With Opening Day just over a week away, the Los Angeles Dodgers front office and coaching staff are running out of time to decide who they want to carry on their 25-man active roster.
The team suffered a big loss on Monday night, as All-Star third baseman Justin Turner suffered a broken left wrist after he was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first inning. There is no timetable yet for his return.
That did not stop the Dodgers from shipping some players back to Minor League camp though, as after the game they optioned pitchers Adam Liberatore and Dylan Baker and reassigned infielders Jake Peter and Donovan Solano back to Minor League camp, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Following tonight’s game, the Dodgers optioned RHP Dylan Baker and LHP Adam Liberatore and reassigned infielder Jake Peter and infielder Donovan Solano to minor league camp.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 20, 2018
Liberatore and Baker both struggled a bit in their limited appearances this spring. In seven appearances (6.2 innings), Liberatore gave up seven hits and seven runs (six earned), which is good for an 8.10 ERA. He struck out seven and walked four.
Baker appeared in four games, allowing four hits and four runs (two earned) in three innings (6.00 ERA).
Peter got off to a hot start to the spring but cooled off a bit in recent weeks and overall he went 10-for-39 (.256 batting average) with three home runs and a team-leading 14 RBIs. Solano is 9-for-35 on the spring (.257 batting average), with three doubles and six RBI.
Both players were victims of the Dodgers infield depth, although that took a bit of a hit with the loss of Turner, so it is possible that they reach the big leagues sooner rather than later if any other injuries occur.
The Dodgers will likely make one more round of cuts at the end of the spring, bringing their roster down to 25 men to begin the season.
