23-year old lefty swinging shortstop Dee Gordon came into this year as the Dodgers’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America. The Dodgers dealt Rafael Furcal to open up the shortstop job for Gordon and he’s starting to really pick up the pace with a bat in his hands. Gordon has played in 5 games so far in September and he is 9 for 16 (.563 avg, 1.313 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 0 homers, 2 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 35 games overall this year for the Dodgers and he is 35 for 132 (.265 avg, .594 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 0 homers, 7 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. The Dodgers hope he finishes the 2011 season strongly so that they can have confidence in him as the starting shortstop in 2012 and beyond.

26-year old righty swinging CF Matt Kemp continues to rake at the plate despite not having much help in the lineup. He has played in 16 games so far in August for the Dodgers and he is 19 for 56 (.339 avg, .911 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers, 7 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Kemp has now played in 122 games for the Dodgers so far this year and he is 143 for 448 (.319 avg, .967 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 28 homers, 89 RBIs and 32 stolen bases. The most amazing thing to me about Kemp’s season is that he has done a complete turnaround after the 2010 season where he had a down year. It’s too bad that new manager Don Mattingly couldn’t coax more players into playing their absolute best this year.

33-year old righty swinging LF Juan Rivera is playing really well since coming over from the Blue Jays. Rivera has played in 17 games for the Dodgers so far this year and he is 18 for 57 (.316 avg, .816 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs. He has now played in 87 games overall this year for the Jays and Dodgers and he is 78 for 304 (.257 avg, .694 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 7 homers, 34 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Dodgers should just play Rivera everyday instead of having him share time with Tony Gwynn in LF, as the Dodgers need his bat in the lineup.

29-year old lefty swinging outfielder Andre Ethier has been picked to replace an injured Shane Victorino on the All-Star team next week. Ethier has played in 87 games for the Dodgers so far this year and he is 100 for 319 (.313 avg, .833 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 7 homers and 42 RBIs. I am more than a little surprised that Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy picked Ethier over Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, who is having a much better year. So the last place Dodgers will have at least three players on the All-Star team.

26-year old righty swinging CF Matt Kemp and 23-year old lefty starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw have been picked for the All-Star team in the N.L. Kemp was elected by the fans, so he will be starting in CF for the N.L. All-Star team. Kemp has played in 87 games for the Dodgers so far this year and he is 101 for 311 (.325 avg, 1.017 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 22 homers, 64 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. Clayton Kershaw has started 18 games for the Dodgers so far this year and he is 8-4 with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He has only given up 97 hits in 122 2/3 innings so far this year while whiffing 138 batters, so he is still downright nasty. Kershaw has also improved his control quite a bit as he only has 33 walks so far this year. Kemp and Kershaw will represent the Dodgers well in next week’s All-Star Game.