One of many first strikes of the offseason for the Dodgers was signing outfielder Jason Heyward to a minor-league contract. Heyward was a famous person for the Braves and Cardinals earlier than signing an enormous take care of the Cubs after the 2015 season, however his profession has gone downhill since. Los Angeles is hoping to revitalize that career and assist Heyward rediscover the shape that had him wanting like a future Corridor of Famer early in his profession.
Late within the offseason, LA signed David Peralta, who, like Heyward, is an outfielder who throws and bats left-handed. Peralta had spent most of his profession with the Diamondbacks, sometimes being a thorn within the aspect of the Dodgers for the division rival.
Each new outfielders are effectively into their thirties – Heyward is 33, Peralta is 35 – however Los Angeles has excessive hopes for every. LA supervisor Dave Roberts gave a little insight on Wednesday into what their roles might be.
With Peralta and Heyward each being lefties, the pure assumption is that they’d platoon with righties. In addition to Mookie Betts, who shouldn’t be a candidate for a platoon function, the Dodgers have Chris Taylor and Trayce Thompson as right-handed outfielders. In fact, Taylor might be playing more infield than initially deliberate due to the season-ending knee injury to Gavin Lux, and Thompson had significant platoon splits final yr, that means he was much better in opposition to righties than in opposition to lefties.
The Dodgers seemingly don’t anticipate Thompson’s reverse splits to proceed, at the least to that excessive, so they might make use of him in a platoon. Taylor’s scenario is trickier, as he’ll nonetheless spend time within the outfield however not as a lot as they’d deliberate.
In fact, an alternative choice could be for Heyward and Peralta to each be a part of the identical platoon in left area, with (for instance) Taylor getting the begins in left in opposition to left-handed pitching and the 2 lefties splitting time in opposition to righties. Final yr, Los Angeles had 4,509 plate appearances in opposition to righties and 1,738 in opposition to lefties, so a participant getting half the PAs in opposition to righties would nonetheless get extra taking part in time than the platoon associate who hits in opposition to lefties. That choice would open up a possible role for James Outman, presumably in a platoon (or different time-sharing association) with Thompson in heart area.
Whereas Roberts stated Peralta will play some heart in spring to prepare for the World Baseball Traditional, it’s unlikely he’s being strongly thought of for critical taking part in time there within the common season. He’s a subpar defensive left-fielder, so it’s unlikely he’d have the ability to deal with heart commonly.
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