The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced their 26-man Opening Day roster, which as expected is comprised of 13 pitchers and 13 position players. It also didn’t feature any surprises, as manager Dave Roberts had recently revealed who earned the final spots.
Heading into the final weekend of Spring Training, the Dodgers needed to decide on a fifth starter in the rotation, final bench player and one relief pitcher. Dustin May was named to the starting rotation, which bumped Tony Gonsolin and David Price to the bullpen.
Zach McKinstry was named to the fourth spot on the bench. “Excited for him,” Roberts said last week.
“You look at our roster, a potential right-handed bench bat on paper might fit a little bit better. But I just think Zach’s versatility, his ability to take a good at-bat off the bench, on the bases, and throughout his career handled left-handed pitching. Just love him on the team.”
The Dodgers then were left to pick from Scott Alexander and Dennis Santana for the final spot in their bullpen. In a mild surprise, L.A. wound up going with Alexander, giving them three southpaws who can enter in relief.
“We thought Dennis had a great spring and really impressed with his progress, command and all that stuff,” Roberts acknowledged. “There’s really no viable reason or answer. It’s just more of a numbers game.
“We just felt right now, Scott has earned that roster spot. They’re both talented guys, they both get left and right out. You can kind of dissect it any way you want, but right now we felt Scott fits better on our roster.”
Brusdar Graterol and Joe Kelly each were placed on the 10-day injured list. There is no timetable for either to be activated, and they both remained at the Dodgers’ alternate training site at Camelback Ranch.
2021 Dodgers Opening Day roster (players listed alphabetically)
Starting rotation (5): Trevor Bauer, Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Julio Urias
Bullpen (8): Scott Alexander, Tony Gonsolin, Victor Gonzalez, Kenley Jansen, Corey Knebel, Jimmy Nelson, David Price, Blake Treinen
Catchers (2): Austin Barnes, Will Smith
Infielders (7): Matt Beaty, Gavin Lux, Max Muncy, Edwin Rios, Corey Seager, Chris Taylor, Justin Turner
Outfielders (4): Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts, AJ Pollock, Zach McKinstry
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