2016 Dodgers in Review: RF Josh Reddick

PA AVG OBP SLG wRC+ HR WAR
MLB (OAK/LA) 439 .281 .345 .405 106 10 1.9

What happened in 2016: Came to Los Angeles from Oakland at the trade deadline and became the Dodgers’ primary right fielder with mixed results.

The Dodgers’ biggest move at the trade deadline was sending minor league pitchers Jharel Cotton, Grant Holmes and Frankie Montas to the A’s in exchange for LHP Rich Hill and RF Josh Reddick.

Reddick was in the midst of a solid season in Oakland when he was shipped off to Los Angeles, and Chad examined that part of the trade at the time:

Josh Reddick is a 29-year-old impending free agent outfielder making $6.6 million this year, and he’s put up a .296/.368/.449/.816 line on the season. Reddick has walked in 10.3% of his plate appearances, but most importantly to the Dodgers he’s only struck out in 12.5% of them, and I think a solid mix of contact and pop is what the Dodgers were looking for, especially for everybody complaining about a lack of productive outs and situational hitting. Defensively, he formerly put up Gold Glove numbers in right field, but the last two years has fallen back to about average. He fits in as a quality starter that arguably instantly becomes the Dodgers best outfielder, and should provide them with a consistent option in right or left field against right-handed pitching (definitely a platoon option here).

Rather than being a platoon option, though, Reddick effectively took the place of Yasiel Puig (who, in a somewhat controversial move, was demoted to Triple-A in early August).

Reddick got off to a very slow start with the Dodgers (and not just because it took him two hours to get from Glendale to Dodger Stadium), going 16 plate appearances before getting a hit. Even after that, his struggles continued; he seemed to be constantly stinging the ball, but always right at fielders. While bad luck happens — his BABIP for the month of August was a paltry .194 — his failure to produce consistently at the plate was frustrating to watch, especially while Puig was tearing things up in Oklahoma City.

Things turned around considerably for Reddick the following month. He finished out the season strong, posting a .961 OPS in September and October. Still his slow start doomed him, and his final regular season slash line with the Dodgers was .258/.307/.335/.642.

Reddick fared decently in the postseason, picking up eight hits (all singles) across the ten games in which he appeared.

Reddick’s tenure with the Dodgers was short lived, but it wasn’t without its memorable moments. Like the time he wore this shirt:

Or the time he bared his soul on Sportsnet LA (see 7:30):

Don’t worry, Josh, you’ll find the right one some day.

2017 status: Signed a four-year, $52 million contract with the Astros.

About Sarah Wexler

Sarah Wexler is a native Angeleno and longtime Dodger fan. She began blogging about baseball in 2012 on her Tumblr, New Grass On The Field, where she covered an array of topics but especially enjoyed exploring baseball history. She is now a reporter/producer for MLB.com. She earned her master's degree in Sports Management from Cal State Long Beach. She graduated from New York University in 2014 with a bachelor's in History and a minor in American Studies. She's an avid Springsteen fan, which is a big boost to her baseball writer cred.