All-Star Game rosters: Paul Goldschmidt, Zack Greinke, Jake Lamb and Robbie Ray represent Arizona Diamondbacks

The four players announced as representing the D-backs is the most for the team since 2002, when team had the advantage of Bob Melvin as manager. That year, they sent six: Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson, Byung-Hyun Kim, Damian Miller, Junior Spivey, and Curt Schilling. They also had four in 1999 (Jay Bell, Johnson, Matt Williams and Gonzalez), and most recently sent a trio in 2007, when Jose Valverde, Orlando Hudson and Brandon Webb represented Arizona.

• Paul Goldschmidt has certainly been having an All-Star, and probably even Most Valuable Player caliber season. He came into today batting .318 with a 1.029 OPS, and leading the league with 66 runs driven in, as well as with 70 runs scored. It will be the fifth consecutive appearance in the Midsummer Classic for Goldschmidt, tying him for the most by any Diamondback, with Luis Gonzalez and Randy Johnson.
• Zack Greinke will be in his fourth All-Star Game, but his first as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has gone 10-4 with a 3.05 ERA with 124 strikeouts in 109.1 inning, good for fifth in the league. He also entered play today among the NL leaders in pitching WAR (2nd, 2.9), wins (T-2nd, 10), WHIP (3rd, 1.02) and ERA (7th, 3.05).
• Jake Lamb is second to Goldschmidt in runs driven in, and has also been on fire, with a triple-slash of .282/.377/.544 before today’s game. There were concerns he might be a victim of sheer depth, falling behind both the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado and the Dodgers’ Justin Turner at the position in the NL West alone. But after arguably being the biggest snub last year, he gets his first All-Star Game selection.
• Robbie Ray will also be in his first All-Star Game, and is second in the NL for strikeouts per 9 IP among qualifying starters, with 128 K’s in only 100 innings. He is 8-4 with a 3.06 ERA. He is the fourth left-handed D-back pitcher to earn an All-Star selection, after Johnson, Wade Miley (2012) and Patrick Corbin (2013). At 25 years old, he joins Miley as the third-youngest D-backs pitcher to be selected behind Kim (2002) and Corbin, who were both 23.

The D-backs had a number of other possible contenders: Chris Owings and Fernando Rodney were among those whose names had been mentioned. But the four who got in this time were all very well deserved selections, and congratulations are due to them all.