PHOENIX –– The big position battle taking shape early in Dodgers camp this spring?
It’s over a part-time platoon role … at the bottom of the lineup … and for likely only the first few weeks of the regular season.
Such is the reality for this year’s Dodgers squad, which boasts All-Star talent around the diamond and little legitimate competition for regular playing time.
When everybody is healthy, their starting nine is set. Only with news like Monday’s –– when manager Dave Roberts ruled out second baseman Tommy Edman for opening day as he recovers from offseason ankle surgery –– is there any true intrigue about how at-bats will be divided.
Edman’s absence to start the season is hardly surprising. The utilityman spent most of this winter rehabbing, after undergoing surgery in November to address an ankle problem that nagged him much of last season. And though he is back to baseball activities now, taking swings, doing light jogging and making daily progress, Roberts said the team will also be “methodical” with how it brings him back to full health.
“(We’re) trying to play the long view,” Roberts said. “You don’t want any regression or setbacks.”
Thus, the Dodgers will have to find alternative options at second base for at least the start of the year. Miguel Rojas will almost certainly factor into that equation, providing a veteran presence from the right side of the plate. But there could now be an opening for a left-handed-hitting platoon partner, too.
The two most obvious candidates there: Second-year infielders Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland.
In their rookie campaigns last year, both players had flashes of production, but their overall performance was marred by inconsistency. Entering this spring, both have been trying to display further growth in their still-developing offensive games.
Kim, an offseason signing from South Korea last winter, was called up to the majors in early May and hit .383 over his first 36 games, providing surprise pop to go along with his game-changing speed and smooth-fielding glove.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
