Mookie Betts is set to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday after he missed just over five weeks with a right oblique strain.
With that, the Dodgers will need to make room on their active roster, and the decision on who to demote to Triple-A Oklahoma City is likely to come down to Hyeseong Kim or Alex Freeland. Both players have performed well as of late, but with Betts back, they also fill the same role as a left-handed hitting option at second base.
“We’ve got a tough decision to make,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Sunday. “I think that all the options, potentially, the corresponding move, these guys have done a great job and serve a very good purpose for our club. So it’s a good problem in the sense of where we’re at, but it’s a potential tough conversation.”
The Dodgers could also move on from Santiago Espinal, but that appears to be unlikely after he recently reworked his contract in a way that signals the Dodgers intend to keep him around. He also provides a right-handed bat, while Kim and Freeland are more repetitive as left-handed options.
Freeland is listed as a switch-hitter and has taken some at-bats as a right-handed hitter in games, but the Dodgers internally view him as primarily a left-handed hitter who is best off in a platoon.
While their roles would be somewhat repetitive, Kim and Freeland are significantly better players than Espinal, so keeping both of them would figure to be the logical move. However, the Dodgers consider many factors in the decision, including how much playing time will be available and the value of a young player getting everyday at-bats in the Minor Leagues rather than being a bench option at the MLB level.
“I think you’re circling around it, as far as who is going to get the lion’s share, how much is Mookie going to play,” Roberts said on Saturday.
“The value of somebody going to the minors and playing more versus having some optionality with the roster. So opponent, off days potentially, and how much depth we’ll need. So there’s a lot of different ways you can go about it, and we’re kind of in the process of having those conversations now.”
In the player development sense, it makes more sense to give Kim or Freeland daily at-bats to continue improving in Triple-A, while Espinal spends most of his time on the bench at the MLB level. It might hurt the Dodgers in a few specific scenarios throughout the season, but the team always plays the long-term game, and they’re already near postseason locks.
The other players on their bench are all locks to stay, including Dalton Rushing, Miguel Rojas and Alex Call. So with everything in mind, the Dodgers are likely to decide between optioning Kim and Freeland to bring back Betts.
On the surface, the Dodgers appear to be higher on Freeland, and they showed that before Opening Day when Kim was sent down to make Freeland the starting second baseman. After a slow start to the season, Freeland has performed much better after making a change to his swing mechanics. Kim has also improved on his plate discipline, which was one of his bigger issues.
Freeland is hitting .256/.360/.372 over his last 15 games, but has a .646 OPS overall this season. Kim is hitting .283/.313/.348 over his last 15, but has a .748 OPS overall. That gives Freeland the statistical advantage as of late, but Kim has the better stats overall.
Dave Roberts appreciated giving opportunities to young players
With the Dodgers starting to get healthy again after Blake Snell returned and Betts now returning, Roberts shared that it feels good to see the team coming together. However, he also appreciated being able to give opportunities to players who would not have had those chances if not for injuries.
“I think that one side of it is it’s good that you feel like you’ve given other guys opportunities, some runway to show themselves,” Roberts said. “But on the other side, you have the guys that you intended when we put together this roster coming back. So that’s not only raising the floor, but also obviously raises the ceiling.
“So I’m looking forward to getting those guys back. But in all honesty, some of the guys in the ‘pen, some position players, just seeing them kind of play freely has been good too. So yeah, it kind of cuts both ways, but both in good ways.”
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