Through nearly two months of the regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers have used the designated hitter spot in their lineup as a revolving door of sorts, rotating players as a means of getting some rest from playing the field.
Justin Turner has received most of the opportunities at DH thus far, though the majority of his playing time has come at third base. Max Muncy also has split his time at both positions this season.
That wasn’t much of a surprise as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts named Muncy, Turner and Will Smith as the players who would primarily rotate through the DH spot in the lineup.
However, Roberts now plans to have Turner serve as the primary DH going forward, with Muncy taking on an expanded role at third base, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I tried to essentially thread the needle with him and Max, as far as giving them starts at third, starts at DH,” Roberts said. “You could argue that, with no definitive kind of role, as far as a DH or third baseman, you can’t get comfortable. So I’m gonna give Justin more DH days, so he can get more used to that role, and give Max more third base days. … Getting each of those guys more accustomed to a certain role, I think, ultimately could be beneficial.”
Muncy and Turner started at third base and DH, respectively, in the Dodgers’ first two games against the Phillies this weekend.
Muncy has appeared at third base in 17 of his 38 games this season, and entered play Sunday hitting .161/.336/.288 with four doubles, one triple, three home runs, 13 RBI and 30 walks across 148 plate appearances.
Muncy’s struggles recently led Roberts to dropping him out of the cleanup spot in favor of Smith.
Turner has started 19 of his 38 games at third base and also was among those to get off to a slow start. He’s batting .215/.273/.378 with 10 doubles, four home runs and 29 RBI in 147 plate appearances.
Turner getting ‘closer and closer’ to locking in swing
Heading into the start of the Dodgers’ 10-game road trip, Turner had six doubles, three home runs, 18 RBI and a .744 on-base plus slugging percentage during May. Most notably, he had back-to-back days with a home run to close out the homestand.
“Just constantly tinkering and making adjustments and trying to get good feels in the box,” Turner said after the Dodgers swept the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“And I feel like I’ve slowly been getting closer and closer and closer. I don’t think it’s all the way, you know, perfect yet, but I do feel like I’m in a real position to be able to compete and have a bit of results.”
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