Alex Verdugo waits for tomorrow

Phil Gurnee ♦ March 21, 2018 ♦ 2 Comments

The Dodgers consensus number one positional prospect (not mine) was sent down yesterday ending his futile attempt to make the opening day 2018 Dodger roster.

Verdugo with all his skills faced an uphill battle even without Matt Kemp on the 2018 roster. When you add in the fact that Kemp is going to be part of the opening day roster there was just no way you could wedge Verdugo onto the roster.  In the long run Verdugo may prove to be better than Toles or Pederson but for now he will need to make his case in Oklahoma.

Time is not running out for Verdugo as he won’t turn 22 until May 15th. I’m not sure what to make of Verdugo. The scouts love him. He is the consensus number one positional prospect. He seems to have turned a corner this year regarding some issues with his commitment which sometimes happens when you taste the major leagues and ultimately realize two things.

1. All these players are great, and if you are going to be a productive major league player you are going to have to work your ass off.
2. Being a major league baseball player is the best. The ultimate competition, first class at every step from the pay, the food, the accommodations, the ladies.

He’s a fine fielder with a great arm but without the speed to be a true center fielder. That doesn’t mean he can’t be a center fielder. If he has the skills to make up the lack of speed with routes and instinct along with positioning, he can still become a major league center fielder but the odds are against it right now. Yet he’s young, and we will know more when we see where the Dodgers play him in AAA this spring/summer.

If Toles is as good as we think he is, left field is going to be a tough nut to crack. They are very much the same kind of player with Toles having the advantage in speed and Verdugo the advantage in his arm.

Right field is Puig until it isn’t.

Taylor is the man in CF, but 2nd base could be his as early as 2019 leaving the race for the future Dodger CF job to Pederson, Verdugo, and DJ Peters.

I kind of expect Verdugo to knock down the door this summer, and how the Dodgers find a place for him when he’s in their living room will be one of the more interesting stories of the summer.