January 31st, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka The consensus among every Dodger player asked during Saturday’s FanFest event at Dodger Stadium about the return of Howie Kendrick is that it’s great to have him back – to the man.
“I’m so excited to have him back. He’s one of my favorite teammates of all-time. He’s a great guy to have in the clubhouse.” – Adrian Gonzalez.
“Now that Howie’s back we pretty much have our same team position player-wise. If we do what we’re supposed to do, we have an opportunity to be a great team. It’s just a matter of everybody doing what is expected of them.” – Clayton Kershaw
“I’m glad. Howie’s obviously a great player. I got to know him a little bit last year when I was here for a short amount of time. I have a lot of respect for him about the way he’s gone about his business over the years from watching him from afar. I think he makes our team better.” – Chase Utley
Those who think that Howie Kendrick is going to be the Dodgers everyday second baseman this season could be in for a surprise. (Photo credit – Lisa Blumenfeld)
But while having Kendrick back may be exactly what his teammates and most Dodger fans wanted, it creates a bit of a logjam as far as who the team’s so-called everyday second baseman is going to be.
Although having too many of anything is always considered a good problem for any team to have, the Dodgers are basically looking at having either $7 million (Utley) or $10 million (Kendrick) sitting on the bench on any given day – or even $17 million if/when Kiké Hernandez or (possibly) Micah Johnson are playing second base.
…or are they?
New Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Saturday that in addition to continuing to work Chase Utley out at third base, they also plan to work Kendrick out at the hot corner this spring as well.
“We’re definitely going to dice it up. I think that with Howie, [he] is open to playing some third, playing some second,” Roberts said. “The season, as it plays out, we might move him around a little bit. The guys are open to it I think. If you look at the positions, there’s a lot of plate appearances to go around.
“The number one thing is there was a buy-in as far as whatever is good for the ball club – from Chase, from Howie, from J.T. [Turner], from Kiké,” Roberts continued. “So I think that there’s going to be plenty of opportunities, but again, we’re a better club with him.”
After firing up the FanFest crowd, Roberts surprised reporters when he told them he plans to work Howie Kendrick out at third base this spring. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Kendrick has played in 1,186 games during his 10-year MLB career. Of those, 1,080 were at second base, 78 at first base, 27 in the outfield, 17 as a designated hitter and exactly one at third base. And while this certainly does not mean that Kendrick isn’t capable of handling the position, doing so at this point of his career may be a bit much to ask of the 32-year-old Jacksonville, FL native.
What isn’t in question is Kendrick’s bat. Through his ten big-league seasons, Kendrick has a career triple-slash of .293 / .333 / .423. And while these may not be Hall of Fame-caliber numbers, his consistency is like clockwork. Additionally, Kendrick boasts a career fielding percentage of .986 – again, not Hall of Fame stuff but definitely above average and the stuff that makes managers very happy.
“With Howie I had a conversation with his yesterday and he was excited to be back on-board,” said Roberts. “For me, I told him he just made me a better manager.”
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Kendrick coming back instantly makes this team better and a lot deeper. Glad he’s back on board. Utley and Hernandez become backups with Kendricks return. IMO this team is in much better shape to deal with the inevitable injuries than last years team.
Losing Greinke obviously hurts, but if Ryu is healthy, I like our rotation depth as well. I expect nothing from McCarthy this year, but I do like a Kershaw, Ryu, Kazmir, Maeda, Anderson rotation a lot better than the huge fall off we had last year after Kershaw and Greinke. We have a lot of potential options to fill in behind those 5 as well.
This team certainly has some question marks, but I like our chances this year and beyond. All in all with the bad contracts our new front office inherited, I think they’ve done a good job adding depth and fielding a competitive team at the same time. Go Blue!!
I think it is a good move with Utley on a one year contract and Kendrick on a two year contract. The Dodgers can surely use Kendrick’s hitting with RISP and with two outs. He is a player and apparently a good team player.
As much as I would like Kike to slide into the 2B role full time I expect he will get ample play time all over the field which magnifies his value.
I liken him to Ben Zobrist. Hernandez is already ahead of Zobrist who really didn’t make his mark in MLB until he was 27. Hernandez has had a good season as a 23-year old.
We tend to slot guys but FAZ seems more interested in having them as flexible moving parts and that includes Howie Kendrick. Good athletes can do that. It is interesting to me that Jackie Robinson played 748 games at 2B during his career but also had 256 at 3B, 188 at 1B and 145 in LF. Almost 45% of his career was away from 2B.
Now I’m not suggesting that KIke is a Jackie Robinson but he can be just as valuable playing pretty much full time at various positions. It depends on his bat.
Andrew’s favorite player is Ben Zobrist, and I agree that is exactly the role Kike’ is going to play. One of my all time favorite players (not just as a Dodger) was Lee Lacy. So while everyone knows Zobrist, Lacy was a Zobrist before Zobrist. I hope Kike’ wants the role and becomes the valuable super utility player. I will proudly wear his jersey (with my Kershaw and Seager).
But I hope that Howie stays at 2nd. Seager is going to need a consistent presence (at least initially) around the bag.
I think most Dodger fans, over the past few years, have become use to platooning and moving players all around and in and out of games. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that as long as they win.
I posted this on Scott’s site:
I agree that Puig can have the biggest impact – good or bad – I hope that Dave Robert’s approach works (he wants Puig to be Puig). Pederson is also a key – I have no opinion which way he will go. I believe Seager will be worthy of his accolades and who knows if Grandal will recover his power this year or if it will take another? What I do know is this:
1. There will likely be some unexpected injuries; and
2. Even if the Dodgers had signed Greinke he was never going to put up the numbers he did last year. His 1.66 ERA will not be repeated. Most likely, the Dodgers have to replace a #2 with a 2.60 to 2.70 ERA (that’s what Zack had in 2013 ands 2014). That makes our current #2 (Kazmir) look a whole lot better. Don’t compare him to the 1.66 ERA Greinke. COmpare Kazmir’s 3.55 and 2.38 ERA with Oakland the past two years. When you look at it like that, the gap isn’t as wide.
I think it’s likely the Dodgers pitching will be greatly improved this year with the sheer depth they have acquired plus injured pitchers coming back and prospects possibly coming up. Over all, the Dodgers have a great deal of flexibility. Consider this:
(16) Legitimate Options for Starting Pitchers:
Kershaw, Kazmir, Wood, Anderson, Maeda, Bolsinger, Cotton, Frias, Lee, Mccarthy, Montas, Ryu, Stripling, Urias, De Leon, Beachey
(3) Legitimate Options for Starting Catchers:
Grandal, Ellis, Barnes
(6) Legitimate Options for Starting First Basemen:
Gonzalez, Van Slyke, Kendrick, Utley, Grandal, Turner
(8) Legitimate Options for Starting Second Basemen:
Utley, Hernandez, Kendrick, Barnes, Johnson, Turner, Guerrero, Hererra
(2) Legitimate Options for Starting Shortstop:
Seager, Hererra
(8) Legitimate Options for Starting Third Basemen:
Utley, Hernandez, Kendrick, Barnes, Turner, Guerrero, Hererra, Seager
(7) Legitimate Options for Starting Left Fielders
Hernandez, Johnson, Guerrero, Crawford, Thompson, Van Slyke, Ethier
(4) Legitimate Options for Starting Center Fielders:
Hernandez, Johnson, Pederson, Thompson
(5) Legitimate Options for Starting Right Fielders
Puig, Hernandez, Thompson, Van Slyke, Ethier
This team has lots of options at every position. Literally, anyone could be traded if another team has a need due to injury. Who gets hot and hits is who will play. I’m not saying this will happen, but if Turner and Grandal start the year on the DL, this could be the lineup:
1. Johnson CF
2. Kendrick 2B
3. Seager SS
4. Puig RF
5. Gonzalez 1B
6. Barnes C
7. Utley 2B
8. Thompson RF
I won’t even predict what will happen, but it looks like there could be open competition at almost every position.
Penciling in Johnson ahead of Pederson and Kike Hernandez in CF is a real stretch considering he has not yet played the OF in the minors. Barnes over AJ Ellis? Assume you want Thompson in LF rather than RF, but starting over Ethier, or Crawford, or Van Slyke? Dodgers have many options, but I would not call all of them “legitimate options” — if Dodgers have Herrera as a starter at either 2b or SS the team is in real trouble.
I don’t see the opening day line up not including Ethier or Ellis under your scenario.
Johnson has played exclusively at second base during his career. I am not sure why he would get a start over Kike or Joc.
Thompson has the same issue as Joc – K’s. 166-2012, 139-2013, 151-2014, 105 – 2015. All of that but for 27 games or so in the minors. His career OBP is .319. Joc’s is .347 at the MLB level.
I hope both of these kids do well but I don’t see Johnson and Thompson stepping in on opening day. AAA is more likely unless the DL requires a mash unit.
This was Thompson first taste of the bigs. Joc didn’t hit a single HR, in his first taste, and really didn’t hit at all. Thompson was working on cutting his strike outs down last year, and did a decent job of that last year, especially in the bigs. He is also a good defensive centerfielder too. And really Joc only hit well for one month last year, so he has a lot to prove this year. And Thompson has right handed power, something the Dodgers need.
And Thompson has a 297 batting average in the bigs, and hit five HRs, in his first taste. Joc’s batting average in the bigs is much lower, then Thompson too.
That’s a lineup only Mark could love!!! Extremely heavy on the IF’s…
Good Lord, I’d still love a legit leadoff guy…