The Los Angeles Dodgers added Alex Call onto their roster prior to the series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Call joins the Dodgers roster one day after being acquired from the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline. The outfielder fills the open roster spot created by trading James Outman to the Minnesota Twins for Brock Stewart, who was also added to the roster.
The Dodgers acquired Call for pitching prospects Eriq Swan and Sean Paul Liñan to fill their fourth outfielder role and add another right-handed hitter to the team.
The 30-year-old is batting .274/.371/.386 with three home runs, 26 RBI, 30 runs scored and a 118 wRC+ across 72 games this season. Call has struck out just 15.2% of the time while walking 11% of his at-bats.
Over his career, Call has hit .242/.342/.369 with 19 home runs, 91 RBI, 106 runs scored, a 102 wRC+ and 3.1 WAR in 277 games played. He’s has also been at his best against left-handed pitching, posting a 124 wRC+ this season and a 110 mark over his career.
“With Alex, addressing some versus left, outfield depth, and this guy is just a straight grinder, works at-bats,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said.
“Playing against him, he’s always incredibly frustrating to try to game plan for him to get out.”
Call has seen time at all three outfield positions and ranks in the 73rd percentile among outfielders with one out above average. He’s also in the 82nd percentile of arm strength, averaging 88.8 mph on his throws.
What is Alex Call’s role with Dodgers?
Call will primarily fill the fourth outfielder role with the Dodgers, moving around to give players days off and likely seeing most of his time in left field against left-handed pitchers.
However, he is not expected to be in a straight platoon with Michael Conforto.
“I think the way Michael is swinging it right now, he’s handling both sides,” Gomes began. “I think we have the opportunity to mix Alex around and obviously sometimes there are off days that are needed and different scenarios.
“So it’s kind of how Doc wants to use him. We know we really like the talent and how he can fit in if guys need a day or two, or there’s a specific matchup that Doc prefers, we can go down that path and feel really good about the at-bat quality and what he’s going to do to lengthen the lineup.”
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