There continues to be in-house “conversation and debate” about what the Dodgers will do in regards to their left field competition, according to Dave Roberts, but the manager seems bullish on veteran Matt Kemp (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). “When you make the trade and you look at the seasons guys had last year who we have coming back, we were already a very good team without Matt,” said Roberts. “But to have a former All-Star in as good a shape as he’s been in years and add him to the mix, it only increases the level of competition to play for everyone around him. That’s a good thing. That’s a good thing for all of us.” The 33-year-old Kemp has gone 12 of 36 with four home runs this spring as he attempts to grab a job as part of a mix that also features Joc Pederson, Enrique Hernandez, Andrew Toles, Alex Verdugo and Trayce Thompson. Plunkett examines each of those players’ cases and suggests that Kemp may well open 2018 as the Dodgers’ primary option in left. Kemp, a former star with the Dodgers, rejoined the team over the winter in a luxury tax-geared trade with the Braves. He’s in the penultimate year of a huge contract, which he signed during his original run with the Dodgers, and set to make $21.5MM this year.
More from out West…
- Thanks to his struggles this spring, right-hander Bartolo Colon isn’t a lock to make the Rangers, TR Sullivan of MLB.com writes. Further clarity should come Sunday, when left-hander Martin Perez starts. Perez underwent surgery on a fractured right elbow last December, but if he’s healthy, he’ll take a season-opening rotation spot. That would leave the 44-year-old Colon vying for a long reliever/swing starter role, though the Rangers signed Jesse Chavez with the goal of using him in that capacity, Sullivan notes. For his part, Colon would be willing to fill that position if it’s available – “I will do anything I need to do to make the team,” he said. Notably, Colon has come out of the bullpen a mere nine times in 537 career appearances.
- The Rangers have considered extending first baseman Joey Gallo and outfielder Nomar Mazara this spring, but it doesn’t appear either those two or any of Texas’ other young players will receive a long-term deal at this point (via Sullivan). “We are always interested in talking to our best young players,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “But I don’t expect anything at this point.” As things stand, both players are still under control for several more years. Gallo won’t become eligible arbitration until after the 2019 season, while Mazara is in his last pre-arb year.
- Rockies outfielder David Dahl is likely to begin the year in the minors, thus opening up a spot on Colorado’s bench for fellow outfielder Mike Tauchman, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post explains. The 27-year-old Tauchman brings minimal major league experience (32 plate appearances, all of which came last season), but he has performed well in the minors and could make more sense for a reserve role than Dahl, 23. While Dahl’s a former high-end prospect who impressed as a rookie two years ago, a rib injury kept him from the majors last season, and there’s no obvious path to playing time for him in Colorado at the moment. As such, he’s likely to begin the year as a full-time player at the Triple-A level.
Not only is Kemp in great shape but he’s hitting the ball this spring and he seems to be getting along great with the team. I think that trade was great for them. Yea he ain’t that good on D but it’s not all that big of a deal really if he can hit like he is
Plus a lot of that could be a attributed to positioning and him being out of shape. Which means now he might be a lot better.
That could be true. As a Braves fan I wish him nothing but the best and would like to see him do well, but, the truth is that his knees are absolutely shot. He’s still a good hitter, but I wouldn’t hold out hope for a dramatic improvement in defense. I believe he was statistically the worst defensive outfielder in the game last year. He also used to be a good defender, so it’s not as if he just needs to be taught better… It’s that he can barely get out of his own way. Position him wherever you want but if the ball is hit anywhere else, good luck.
If they can get him to buy into a pinch hitter role and play DH in interleague games, he could be an incredible weapon.
I also think that him playing a lot less defense will improve his offense, I think running around really wore him down significantly over the 2017 season. He got off to an incredible start to 2017 as well and then faded badly.
Exactly Yeti!
I think Denard Span had the worst DRS right? But I could be wrong, Kemp was terrible too.
Drock I agree.
Any value Kemp gives you offensively, he ruins defensively.
Zach that’s very untrue. He isn’t going to sit there and miss every fly ball coming his way. He can still catch the ball and he’s in better shape so he will be faster to the ball. A guy that can hit 30hrs isn’t going to hurt your team
Well if we’re being honest that’s sort of just relying on one counting stats. 30 HRs in a juiced ball era is nothing that special especially since power is a dime a dozen now. And if we are continuing to be honest he’s been a league average hitter the last two years. Comparatively he’s been the definition of a defensive liability in that time period. To continue on that route he’s clearly sold out for power. Beyond the discussion of offensive value, in which he will no longer be playing in a launching pad, he was never a great OF just had elite speed. Will positioning help? Yes I have no doubt, but let’s not pretend he’s been very good defensively this spring. The Dodgers are now in the position to try and hope he is going to have that dead cat bounce, BA term. Really it’s ST and not much to be learned. When it comes down to it, yes he came into ST in shape. I’m sure he is willing to try and stick on a WS contender. The issue still remains not what he looked like in ST, but how he will look come the dog days when in all honesty because of injury history he can’t put in the same work as his youth. So would I love Kemp to be the guy who once electrified the stadium with his explosive athleticism? Yes, but let’s be honest he’s not that guy anymore. Moving a defensive liability to the NL West not great. Moving an average hitter to the NL West probably not great. He’s kind of forced onto this roster so as a fan you hope he can rediscover something, but let’s be a bit more practical.
Thanks for being so honest
You know nothing, Jon Snow.
It does if he gives up 30 runs on defense.
Average hitter? I don’t agree on this , but the defensive part is spot on! Wouldn’t it be wise to try Kemp at 1B? If I remember right, I think he’s played a few games at first for the Dodgers before . Wish the NL would just get the DH.
You’d be surprised.
In 2015 he posted a 109 ops+, in 16 in SD he posted a 106, in 17 in that launching pad he posted a 103. His obp over that time was .312, .304, .318. OPS .775, .774, .781. This is kind of why using a counting stat in a juiced ball era is somewhat misleading. Yes he did hit 30hrs, but offensively he’s hasn’t really been that impact hitter people seem to still hold onto, especially on a corner. At least not to the point where we can completely overlook his defensive liabilities. It’s also a rough argument to make to even think about moving him to 1st. You have a plus defender and better hitter already there. You also have a guy whose never stepped foot on the inf dirt in his professional career. While I get the whole defensive spectrum argument, it still doesn’t mesh with the Dodgers goals and roster. It also doesn’t mesh with his skill set. Kemp doesn’t move great laterally and his hands haven’t really been the greatest, which is usually a reason to get moved to the of. I also don’t think anyone would ever want Turner and Seager to second guess how they play the game. It’s one of the best infields in the league. There’s just too much that could possibly go wrong there to even entertain the idea. You would basically be downloading defensively on both corners. For a WS contender it shouldn’t be a consideration. So in reality the best the Dodgers can hope for is the dead cat bounce. It’s hard to see though even with the loss of 40 lbs and ST. At some point the wears of the season and injury will come into play. The question then becomes how long can a NL team hold onto a ph. Maybe the Dodgers are in a unique situation, because of their versatility assuming health. It’s hard to buy though even with all the good press he’s received.
Thronson5: “…A guy that can hit 30hrs isn’t going to hurt your team.”
Rougned Odor: “Hold my beer and watch this.”
Chris Carter would like a word.
Hitting isn’t his problem man lol
He had probably the most double plays grounded into per game played of any batter in the majors. Rally killer.
Pujols would like to argue
I’m sure he would prefer not to bring it up, but Pujols was #1 in baseball in that department last year with 26, Kemp was #1 in the NL with 25.
Pujols had FAR (roughly 200) more plate appearances than Kemp too. Both we’re rally killers.
James Loney was pretty good in that category it seemed.
Just wait til the season starts, he hurts his hamstrings and gets fat again. Y’all forget he was doing this with the Braves this time last year
He got fat on purpose, so he wouldn’t have to play In San Diego. He will actually give it 100 percent in big market LA.
I like Kemp vs lefties & Tolles vs righties; keep it simple and let’s bring a WS to LA…
What about “Young Joc”…???
You could put Taylor back on 2B and play Joc in CF….
We have a second baseman.
Kemp has reverse splits.
No, he does not have reverse splits.
Career split lines:
RHP: .274./.324/.470/.794
LHP: 319 /.380/.542/.921
He did last year, but one year can be more likely explained as an aberration.
Bring the DH to the NL!
Let’s go Kemp!! Let’s go!! Lead the Revolution.
A man can dream, right? (NL fans, vice-versa 😉 )
No.
No
No on the DH! Let’s leave some purity in the game!
Purity? You mean like the pitch clock
and only 6 mound visits
and the Utley
and Posey rules
Never!
#dumpthedh
People forget Joey Gallo was the 2014 Futures Game MVP. Merits an extension.
That’s poorly-written above: Sullivan said Colon got roughed up in this last start but I wouldn’t say having a ERA in the 1.40 range going into this last start is having a rough spring. That wasn’t what Sullivan said. Misleading.
Yeah, he’s doing better than Chavez by a good margin.
Wait until Kemp find the donut shop and puts on his June 30
He only got fat because he became depressed that he had to play for my Padres.
To be fair… He got in great shape last off season and was motivated by playing for his child hood favorite team in Atlanta. And it was going well the first month…but if relied on to be a full time starter he just can’t stay healthy. It was truly sad watching him put the weight back on over the course of the season last year. When healthy he’s dangerous, but he can’t keep from being banged up
He played in LA for 9 years. He knows where the donut shop is
Is this the problem AF needs ?
Or is this the precursor of us trading basically a starting outfield (+ Ryu) for a starting pitcher and a minor league outfielder project ?
Just thoughts…
That Arroyo deal still stings a lot.
Joc Pederson hasn’t seemed to figure it out at the plate. how long can the Dodgers go with a guy hitting .222 in center field? I don’t know what his swing and miss rate is but he rarely barrels up. no idea of the strike zone, just goes up there flailing and trudges back to the dugout.
Chris Taylor is CF for the team. I wasn’t a huge fan of bringing Kemp back but he’s definitely shown up this spring. Joc is fighting for a bench spot. Kiki, Toles, Barnes, and Utley are set for the bench right now. I expect them to carry 5 bench players so that leaves 1 spot open
Barnes is not a bench player, he will at least split starts with Grandal. Toles is hardly set for the roster if only because Thompson is showing well and is out of options. Pederson is barely in the conversation because he can’t seem to fix his swing. He’s the odd man out.
Dave Roberts has said the Dodgers are carrying 13 pitchers. That leaves eight positional starters and four reserves. If Kemp isn’t released or traded, he’s their starting LF with Andrew Toles being his pinch running, late inning defensive replacement and occasional fill in. The other three bench players will be Chase Utley, Austin Barnes and Kiki Hernandez.
Joc Pederson and Alex Verdugo will end up in Oklahoma City with Trayce Thompson getting DFA’d and probably acquired by another team (Oakland A’s?).
Barnes is NOT a bench player. Barring some kind of decline or injury, he and Grandal will platoon behind the plate, just as they did last year. But didn’t I say that already?
The current alignment argues in favor of keeping Thompson on the roster so they don’t lose him to waivers. Toles can be sent down without that risk, so that’s what they are likely to do. They probably would also like to see him play every day for awhile as he recovers from the knee surgery. That’s what will probably happen unless they can find a trading partner for Thompson before the season starts.
Verdugo was never in the conversation for opening day.
Batting average is not the best way to judge a hitter anymore.
Isn’t Puig in that outfield mix as well, or did I
miss his leaving the Dodgers!
Puig and Taylor are set in the outfield. The others are in the mix of outfielders about whom decisions are being made.
Positional player, not utility.
Dodgers should trade Pederson and Thompson. It seems unlikely either will produce or get a chance to play in the Dodgers outfield. Verdugo looks like he can hit. We know Toles can.