Taking a look at the 3 remaining roster battles left after Dodgers cut 7 more players

The Dodgers have cut seven more players from major-league camp, with Rob Segedin being optioned and non-roster invitees Brandon Morrow, Charlie Culberson, Cody Bellinger, Ike Davis, O’Koyea Dickson, and Tyler Holt being reassigned to minor-league camp.

That leaves the Dodgers with 34 players, but Andre Ethier, Scott Kazmir, Pedro Baez, Josh Ravin, and Brock Stewart will be on the disabled list to start the year, and Julio Urias won’t be on the roster either. So essentially, that means there’s just 28 players left for the 25-man roster, leaving basically three position battles to fight out.

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Austin Barnes Vs. Bobby Wilson – Backup Catcher

Wilson is a non-roster invitee and Barnes was talked about as if he would be the backup catcher since the time Carlos Ruiz was traded. That should make the decision easy, but Wilson has a .901 OPS this spring while Barnes sits at .709, so I guess that could be a factor. That said, keeping Barnes sitting in AAA any longer is idiotic, and so would be using a spring performance to change the reality that Wilson is a 33-year-old with a career .587 OPS in the majors.

This has to be Barnes for me.

Enrique Hernandez Vs. Chris Taylor – Backup Shortstop

Really this is for backup utility man, but the need for a backup shortstop on the roster should be a primary concern, especially with Corey Seager potentially not 100% in shape yet after yet another odd spring. Dustin has already made the case for Taylor, and I think he’s correct. Both didn’t hit all that well last year, but Taylor plays shortstop better and is learning the outfield, while he also has a 1.022 OPS this spring compared to Hernandez’s .637. In a battle this tight, that could be the difference.

I’ll take Taylor, but choosing Enrique wouldn’t be a big deal.

Trayce Thompson Vs. Scott Van Slyke – Backup Outfielder

Surprisingly, both Trayce and SVS have one option year remaining, so this is just a choice of who one thinks is better at this point. Neither of them has hit particularly well this spring, but while SVS hasn’t been offensively relevant since 2014, Trayce showed as recently as last year that he has the upside to carry an offense for a stretch. Still, I think SVS’s ability to play first will likely be the tiebreaker and the Dodgers will end up sending a likely superior bat to AAA.

I’d take Thompson, but I would bet on the Dodgers taking SVS.