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.
After that, however, he had a .175 average the rest of the year, struggling to adapt his swing to major-league pitching while also missing a month with a shoulder injury.
“The swing changes we made last year, I would say I felt about 70% comfortable,” Kim, who could also see some playing time as a backup center field option, and will play in this spring’s WBC for South Korea, said Monday through an interpreter. “This offseason and spring training, we were able to recognize some of the other stuff that we needed to work on, so I’m working very hard to make those changes again this year.”
But, the 26-year-old added, “I was not satisfied last year. I found out some of the things that I needed to work on. So I just want to work hard and make sure that I make the roster right off the bat after spring training.”
Freeland, a former third-round draft pick and top prospect in the Dodgers’ farm system, had a similar debut experience.
He had a couple stand-out moments in his 29 big-league games, including home runs on back-to-back days during a key series against the San Diego Padres in late August. But on the whole, the switch-hitter batted just .190 while striking out 35 times in 97 plate appearances –– a sign, Roberts said, that the game “sped up” on the 24-year-old.
“Last year obviously didn’t go the way that I wanted, but I think everything that happened was something I can learn from,” Freeland said. “Not seeing success, I kind of got out of myself, instead of just taking it at-bat by at-bat. Got ahead of myself, let the failure get to me a little bit.”
Now, both players will have the chance to earn immediate redemption.
Though the Dodgers have several minor-league veterans who could factor into the second base picture, including Ryan Fitzgerald, Keston Hiura, Nick Senzel and former All-Star Santiago Espinal (whom Roberts revealed Monday had signed with the club as a non-roster invite), Kim and Freeland should have the inside track on the opportunity Edman’s injury has created.
“Competition,” Roberts said, “is a good thing.”
No matter how small the role may seem.