While the Los Angeles Dodgers had what many considered one of the deepest and most potent lineups in all of baseball last season, one clear deficiency was its lack of right-handed batters who could consistently produce.
That became particularly problematic when facing left-handed pitching. Yasiel Puig had reverse splits, Matt Kemp endured his share of struggles. The Dodgers addressed the issue during the season by acquiring Manny Machado and David Freese.
With Kemp having been jettisoned as part of a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, and Machado unlikely to re-sign as a free agent, the Dodgers reportedly are focused on acquiring a right-handed position player.
While that’s been speculation, manager Dave Roberts shared his belief that the club would benefit from such a move, per Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times:
“The left-handed hitters that we have, the defense, with the addition of [Corey] Seager with us, is going to be huge,” Roberts said. “But now to kind of balance out the lineup with a right-handed bat, probably makes it a little better.”
The Dodgers have been linked to multiple right-handed hitting outfielders this winter, the latest of which was A.J. Pollock. While Pollock fits the profile, he’s a batter against righties than left-handers.
Prior to Pollock, Los Angeles was also connected to Nick Castellanos. That seemingly is related to a reported desire to address their outfield.
