Cody Snavely
While the Dodgers have begun the 2024 season with a two-game series in Korea, however, the team is currently carrying 31 players on that roster.
Come March 28th, the Dodgers will have yet another roster crunch for the domestic Opening Day against the Cardinals. The Dodgers will need to get the roster to the traditional 26-man active roster.
Although, with a few minor injuries and delayed starts, what can we expect that roster to look like?
The position player group is locked
Entering camp to start Spring Training, the Dodgers 2024 core position player group was pretty much locked up. After the Dodgers re-signed Kiké Hernández and shipped Miguel Margot to the Twins, the bench was also taking shape.
I believe that the Dodgers will likely choose a 13/13 roster split. With that said, what will the 13-position player pool be?
C– Will Smith
1B– Freddie Freeman
2B– Gavin Lux
3B– Max Muncy
SS– Mookie Betts
LF– Teoscar Hernández
CF– James Outman
RF– Jason Heyward
DH– Shohei Ohtani
BENCH
UTL– Chris Taylor
UTL– Kiké Hernández
2B/SS– Miguel Rojas
C– Austin Barnes
This is a solid group of players, and the added combination of Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernández provides depth in the infield and outfield.
However, per usual, expect the Dodgers to play match-ups with platoon players against left-handed and right-handed pitching.
The odd man out here is Miguel Vargas, who the Dodgers announced was optioned last week but traveled to Korea as a reserve player on the 31-man roster.
Vargas, who opened 2023 as the Dodgers’ opening-day second baseman, lost the job after a poor first half, which forced the Dodgers to look elsewhere. Entering camp, Vargas was transitioning to LF, where he will likely start in OKC.
The starting rotation is set
The starting rotation was a huge concern for the Dodgers in the second half of last season, ultimately leading to their defeat in the NLDS, where the Diamondbacks swept them.
Entering the winter, they sought starting pitching and succeeded in bringing in Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and James Paxton.
However, the fifth spot in the Dodgers rotation was up for grabs and had plenty of fierce competition. Ultimately, Gavin Stone won the starting job after having a terrific Spring, pitching 13 innings and allowing only one run.
With Glasnow and Yamamoto opening the two games in Korea, it is logical that the Dodgers go with that one-two punch to begin the series against the Cardinals.
SP– Tyler Glasnow
SP– Yoshinobu Yamamoto
SP– Bobby Miller
SP– James Paxton
SP– Gavin Stone
The Dodgers could set up James Paxton as the third starter to break off the right-handed heavy starting rotation, as he is the lone left-handed starting pitcher. The Dodgers will also look to right-handed starting pitcher Michael Grove and left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough to start some games as well, but for now, they will be in the bullpen.
Who’s in and who’s out of the bullpen?
With the five starting pitchers now locked, we move to the bullpen, which is fluid at the moment. Currently, there are plenty of options that the Dodgers could choose from that are all worth the opportunity.
With Michael Grove and Ryan Yarbrough as the long relief options, Evan Phillips as the closer, and Daniel Hudson being confirmed by Dave Roberts to be a part of the pen, the rest is foggy.
RP– Michael Grove
RP– Ryan Yarbrough
RP– Joe Kelly
RP– Alex Vesia
RP– Daniel Hudson
RP– Kyle Hurt
RP– Ryan Braiser
CP– Evan Phillips
With right-handed relief pitchers Brusdar Graterol and Blake Treinen on the 10-day IL, look for rookie Kyle Hurt, who has dominated opponents this Spring, to get a spot in the bullpen to start the season.
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