Cody Snavely
Over the past few seasons, the left field has been a revolving door for the Dodgers.
Like most teams around the league, the premier outfield positions are right field and center. Entering the 2024 season, that is the same, as there are new faces who will spend time in the position.
In 2023, the Dodgers added David Peralta before the start of spring training, and the duo of Peralta and Chris Taylor held down the position for most of the season.
However, the Dodgers have added reinforcements in the form of Teoscar Hernández and a few familiar faces along the way.
One year prove it deal for Teoscar Hernández?
One of the first rumors to surface in November was the Dodgers’ interest in Mariners outfielder Teoscar Hernández, as Juan Torbio from MLB.com reported.
During the November GM meeting, the Dodgers were reportedly looking for a right-handed bat that could smash left-handed pitching.
At that time, it was yet to be reported that Mookie Betts would be the full-time second basemen in 2024, but they were likely planning for it internally.
However, the Dodgers remained patient and got the big stars in Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. However, the evil Dodgers were not done as they signed Teoscar Hernández to a 1-year $23.5 million deal.
The contract, signed as mentioned for $23.5 million, will have $8.5 million deferred from 2030 to 2039. This brings the contract to a current value of 1-year $15 million. The 2023 MLB qualifying offer was $20.5 million, so the Dodgers got Hernández under that value.
2023 was a down year for Hernández. However, he still had a slash line of .258/.305/.435, an OPS of .741, and an OPS+ of 106. Many of these numbers could be attributed to the pitching-friendly T-Mobile park.
The Dodgers needed to replace the right-handed power bat that was voided with the likely departure of J.D Martinez. In his career, Hernández has hit .275/.329/.557 with an OPS of .887 and OPS+ of 119 against left-handed pitching.
One area the Dodgers hope to improve with Hernández is his strikeout and chase rate, which were among the worst in baseball last season. However, Hernández is not just a platoon bat to plug in LF. He is a regular starter.
While Hernández has hit well against LHP, he is also elite versus righties, which led him to start 160 games last season. As the roster stands, it is safe to pencil Hernández as the everyday left fielder. While Hernández is not known as a defensive guru, he is more than a serviceable body in a corner position.
For 2024, FanGraphs sees more of the same for Hernández, with a projected slash line of .260/.312/.471, 111 wRC+, and 1.9 WAR. However, the Dodgers, who signed Hernández to a one-year deal, hope he re-establishes his market and has a career year in LA.
Other options?
The Dodgers will often shift around their outfield defense as they play matchups. While Hernández will still start a majority of games in left, we could see him move to right field if a left-handed starter is playing to get Chris Taylor in the lineup.
However, the two Dodgers super-utility players, Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernández, do not be surprised if, at some point in the season, we see top prospect Andy Pages make his MLB debut after his hot spring training.
The last option is Miguel Vargas, who will be transitioning from second base to left, where the process has already begun this Spring Training.
Vargas, who entered the 2023 season as the Dodgers’ Opening Day second baseman, was looking to be one of the many prospects getting an opportunity with free agents leaving.
However, for the Dodgers and Vargas, it couldn’t have gone worse when the rookie was demoted to the Minor Leagues after a weak first half, where he posted a slash line of .195/.305/.367.
Vargas, who has seen action this spring, is not a lock to make the 26-man roster, as the remaining roster spots will be highly competitive.
DODGERSBEAT GRADE: B–
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