Dodgers who are en fuego

Phil Gurnee ♦ March 12, 2018 ♦ Leave a comment

First the hitters.  Even though Keibert only has nine at-bats I wanted to include him because six for nine with only two strikeouts in his first taste of major league camp is outstanding. Estevez got no love from anybody when prospect lists were announced but he played a solid 2nd/SS and picked up four hits in only eight at-bats.

The king of the spring so far has been Kyle Farmer who has been on base twelve times in just twenty-two plate appearances and leads the team with an OPS of 1.45 for players with double-digit at-bats. Farmer is doing his best to push himself onto the roster but he faces an uphill battle because of the short bench. Lot of talk this spring that Farmer worked on creating flexibility with his hips to help with his catching but maybe it has also paid off with his bat. He has looked great at the plate. For a guy who can catch and play 3rd base, he’d be a nice piece on the bench.

Matt Kemp leads the team in home runs and sports a robust 1.43 OPS.

Andrew Toles is having a great spring with an OPS of 1.11 but he has struck out nine times in only 28 plate appearances with just one walk.

Jake Peter has slowed just a bit but his bat has been making big sounds this spring with three booming home runs. Maybe we got him cheap because of his defense, as yesterday he let an easy ground ball go right through his wickets.  Still, hard to figure on why Chase is here with a player like Jake Peter. He’s left-handed, cheap, plays 2nd/3rd. Seems like more of a bench person than Chase but you know, Chase has those intangibles.

Kiké Hernandez is picking up right where he left off against the Cubs last October. Power and patience as he is second on the team in walks with six.  Hernandez has played a lot of shortstop this spring as Seager gets his arm ready, and he has looked good. Matt Kemp is messing up the storyline of Hernandez being the right-handed side of a left-field platoon.

Chris Taylor leads the team in walks with eight which is exactly what the Doctor ordered for a leadoff man.  Chris did not make this list because the cutoff was an OPS of 1.00 and he was only at .957.

Onto the pitchers.  Walker Buehler is the talk of the spring right now after his brilliant two inning stint the other day but that could change quickly. Font was the talk until he made his 3rd appearance. Walker has made only one appearance so far.

Pat Venditte is always the most intriguing player in any camp as the two-way pitcher is as unique a pitcher as there is in baseball, but this spring he has also been an outstanding pitcher. He is tied with the team lead in strikeouts with 10 sporting an excellent K/BB ratio of 10 to 1.  Hard to see a spot for Venditte but he’ll be ready in OKC if one shows up.

Moran has already been re-assigned to minor league camp but he did everything he could do while pitching in games this spring. The lefty showed fantastic control and is ready to be the Dodger loogy if they need one.

Rich Hill usually struggles in the spring but he’s been outstanding so far.

J Chargois joined the team right after spring training started and I fail to see how the Twins didn’t have a spot for him. He looks good. Josh Fields is lucky that Chargois has some options left.

Matt Culver made this list and is still in major league camp but he’s only thrown four innings. Those four have been just about perfect.