Betts, Turner, Urías, Freeman, Smith earn All-MLB honors

Dec 6, 2022 - 2:02 AM

Five Dodgers were named to All-MLB teams for 2022, which were announced Monday night at the winter meetings in San Diego, led by Mookie Betts and Trea Turner on the first team plus Freddie Freeman, Julio Urías, and Will Smith on the second team.

The teams were selected by a pair of equally-weighted groups — fan voting; and, according to MLB, “a decorated panel of media members, broadcasters, former players and other officials throughout the game.” First and second teams were chosen, each comprised of five starting pitchers, two relievers, a catcher, one player at each infield position, three outfielders, and a designated hitter.

Eight Dodgers were nominated for All-MLB team status, which was announced on November 10.

Betts hit .269/.340/.533 with a 144 wRC+ this season, with 40 doubles and a career-high 35 home runs. He tied for the National League lead with 117 runs scored, along with Freeman. Betts won both a Silver Slugger Award and Gold Glove Award, joining Matt Kemp as the only Dodgers to win both awards in the same season twice.

This is the third All-MLB nod for Betts, who was on the first team in 2020 with the Dodgers and the second team in 2019 with the Red Sox. Freeman has been an All-MLB first baseman in each of the last four seasons, including first-team status in his MVP season in 2020. Freeman has been the second-team All-MLB first baseman three times, including this year behind first-teamer Paul Goldschmidt, who won National League MVP.

Freeman’s first year in Los Angeles was a great one, leading the majors in hits (199) and doubles (47), and leading the National League in on-base percentage and runs scored. Freeman hit .325/.407/.511 with a 157 wRC+.

Freeman and Betts finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in NL MVP voting, with Turner 11th.

Turner hit .298/.343/.466 with a 128 wRC+, 39 doubles, 21 home runs, 27 stolen bases, 101 runs scored and a career-high 100 runs batted in. He won a Silver Slugger Award in November, his first.

Turner was a second-team All-MLB shortstop in 2021, which was split between the Nationals and Dodgers. He’ll take those talents to Philadelphia for the next 11 years.

Urías captured All-MLB honors for a second straight year, after a second-team finish in 2021. This year, Urías led the National League in ERA (2.16) and ERA+ (194), with 166 strikeouts and 175 innings in his 31 starts. He finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting, behind unanimous winner Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins and Braves left-hander Max Fried.

Smith hit .260/.343/.465 with a 127 wRC+, his 24 home runs second-most in the majors among primary catchers, behind only Mariners backstop Cal Raleigh. Smith’s 87 runs batted in led all major league catchers. J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies was named first-team catcher. This is the first All-MLB selection for Smith.

This is the fourth year of the All-MLB teams, with Major League Baseball adopting a postseason honor that’s been prevalent in both the NBA and NFL for decades. The Dodgers have had at least one person on both the first and second teams in all four seasons.