With the exception of re-signing Justin Turner to a two-year contract, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ offseason activity mostly revolved around their pitching staff.
The club brought in reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer and bolstered their bullpen with several acquisitions, led by former Milwaukee Brewers closer Corey Knebel. L.A. additionally re-signed Blake Treinen to a multi-year deal.
On the position-player side, the Dodgers had more subtractions than additions. The club most notably lost Joc Pederson and Kiké Hernandez in free agency as both players sought bigger roles with their respective new teams.
Pederson’s departure figures to have the biggest effect on AJ Pollock, who stands to receive more playing time in left field this season. Though, he won’t be the full-time starter as Chris Taylor and Matt Beaty will also get some looks.
“I expect AJ, who’s always hit righties and lefties, to be out in left field,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I know Chris Taylor does the same thing, so he’s going to need his at-bats.
“Then you kind of layer in Matt Beaty getting some repetitions and at-bats in left field, which I feel really good about. Joc is a hard guy to replace, but I think it’s going to be a high-class problem to make sure these talented players get these at-bats out there.”
Pollock is coming off a resurgent 2020 season in which he batted .276/.314/.566 with nine doubles, 16 home runs and 34 RBI over 210 plate appearances (55 games).
Pollock crushed left-handed pitching to the tune of .345/.367/.818 in 60 plate appearances and hit 10 of his 16 home runs during the month of September. Pollock also posted a respectable .761 on-base plus slugging against right-handed pitching, so he could be in line for more of those opportunities this season.
Taylor appeared in 56 games last year and saw most of his reps come at shortstop. However, he also played a fair amount of left field and will once again be in the mix at the position this year.
As for Beaty, he mostly lined up at first base last season and played only six defensive innings in left field. With Pederson no longer in the picture though, Beaty easily could see more time at the position going forward as the new platoon option.
Pollock ‘just missed’ being included in The Shredder’s top-10 left fielder rankings
Despite enjoying a bounce-back 2020 campaign, Pollock fell in the “just missed” category in MLB Network’s The Shredder’s top-10 left fielder rankings for the 2021 season.
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