May 17th, 2016 at 7:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Dodgers back-up outfielder Trayce Thompson has hit a home run in four of the last eight games he has played in, including a walk-off home run on May 10 and two home runs on Monday night.
Dodgers so-called everyday left fielder Carl Crawford has yet to hit one.
Thompson has made several brilliant diving catches thus far this season and opposing base runners think twice about taking an extra base off of his strong throwing arm.
Crawford has failed to make plays in left field that even an average outfielder should be able to make and opposing base runners are taking extra bases on his weak, surgically repaired throwing arm at will.
Thompson has a batting average of .292, an on-base percentage of .338, a slugging percentage of .611 for an OPS of .949.
Crawford’s slash-line is .200 / .241 / .280 for an embarrassing OPS of .491.
With the Dodgers mired in what is basically a team-wide slump right now, you would thing that playing one of the team’s hottest hitters over one of the coldest would be a no-brainer for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. The million dollar question – or the $41.75 million dollar question to be more precise – is of course why?
Yet when asked this very question by the media (ad nauseam), Roberts continues to tiptoe his way through a mind field by giving the company line (a la former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly) by insisting that Crawford is going to be an important part of the Dodgers success this season. The problem with this obviously flawed logic is that even the most myopic Dodger fan can clearly see who the better outfielder is – on both sides of the ball – and can clearly see that it’s Crawford’s absolutely insane seven-year – $142 million contract that has been dictating who plays and who sits instead of who the better outfielder is.
With his two home runs on Monday night, Thompson now has six on the season – tied for the most with Joc Pederson and Corey Seager. Carl Crawford has yet to hit even one.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
But alas, Carl Crawford is still considered by Roberts as his everyday left fielder and Trayce Thompson, who can play all three outfield positions well, is still considered one of his back-up outfielders.
…until now, that is.
After Thompson’s two home runs on Monday night, the first multi-homer game of his young career, Roberts was yet again asked what the 25-year-old Los Angeles native must do to convince him – and even more so the front office – that Thompson absolutely needs to play every day. This time, however, Roberts stepped away from the company line and finally gave the very obvious correct answer … sort of.
“Trayce is doing a lot of good things,” said Roberts after Monday night’s 7-6 loss to the crosstown rival Angels. “He’s definitely deserving of more playing time.”
He most certainly is, but will he? Apparently there is now enough pressure on the first-year manager that it might actually happen.
Ya think?
Don’t get me wrong, Carl Crawford is a great guy and is extremely well liked by his teammates and even the media. But with the Dodgers having now slipped into third place in the NL West, they can ill afford to give games away because of contracts over talent.
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Kevin called this one early.
Playing the hotter hitter would make Roberts a different manager than Mattingly. With the way Puig and Crawford are hitting lately, it should be an easy decision to bench one of them and play Thompson instead. There’s no reason not to. Playing someone because of his salary will not help the team win.
It makes no difference unless Thompson gets the opportunity to contribute on a daily basis… as in STARTING LEFT FIELDER! This guy hits both sides of the plate equally well, can throw the ball, can steal a base when needed and knows how to play defense.
Puig and/or Pederson better be looking over their shoulders, because Andre Ethier is a month away from sending one or both back to the minors… and it ain’t gonna be Trayce Thompson getting sent down!
That is right on CB. He simply has to play until someone else is playing better than he is. Letting Crawford’s bad contract continue to be a detriment to the team is not acceptable. That is what I mean when I say 2018 will be financial emancipation for the team. Gone will be the contracts that strangle the team, not so much financially, but on the field because big contracts are supposed to play and get in the way of building the team for the longer run.
“…hits both sides of the plate equally well.”
I meant that he hits right-handers and left-handers equally well. Something that not all Dodger players can say… some much worse than others. Pederson and Gonzalez… just to name two.