Mike Salas
Continuing our DodgersBeat position preview is left field, where the Los Angeles Dodgers have multiple position players on the roster who are more than capable of fielding.
Last season, the position was primarily held by Teoscar Hernández, but with Mookie Betts now a full-time infielder, Hernández will move from left field to right field, his natural position. That said, who will the Dodgers turn to this season?
What Will Left Field Look Like with Michael Conforto Slated to Make Up Most of the Starts?
The Los Angeles Dodgers made a move in the offseason to beef up the outfield by signing free agent Michael Conforto from the San Fransico Giants. The Dodgers inked a 1-year, $17 million deal through the 2025 baseball season.
Conforto is a 31-year-old outfielder who played for Oregon State and was drafted by the New York Mets in the 2014 draft. In his 8-years in the Majors, Conforto has been primarily in the outfield. During his time with the Mets, he mainly played left field and was moved around to right and center fields. In his last year with the Giants, he posted a .759 OPS.
Conforto is coming off one average year in his career. The knock on him last year was that he couldn’t produce home runs during his home games in San Francisco, but he could produce on the road. 2024 he hit .237/.309/.450 over 438 plate appearances.
Over his nine years in the Majors, Conforto hit .251/.348/.456 and a .804 OPS with 182 doubles, 7 triples, 167 home runs, 520 RBI, 514 runs, and 22 stolen bases.
An above-average defender, Conforto should give the Dodgers outfield some much-needed stability. The big question with Conforto is whether he will be able to produce at the plate at home and on the road.
So far, during the Dodgers 2025 spring training, Conforto has shown some life to the bat in batting practice and during live BP. Conforto was one of four to face Yamamoto’s live simulation, and he was able to get a couple of hits off him.
For the upcoming 2025 regular season, FanGraphs has Conforto projected to be a slightly above-average hitter with 20 home runs, .238/.320/.326 slash line and a .324 wOBA, and a 109 wRC+.
Conforto has come to a team that has the mentality of World Series or bust. The hitting coaches must work with him to get a more consistent bat that will produce runs and move runners into scoring position.
Other Options
With Michael Conforto set to play a majority of the innings in left field. Two other options are to fill in or take over the position when the regular season starts.
The first option that comes to mind is second-year player Andy Pages. Pages is a natural corner outfielder who has a cannon of an arm and has the ability to crush balls when a left-handed pitcher is on the mound. The knock-on Pages last year, “he’s a horrible center fielder.” What most fans don’t know who do not follow the minor leagues. Last year, Pages was coming off a shoulder injury that sidelined him for all of the 2023 minor league season.
He came into the Dodgers 2024 spring training looking good. He lost weight, he looked like his shoulder was totally rehabbed, and his bat was knocking balls out of the ballpark. 2024 was his first season back after spending a month in Triple-A ball with OKC before he was injured. Pages won a spot on the roster and earned a World Series by hustling and blocking out all the criticism.
With a year under his belt with one of the league’s most recognized and respected franchises, Pages has the ability to show off his talents in left field and display the natural talent he has in his bat.
Key Stat: 40.8 SwSp% Pages pulls the ball a lot while consistently hitting it on a good launch angle. He had a solid rookie campaign with a .712 OPS, but expect him to take a big step forward in 2025. FanGraphs has him as an average hitter with a .247 AVG / .317 OBP / .441 SLG / .328 wOBA / 100 wRC+. If you scroll up a little on this article, Pages numbers are slightly better than Conforto. The only difference is experience in the Majors.
Another option is veteran Chris Taylor. Taylor, 34, has played all over the baseball diamond since joining the Dodgers, but father time has crept up on the once above-average defender. Offensively, Taylor must improve, as in 2024, he had his worst season, hitting .202/.298/.300 with a 74 wRC+.
Overall, the Dodgers’ left field platoon can be above average. It will all depend on how those who are featured will be at the plate, how good their glove will be, and how strong their arm is. The Dodgers are looking to go back-to-back World Series Champs in 2025, and they will need the corner outfielders to do their part in producing runs when October comes around.
DodgersBeat Grade B
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