Given the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning the 2016 regular season with 10 players on the disabled list, it created windows of opportunity for players who otherwise were likely to be left off the 25-man active roster come Opening Day.
One person that applies to is infielder Charlie Culberson, who signed a Minor League contract with the Dodgers last November and was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training. He was slowed by a back injury last spring, placed on the 15-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque in March.
The Colorado Rockies then transferred Culberson to the 60-day DL in April. He returned at the end of May, though only managed to appear in five games before undergoing season-ending back surgery
Culberson appeared in 27 Cactus League games with the Dodgers, batting .302/.373/.528 with two doubles, two triples, two home runs and 14 RBIs. With Howie Kendrick opening the season on the DL due to a calf strain, Culberson got the nod.
After appearing off the bench in three games, Culberson received his first start of the season in what turned out to be a wild affair between the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants on a rainy afternoon at AT&T Park.
Culberson the game at shortstop, where he got to a chopper up the middle, spun and made a strong throw in the fifth inning:
Culberson was then moved to left field in the bottom of the eighth. Prior to Saturday, he last played left field in the 2015 Dominican Winter League; he logged 177 innings there for the Rockies in 2013. After Clayton Kershaw retired the first two batters faced, Culberson helped him complete a 1-2-3 eighth inning by laying out for a diving catch to rob Angel Pagan:
Culberson didn’t only flash some leather, as he followed Corey Seager’s double in the 10th inning with a go-ahead double that proved to be the difference:
