Spring Training stats can be so deceiving: Last week Garrett Cleavinger was the flavor of the week, an almost certain lock to make the team. Sunday, maybe not so much. Last week, it appeared that Dennis Santana had pitched his way off the opening roster. Sunday, he sort of, kind of, maybe, redeemed himself. But then again, “it’s spring and the statistics don’t matter!”
Then in early April in San Diego, Malone went after a fan who was verbally abusing Gary Sheffield. He resigned a few days later, and Dave Wallace, former pitching coach was named interim GM. They traded for outfielder McKay Christenson in July. In July they also traded for Mike Twombley, Terry Mullholland, and James Baldwin in separate deals Usually for minor leaguers.
We have all been talking about the Dodgers’ depth for some time now. The national media has touted that this is the deepest organization in baseball. One announcer said that if you split to team up into two teams that they would still be formidable. So, let’s play a little “Fantasy Baseball.” I thought it might be fun to “break up the Dodgers” into two teams and see how each…
CT3 has earned the 2B starting job… so has Gavin Lux. It may be a platoon in the beginning, but we shall see how it plays out. McKinstry and Taylor will get a lot of playing time.
Brooklyn went berserk. The players were leaping all over the field. But the man who had led them for so many years and made so many clutch plays and hits was not on the field for the final out. Jackie Robinson was on the bench, replaced in the starting lineup by Don Hoak. His days as a Dodger Icon were on borrowed time.
If this is who Gavin Lux is (from what he has shown this Spring), then the Dodgers are going to have an incredible offense. If he keeps hitting (and I can’t see why he won’t) he is going to be very difficult to keep at the bottom of the lineup. With his speed and baserunning ability, he is a perfect #2 hitter behind Mookie Betts. Speed Kills! That moves Seager to #3 and the trickle-down starts. I doubt that Gavin begins the season as the #2 hitter, but if he earns that spot, look out! This 2021 Dodger Offense is once again going to be the Big Blue Wrecking Crew!
Gibson, Hatcher, Dempsey, Samuel, and Valenzuela all became free agents in November, but on the 8th of November, Claire signed FA outfielder Darryl Strawberry. He signed Kevin Gross and Brett Butler. Traded Vizcaino to the Cubs for Greg Smith. Then he sent Brooks to the Mets for Greg Hansell and Bob Ojeda. They also re-signed Samuel, Valenzuela and Hatcher. They traded Holmes to the Brewers for a minor leaguer and did the same with Poole.
That leaves the final spot up for grabs between Edwin Rios, Matt Davidson, and Sheldon Noisy. Davidson is not on the 40-man roster, so that would seem to preclude him. Rios could win the job by getting hot at the right time, but there is something I like about having a hitter like Noisy on the bench when there are two out and runners on base… and you need a run or two.
In the 9th, Edwards flew out to left, but Furillo drew the 9th walk. Gionfriddo ran for Furillo and Jorgensen fouled out. Reiser was pinch hitting for Casey, and Gionfriddo stole second. That changed Mngr Bucky Harris’s strategy and even though Reiser was injured, he decided to walk him. Eddie Miksis went in to run for Reiser, and Lavegetto, a 34 year old veteran was sent up to hit for Eddie Stanky.
At some point, I could see Will Smith hitting #3 with Bellinger #4 and Muncy #6, but make no mistake about it – the Dodgers have been very good with JT hitting #3 and Mad Max at #4. I just think that Bellinger and Will Smith have the speed to hit towards the top of the lineup.