For the second year in a row, Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop, Trea Turner, will take the field at the MLB All-Star Game. San Francisco Giants left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodón did not make the cut in a stacked group of National League pitchers; let’s take a look at how these MLB Pack Pros performed as of late.
Trea Turner, shortstop, Los Angeles Dodgers
With such an impressive first half to the 2022 season, it’s not a shock that Turner will be representing the National League as the starting shortstop in this season’s All-Star Game. Voting between Turner and Atlanta Brave Dansby Swanson had been close to the end, but a late push gave the Wolfpack alum the opportunity to represent his team in the midsummer classic at Dodger Stadium on July 19.
Turner has cooled off a bit since the start of July, going 9-for-35 with only three RBIs and 10 strikeouts, but he continues to rank high on the NL leaderboards in RBIs and hits.
His 16 stolen bases, including two in the past two weeks, also place him at fourth in the National League.
The speedster’s recent appearance at home against the Chicago Cubs on July 9 was not one to remember. Turner committed an error that allowed the Cubs to get on the board and was unable to produce with the bases loaded in the bottom of that same inning. Still, he’s putting up excellent overall numbers in the first half of the year.
Carlos Rodón, left-handed pitcher, San Francisco Giants
Rodón made a big case for himself to pitch in the midsummer classic, but the highly competitive race for All-Star pitchers in the NL left the southpaw on the outside looking in.
Rodón started the month a bit shaky, giving up four runs in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 4, but recovered quickly to pitch a complete game against the San Diego Padres five days later allowing just one run on three hits.
Finishing the night with 12 strikeouts, he ranks second in the National League with 124 to date.
As impressive as throwing a complete game is on its own, Rodón went the extra mile in that outing. The southpaw retired 22 of the last 23 Padres he faced and continued to clock in around the upper 90s in the final inning.
In fact, his final three pitches clocked in at 98, 98 and 99 mph respectively, striking out Padres designated hitter Jorge Alfaro with efficiency.
Following a performance like that, and with his success already to start the year, it was surprising that he was left off the All-Star roster in 2022.
Andrew Knizner, catcher, St. Louis Cardinals
As successful as Turner and Rodón have been this season, Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner once again can’t seem to find similar luck, proving to be a weak link on an overall successful Cardinals team.
He has just one hit since the beginning of July along with three strikeouts in 14 at-bats.
With the upcoming return of Cardinals starting backstop Yadier Molina, look out for some changes at this position soon for St. Louis.
