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Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers have given at least 50 plate appearances to 15 players this year. Five have been absolute zeros, just dead roster spots.
PA AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Gavin Lux 259 .207 .263 .282 56
Enrique Hernandez 200 .197 .260 .295 59
Chris Taylor 150 .155 .262 .256 49
James Outman 129 .167 .264 .281 56
Austin Barnes 85 .213 .289 .240 54
If you’d like to make an argument for these players based on something other than offense, you’re welcome to do so, but note that they have combined for -0.7 bWAR, with none better than 0.2 bWAR.
There’s not much the Dodgers can do for the moment. A third of their starting lineup is out with injuries, and the team won’t be completely healthy until August, when Mookie Betts returns from a broken hand. The inevitable roster crunch when Betts, Jason Heyward, and Max Muncy return makes it hard for the Dodgers to go outside the organization for help in the short term. Flyers taken on Taylor Trammell and Cavan Biggio have not paid off.
The positive, however, is that the injuries have created opportunities for two homegrown Dodgers to stake their claim to roster spots. Rookie Andy Pages has a lot of swing-and-miss in his game. When he swing-and-hits, though, it’s with authority, including a 10.7% barrel rate and a solid 11.6% pulled-flyball rate. Pages has been a surprisingly good outfielder while showing off one of the best throwing arms in the game. He’s even become more disciplined; Pages went the first 76 plate appearances of his career before drawing his first walk; since then, he has a reasonable 53/16 K/BB with a 7.5% walk rate that’s not far below the league average.
Better news of late has come from Miguel Vargas, whom the Dodgers have handled poorly the last couple of seasons. He’s been up and down to Triple-A, and after struggling to play second base last year doesn’t seem to have the team’s confidence at any spot. He’s only played left field this season, and not all that well. But in 53 PA, he has a .319/.377/.596 line with just nine strikeouts against five walks. An 0-for-4 Sunday snapped a streak of 11 starts in which Vargas hit safely. The ability to hit has always been there, and given the state of the Dodgers’ outfield, he should get regular run. As with all young players, regular playing time is the key to success.
Heyward’s return will create a logjam, perhaps force a rotating platoon situation with the three right-handed-hitting outfielders. The Dodgers, though, do not have to go outside the organization right now. Andy Pages and Miguel Vargas, left alone to play regularly, will solve their lineup depth problem.
