The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of the deepest teams in baseball, particularly in position players, and especially after the non-waiver and waiver trade deadlines when they added the likes of veterans Manny Machado, Brian Dozier and David Freese to the organization.
While boasting an abundance of talented players certainly isn’t a bad problem to have, it definitely does take some sacrifices as only eight players can be in the lineup on any given night.
The Dodgers have World Series aspirations though, so players have willingly given up playing time for the betterment of the team. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained how he’s navigated that and praised his players for making those sacrifices, via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN:
“A lot of conversations,” Roberts said of what it entails, “and selling them on giving us the best chance to win a championship. And understanding that, and appreciating that, although you’re not starting, you have a chance to impact our game that particular night. Which if you look at the way we’ve managed things, it’s really played out that way. There’s a lot of guys, in games that we’ve won, that haven’t started and have made an impact, whether it be defensively or taking an at-bat. When you kind of see it play out like that, it validates it.”
Outside of Machado at shortstop and Justin Turner at third base, the Dodgers have essentially utilized platoons at every other position. The likes of Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig, who are all All-Star caliber talents, have largely not been in the lineup against left-handed pitching due to struggles earlier in the season.
On the other hand, Matt Kemp, Chris Taylor, Dozier and Freese have often been out of the lineup against righties, which hasn’t been the case throughout the course of their careers.
While it obviously can’t be easy for those players and they deserve a lot of credit for remaining focused on the goal at hand, some credit should also be given to Roberts for managing all the different personalities in the clubhouse as the Dodgers look to win their sixth straight National League West title.
