State of the Dodgers: Depth In The Outfield

November 23, 2015

5 Min Read

Mark J. Terrill-AP Photo

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In a new series of posts over the next few weeks, we’re taking a look at each of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ position groups; analyzing which players are gone, which players are returning and which free agents might be on the team’s radar.

Click here to see our pieces on starting pitching and the bullpen.

If there’s one position group on the roster that is expected (read: hoping) to see the most action this offseason, it might be the outfielders.

With EIGHT outfielders on the 40-man roster who are Major-League quality and a front office bent on making waves, anything could happen.

At the moment, the outfielders are Carl Crawford (34 years old), Andre Ethier (33), Alex Guerrero (29), Kiké Hernandez (24), Joc Pederson (23), Yasiel Puig (24), Scott Schebler and Scott Van Slyke (29).

As a result of their depth (and injuries), the Dodgers had 10 outfielders see the field last season (when including Chris Heisey and Justin Ruggiano), with everyone but Heisey, Ruggiano and Schebler receiving over 180 at-bats.

And, despite the constant movement, the Dodgers outfielders performed really well.

According to Fangraphs, the Dodgers’ group of outfielders finished with the fifth-highest WAR, 10th-highest on-base percentage, eighth-highest slugging percentage and the third-most home runs.

That was despite getting just 79 games from their best outfielder — Puig. But what will the Dodgers do with the surplus heading into next season?

CONTINUE READING: State Of The Dodgers Outfield

TAGGED:Andre Ethier Joc Pederson Los Angeles Dodgers Scott Van Slyke State of the Dodgers Yasiel Puig

Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a local newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Dodgers and Raiders since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNation.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Dodger I'm going past and present (sort of) on this one. Recently, I was a die hard Yasiel Puig guy. The energy he played with was amazing and the hope and expectation he brought every single night was captivating. Whether it was a rifle from the warning track to throw a guy out at second, an aggressive bat flip or licking his bat, I was here for ALL of the Yasiel Puig era. Past tense, I'd go with Eric Gagné. This wasn't so much about Gagné himself as it was the experience of cheering for him. Yes, he was on steroids — but the dude was unlike any pitcher I've ever seen — he was NASTY. I still stand by the claim that if I needed one out and my life depended on it, and could choose any pitcher from any era to get me that out, I'm taking roided up Gagné in a heartbeat. Favorite Dodger Moment A few jump to mind immediately. Being born in November of 1988, I missed the last World Series by weeks — which also meant I didn't get to see the Dodgers win a playoff game until I was nearly 16. They had made the playoffs in 1995 and 1996, but were swept both times. In 2004, though, I got to see them win behind a complete game shutout from Jose Lima, and that was pretty freaking special. The next in-person moment that came to mind was the Manny Ramirez bobblehead night pinch-hit grand slam from 2009. Vin Scully claimed it was the loudest he had heard Dodger Stadium in 20 years, and it's hard to disagree. As far as ones I didn't get to see live, I'll throw one more out there: the back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs that tied a game against the Padres in 2006 (plus the walk-off from Nomar Garciaparra in extra innings) was an all-timer. Obviously, the impending Dodgers World Series will quickly jump to the top of this list...