After the latest round of cuts, the Dodgers have 42 players remaining in camp: 23 pitchers, 19 position players. 35 are on the 40 man roster and 7 of the 42 are Non-Roster Invites:
NRI Pitchers still in Camp (2) – Antoine Kelly and Chris Campos
I do not believe either pitcher will break camp with the team, but Kelly has put himself in the discussion for seasonal callups. In his 8 games, Kelly compiled 7.2 scoreless IP, 3 hits, 4 BB, 10 K. I still believe that he will battle Ronan Kopp (40-man) for the first LHRP called. Kelly has options (2) remaining once added.
As I wrote about him a couple of days back, Chris Campos has put himself on the radar. Will he stay a starter, or will he be transitioned to the bullpen? For now, I think he gets lengthened as a starter. But his future role could be out of the pen. He is absolutely someone to watch this year.
NRI Position Players still in camp (5) – Nick Senzel, Santiago Espinal, Eliézer Alfonzo, Seby Zavala, Ryan Fitzgerald
Realistically only Espinal has a genuine chance (okay probable) to make the 26 man, at least until Tommy Edman is ready. The 40 man roster is at 39, so Espinal can be added without a corresponding move from the 40-man.
I do not know the contract status of Nick Senzel or Ryan Fitzgerald, so I do not know if they can be assigned to OKC or if they can opt out and become free agents. Senzel is a first round, 2nd overall (1/2) draft pick, so he has tools. He has not been able to consistently apply those at the MLB level, but I am guessing that he has piqued the interest of some scouts. Has Fitzgerald? He is older. Or are they poster players of a AAAA infielder. Nothing wrong with that.
With Dalton Rushing struggling in all phases, is he in competition for the backup catcher position with Alfonzo or Zavala? I think he is safe as neither Alfonzo nor Zavala have pushed themselves to that level this Spring.
40-Man Roster Still in Camp:
Pitchers (21): Ben Casparius (R), Edwin Díaz (R), Jack Dreyer (L), Tyler Glasnow (R), Brusdar Graterol (R), Edgardo Henriquez (R), Kyle Hurt (R), Will Klein (R), Landon Knack (R), Bobby Miller (R), River Ryan (R), Roki Sasaki (R), Tanner Scott (L), Emmet Sheehan (R), Blake Snell (L), Brock Stewart (R), Gavin Stone (R), Blake Treinen (R), Alex Vesia (L), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (R), Justin Wrobleski (L).
2-way Player (1) – Shohei Ohtani
Position Players (13) – Dalton Rushing, Will Smith, Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, Alex Freeland, Freddie Freeman, Hyeseong Kim, Max Muncy, Miguel Rojas, Alex Call, Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages, and Kyle Tucker.
40-man roster players assigned to MiLB Camp (4) are Paul Gervase, Ronan Kopp, Michael Siani, and Ryan Ward. I do not think it will be a surprise when Alex Freeland is added to this list. He needs to return to OKC to begin his climb back.
Also included in that group of 42 are 5 pitchers and 1 position player destined to begin the season on the IL (6). Some could be moved to the 60-day if a spot on the 40-man is needed: Brusdar Graterol, Gavin Stone, Blake Snell, Brock Stewart, Bobby Miller, Tommy Edman.
IMO, the non-pitcher portion of the 26 man roster is locked.
2-Way Player – Ohtani
Catchers – Smith, Rushing
INF – Freeman, Kim, Betts, Muncy, Rojas, Espinal
OF – Hernández, Pages, Tucker, Call
To be reassigned – Freeland, Senzel, Fitzgerald, Alfonzo, Zavala
Pitchers are a different story. There are multiple questions as to the direction the team is going to go. For my exercise, I am going with a 5-man rotation to start the season.
- Yamamoto
- Glasnow
- Ohtani
- Sasaki
- Wrobo
The first two are locks as is the 3rd, although his innings will probably be limited. I include Sasaki only because both Doc and BG says he will start, at least at the beginning of the season. I include Wrobo because he is the next LHSP after Snell.
I prefer Sheehan or Ryan over Sasaki, but as long as management is sticking with Sasaki, he is going to get his runway. Will the Dodgers include a piggyback option for Ohtani? If so, this would be a logical spot for Sheehan. As of now, they are going to need a piggyback for Sasaki. Does that open a spot to River Ryan?
My Bullpen locks include:
- Edwin Díaz
- Tanner Scott
- Alex Vesia
- Blake Treinen (By default)
- Will Klein
- Ben Casparius
- Jack Dreyer
That opens it up for Sheehan and Ryan. Others that will be considered are Edgardo Henriquez and Kyle Hurt.
- Do they send Ryan to OKC to keep him stretched out, and use Hurt as a multiple inning reliever?
- Do they find that Treinen has an injury? They are not going to release him.
- Is Sasaki a starter or reliever? If starter do they send him to OKC to work on getting up to 5.0 innings in a couple of starts?
- Ohtani starts on Wednesday. Will that answer questions or raise more?
- Yamamoto starts Friday. Will he get 5-6 innings and 90 pitches? His next start will be Opening Day.
- Who will follow Ohtani and Yama? Will we see more Jerming Rosario or Lucas Wepf, or Robby Porco?
- When do we start to see relievers go back to back? Could Casparius or Vesia go an inning on Wednesday? Or do they wait until the Freeway Series? Or do they hold off until the season starts?
We are down to 6 games in Spring, and there are still a lot of questions. And I am pulling for Kelly to get an early call.
Who is ready to apply for Brandon Gomes’ job and make the decisions?
