Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
On this episode of Dugout Blues, Jared and I talk about the Dodgers inching closer and closer to the start of the regular season.
Edwin Rios has hit incredibly well this spring. He’s one of the best hitting prospects in the system, and he’s making himself more of a household name after launching two homers over the batter’s eye last week. He has some issues — mainly defense and struggles against left-handed pitching — but the power is absolutely legitimate. He’ll be a guy to watch this season.
The Dodgers’ rotation is set, as it has been basically all spring, but the order isn’t what folks were expecting. It is as follows: Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Hyun-Jin Ryu. Many (myself included) thought Hill would follow Kershaw, and Wood would be the No. 3 starter, but that’s not how Dave Roberts is setting it up. And in the end, it doesn’t even matter. What does matter is how much time Walker Buehler will see this season. He’s slated for 140-150 innings of work between Triple-A and the majors. We’ll see how the Dodgers use him, because he’s been overpowering in the spring so far and looks almost ready for a rotation spot of his own.
The bullpen situation is a bit fuzzy. Jared said it’s, “Kenley Jansen and seven other guys.” He’s right, although, it might be six if the Dodgers decide to start the season with a 7-man bullpen. Guys like Scott Alexander, Pedro Baez and Yimi Garcia are going to be counted on for key innings. There’s also an outside chance a guy like Pat Venditte breaks camp with the team — something I didn’t think was possible just a couple weeks ago.
We’re almost done with my Top 100 prospects rankings. Nos. 20-11 have been released and Jared doesn’t put up much resistance because, well, it’s perfect. Look for the Top 10 later this week.
To end, we have a solid Q&A session from y’all. Please keep the questions coming.
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