The Dodgers full-time third baseman has hit one home run, one double, has three RBIs, has walked twice and has struck out five times in 45 at-bats. This calculates out to a .244 batting average, a .277 on-base percentage, a .333 slugging percentage for a meager .610 OPS – and this doesn’t include the three double plays that he has grounded into in the 14 games in which he has played.

The Dodgers part-time third baseman has hit five home runs, two doubles, has 13 RBIs, has walked once and has struck out once in 22 at-bats. This calculates out to a .500 batting average, a .500 on-base percentage, a 1.273 slugging percentage (that is not a typo) for an absolutely ludicrous 1.773 OPS – and he has grounded into zero double plays in the 10 games in which he has played.

The Dodgers everyday third baseman is Juan Uribe and their part-time third baseman is Alex Guerrero – roles assigned to them by Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.

It’s safe to say that Guerrero (probably) will not keep up his torrid pace and there is a pretty good chance that Uribe’s numbers will (probably) improve. But Guerrero is 28 years old and approaching the prime of his career and Uribe is 36 years old and on the downhill side of his.

Yet through the first three weeks of the 2015 season we have heard excuse after excuse from Mattingly as to why Guerrero will continue to be a “reserve player” (Mattingly’s exact words) and why Uribe will continue to be his everyday third baseman.

In his 22 at-bats this season, Alex Guerrero has homered in five of them.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo).

On Sunday we heard another Mattingly excuse – this one reported by SportsNet LA’s in-game reporter Alanna Rizzo. Paraphrasing Mattingly, Rizzo reported that the Dodgers manager wants to see how Guerrero adjusts to the adjustments that pitchers are going to make on him once they see the book (scouting report) on him. This is kind of like putting the cart in front of the horse or saying that this $35 steak would taste great if it were a little less burnt. Whatever happened to going with the hot hand?

Well that hot hand struck yet again on Sunday when Guerrero, who was making only his third start of the season at third base, slugged his fifth home run of the season – a no doubter solo shot to left field in the fifth inning that turned a 2-0 shutout into a one-run game. Guerrero, who had already singled in the third inning, would finish the day going 2 for 3 and bump his batting average up to .500.

Even the biggest Uribe advocates can no longer ignore what they are witnessing with Guerrero, including the biggest of them all – Don Mattingly – who seems to have suddenly had a change of heart after Sunday’s game.

“When a guy’s swinging the bat, you’re going to find playing time for him,” Mattingly said. “That’s just the way this game is.”

This, of course, brings up the burning (and obvious) question – If this is “just the way this game is,” why is Mattingly the last guy to realize this when he should have been the first?

One theory is that Mattingly (along with many others) seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on what Juan Uribe did last season when he hit .311 with nine home runs and 54 RBI. And while this may seem like the noble thing to do, the first clue that something was wrong and that this logic may be flawed was when Uribe went 11 for 51 (.216) with only one extra base hit (a double) and three RBIs while striking out 10 times during spring training. These numbers are more reminiscent of the 2011-2012 Juan Uribe than the one from 2013-2014. As we all know, major league baseball is a “what have you done for me lately?” sport – Andruw Jones notwithstanding.

We all get that Uribe is a great defensive third baseman and most agree that he was robbed of a Gold Glove in both 2013 and 2014 (although he did win the Wilson Top Defender award in 2014), but during Sunday’s eventual 3-1 loss to the division-rival Padres, Guerrero himself made two very good defensive plays at third base. Granted, he still has a lot to learn about the position having been a shortstop during his entire nine-year professional career in Cuba, but how does one learn a new position when one does not play it very often?

One also has to believe that Mattingly is beginning to feel a little heat from above to get (and keep) Guerrero’s blazing hot bat into the everyday line-up more often and, of all people, it appears that his countryman Yasiel Puig may unintentionally have something to do with that.

After two weeks of screwing around with Puig’s strained left hamstring, the Dodgers finally placed their 24-year-old star outfielder on the 15-day disabled list before Sunday’s game – a move that should have been made 14 days ago. With Puig now on the shelf and with Dodgers everyday left fielder Carl Crawford hitting a paltry .229 with an anemic .245 on-base percentage, Guerrero figures to find his name in the starting line-up more frequently – either to spell Uribe at third base or Crawford in left field. As Dodger fans may recall, Guerrero looked very good in his five spring training games in left field, where he did not commit an error in 21.0 innings.

Whether it’s heat from above or Matting simply (and finally) getting it, he addressed this very issue during his post-game interview on Sunday afternoon.

“There’s a good chance you’re going to see [Guerrero] out there (in left field),” Mattingly said. “Obviously with Yasiel down it changes something.”

Older Dodger fans undoubtedly remember another Guerrero who was pretty good with a bat – 1981 World Series Co-MVP Pedro Guerrero. (AP Photo)

While it is fully understood that Juan Uribe is a 15-year MLB veteran and an outstanding clubhouse guy, and that Alex Guerrero has appeared in a grand total of 21 games at the major league level, baseball is an ever-evolving game. And based on the early returns, it appears that Guerrero has evolved rather nicely.