 3.07 ERA in nine starts for the Dodgers. More importantly, he has emerged as one of the more reliable starters in the Dodgers rotation and in the National League.

On the bubble:

Gavin Lux leads the Dodgers in on-base percentage (.375) and is second on the team in batting average (.296).

Freddie Freeman is second on the team in hits with 68 and second in OPS at .817.

Clayton Kershaw is 4-1 with a 2.12 ERA and leads the team with a 0.86 WHIP. 

The longshots:

Chris Taylor is batting .255 with six home runs, but he might be the most versatile player in the National League. He plays left field, second base, shortstop and has become the de facto designated hitter for the Dodgers. He plays wherever the Dodgers need him.

Will Smith is batting .248 with a .418 slugging percentage and a .771 OPS, and has seven home runs, which might not put him among the league leaders, but they are pretty good power numbers for a catcher. 

Dodger starters power rankings:

1. Tony Gonsolin
2. Tyler Anderson
3. Julio Urias
4. Clayton Kershaw
5. Walker Buehler

The Dodgers (37-23) have a half-game lead over those pesky San Diego Padres in the NL West standings. The Dodgers start a two-game Freeway Series against the Angels on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium and end the week with a three-game series at home against the Cleveland Guardians starting on Friday.