Opening Day is just around the corner for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they have been in full swing of preparations by playing near-daily intrasquad games at Dodger Stadium over the past week.
While most players reported to Summer Camp when it officially opened July 3, the Dodgers were missing a few key contributors for undisclosed reasons. They recently welcomed closer Kenley Jansen to camp after he revealed that he was dealing with coronavirus (COVID-19) and had to get cleared medically before joining his teammates.
It appears some more players showed up to camp this week as well as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said AJ Pollock, Pedro Baez and Scott Alexander are now present. That leaves Keibert Ruiz as the only player on the 40-man roster not yet in camp.
It’s unclear why those players took so long to get to L.A., although in Pollock’s case, he and his wife recently had a baby, which could have something to do with it. Pollock is back now and has some time to get ready for Opening Day on July 23.
“We’ll kind of get him in the mix, get him some at-bats and work him in slowly,” Roberts said. “I think he’s been working out, running, lifting, taking swings. Hasn’t done a whole lot of baseball-specific stuff as far as on the field.
“We’ll get him in his spikes and move him around. I don’t see him playing defense [Tuesday], maybe take a couple at-bats. If not, he’ll see some live pitching in the next couple days and hopefully get into a game soon.”
Relievers don’t typically take long to get ready for a season, so Baez also could be on the mound in a game in the coming days.
“Pedro looks good. Threw on flat ground, then did some PFPs and was moving around well,” Roberts said. “Hopefully we’ll get him to face some hitters in a couple days.”
Alexander has dealt with diabetes throughout the course of his career, which could have contributed to him reporting late. It appears he is a bit ahead of Baez through having just thrown a bullpen.
“Scotty threw a ‘pen [Monday] and looked good. I think it was 15 to 20 pitches, and did some PFP. I’m not sure when he’s going to get into a game, but I would expect it’s over the next two or three days,” Roberts said.
Dodgers roster decisions ahead
Now that almost all of the Dodgers are in camp, Roberts can begin narrowing down his roster to 30 players, which is where it will be for the first two weeks of the regular season.
If Pollock, Baez and Alexander are all healthy and prepared by Opening Day, they could be on the active roster. If not then they will have to start the year on the injured list and the Dodgers’ depth will come into play early.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events and more!
