It’s probably safe to say that recently acquired Dodgers reliever Chris Hatcher wasn’t feeling too good after his one inning of work on Monday afternoon against the Oakland A’s at Camelback Ranch. Even though the Dodgers were already down 1-0 when the Kinston, NC native was given the ball in the top of the fourth inning, when the inning ended, Hatcher had allowed three runs on two hits with a walk and a strikeout.

To his credit, Hatcher has been flawless prior to Monday’s game, having allowed no runs and only two hits with two strikeouts in three innings pitched, and there is nothing to even remotely suggest that he is not still the leading candidate to fill in for the injured Kenley Jansen as the Dodgers substitute closer when the team breaks camp three weeks from now. But regardless of the fact that spring training games are often considered meaningless games, you can bet that this game was anything but meaningless for the 30-year-old right-hander.

Even after his rough outing on Monday, Chris Hatcher is still the favorite to fill in for Kenley Jansen as the Dodgers temporary closer. (Photo credit – Rich Pilling)

But then something unusual happened – or rather something usual.

Just as they have been doing all spring long, the Dodgers late-inning replacement players – consisting mainly of guys who will begin the 2015 season with the Dodgers new Triple-A affiliate Oklahoma City Dodgers – refused to give up, and wouldn’t you know, they ended up letting both Hatcher and Dodgers starter Zack Greinke off the hook.

In the bottom of the eighth inning and with no Dodgers regulars still in the game, catcher Austin Barnes lined a single to left to start off the inning. Second baseman Erisbel Arruebarrena followed with a fly out to right and was himself followed by first baseman Kyle Jensen, who promptly singled to left advancing Barnes to second base. This brought Dodgers top shortstop prospect Corey Seager to the plate, who was given the green light on a 3-0 count. Seager fouled the next two pitches off and ended up drawing his team-leading sixth walk of the spring. It was as professional of an at-bat as you will ever see and shows just how close the soon-to-be 21-year-old is to being major league ready.

Seager continues to show a plate discipline that you would expect from a seasoned veteran, not a 20-year-old prospect. His key walk on Monday was his sixth of the spring – twice that of any other Dodger player. (Photo credit – Mark J. Rebilas)

Instead of allowing Dodgers slugger Adrian Gonzalez to bat with the bases now loaded, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly opted to let Darnell Sweeney pinch hit for AGon – and hit he did. Batting left-handed, Sweeney drove a Ryan Cook fastball to the opposite field and over the Dodgers bullpen for a grand slam home run to give the Dodgers a 6-4 lead.

Darnell Sweeney’s opposite field grand slam on Monday was very impressive.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

But the Baby Dodgers weren’t finished. Still with only one out, hot-hitting third baseman Alex Guerrero singled to right and left fielder O’Koyea Dickson was hit by a pitch forcing A’s manager Bob Melvin to make a pitching change, bringing in left-hander Ryan Verdugo to try to stop the bleeding against the powerful left-handed hitting Scott Schebler. But Melvin’s lefty-lefty match-up didn’t work as the Dodgers right fielder crushed Verdugo’s 2-0 fastball way over the left-center field wall for a three-run home run to make it a 9-4 game.

But the Baby Dodgers still weren’t finished. On an 0-1 count, centerfielder Chris Heisey hit Verdugo’s second pitch, a hanging curveball, over the left field wall for a solo shot to give the Dodgers a 10-4 lead. Barnes and Arruebarrena then grounded out and flew out respectively to end the inning. When all was said and done, the replacement Dodgers had scored eight runs on six hits with a key walk and a hit batsman.

Although the A’s managed to score a run in the top of the ninth, the wind was long gone from their sails and the game couldn’t end soon enough for Melvin’s emotionally crushed team.

The point to all of this wasn’t necessarily to recap what was certainly a fun game for Dodger fans to watch but rather to point out just how powerful these Dodger replacements are. As such, there is every reason to believe that the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers are going to be a very good team.