Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers have a fast-approaching problem. A good problem, but one that needs solving nevertheless. When the team headed into the 2026 season, they knew Tommy Edman and Enrique Hernandez would start on the injured list, and that would give opportunities to Santiago Espinal, Alex Freeland, and Hyeseong Kim to start the year. Their chances to prove themselves only increased when Mookie Betts hit the injured list himself, and they’ve performed admirably since then in their respective roles.
But now Enrique is already playing in rehab games and Mookie is set to join him today — the former being eligible for return on May 24 and the latter aiming for next Monday — meaning one player is going to be removed from the 26-man roster soon and the other even tougher decision is mere weeks away.
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The competition itself isn’t really any mystery, as they aren’t demoting a fourth outfielder and certainly aren’t insulting Miguel Rojas even if he wasn’t playing well, so it’s the aforementioned Espinal, Freeland, and Kim for two and then one spot (and eventually none).
So let’s take a look at the trio.
| Player | PA | OPS | BB% | K% | wRC+ | wOBA | xwOBA | OAA |
| Santiago Espinal | 29 | .444 | 0.0% | 17.2% | 17 | .195 | .272 | 1 |
| Alex Freeland | 105 | .693 | 10.5% | 26.7% | 98 | .314 | .307 | 3 |
| Hyeseong Kim | 78 | .800 | 9.0% | 17.9% | 126 | .357 | .338 | 2 |
As you can imagine, the first decision should be relatively easy.
It might take a gun to their heads to make the Dodgers give up depth, but that’s also effectively what has happened here. Espinal would require a DFA to get him off the 26-man roster, unlike the other two who have options, but he really has no role on the team given that Max Muncy now plays against lefties. That’s reflected in his paltry playing time so far this year, and while you’d think some other team could use him, it’s even possible they’re able to retain him and send him to the minors.
It should be a straightforward decision whenever Mookie returns, and I think anything else would be insane.
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Now the choice at the end of May is gonna be messy at the current rate things are unfolding, as both Kim and Freeland are playing well at the moment.
Freeland won the job out of Spring Training, but compared what he showed in ST and despite heating up, his chase is still up 8%, his contact is down 4%, and he’s not really hit the ball especially hard, which seems relevant since the power potential difference is likely why he was chosen over Kim. That said, in the last two weeks he’s showing signs of why that decision was ultimately made, as he has a .941 OPS and six walks to six strikeouts. If he’s able to turn that into something real, combined with his plus defense, you’re looking at an above-average regular that could end up being demoted.
Of course, the reason for that is all Kim’s done so far is essentially what the Dodgers have asked of him. He’s been patient and has swallowed his ego to go down to AAA in two seasons to hone his craft, and compared to last year his chase rate is down 9%, his contact rate is up 8%, and his xwOBA is up 80 points due to a big leap in quality of contact. Statcast bars are rudimentary, but it doesn’t take a genius to see the improvement so far.
I was completely fine with choosing Freeland over Kim coming out of ST, mostly because despite Kim’s surface-level numbers from 2025, the rest of the profile screamed trouble. However, now it’s not quite that simple, as Kim has indeed cut the whiffs and made more contact to use his speed, and he’s hitting the ball with more authority and more consistency now than before. Shockingly, despite the fact that he’ll never be a metrics monster, his expected stats easily outpace Freeland’s so far and he’s currently performing like an above-average regular at short.
If the Dodgers were forced to choose between the pair in the coming week, Kim might get the nod due to playing great defense like Freeland but doing it mostly at shortstop, already proving last year he can play a great second base, and perhaps them wanting to get Mookie more rest as he works back.
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Fortunately then, the Dodgers have 2-3 weeks for things to sort themselves out, and the decision then will likely be based on which direction both of them go from here. Ideally, they both continue to provide a surprising boost at the bottom of the order and the Dodgers end up having to make an almost comically painful decision of which young utility infielder putting up starter numbers they have to jettison to the minors. Like I said, a problem, but a great one to have.
