February 4th, 2017 at 7:00 am 
by Jacob Rudner Spring training 2017, which is now less than three weeks away, will serve as the battleground for multiple key position roles for the Dodgers. Among those battles are the corner outfield spots, the last rotation spot, and various bullpen roles. This will be the first of a three-part series that will breakdown how each battle could play out and who is in the running to win them. All three parts will also predict the winners. This article will focus in on the Dodgers’ corner outfield spots.
The outfield going into the 2017 season is very full. Besides center field, which will almost undoubtedly be occupied by Joc Pederson, there really is no certainty in who will play the other two outfield positions. But looking back on the 2016 season, as well as who will be available going into this year, it is possible to predict who will fit where. The list of possible corner outfields includes: Andrew Toles, Andre Ethier, newly acquired Brett Eibner, Trayce Thompson, Scott Van Slyke, and possibly Kiké Hernandez.
Although Pederson’s bat will undoubtedly play a huge role in the Dodgers’ success in 2017, it is his All-Star defense that makes him one of the best center fielders in the game today.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
Of the bunch, let’s start with Eibner and Van Slyke. Eibner, who was acquired in a trade from the A’s on January 25, will need to worry about making the opening day roster before he worries about competing for a starting job. As I said in my last article, I think Eibner has a very slim shot of breaking camp on the Dodgers 25-man roster. So, for that reason alone, he can’t be our winner. Van Slyke, who has been in the majors for five years now, also has an extremely small chance of winning a starting job. He has never exceeded 230 at bats in a single season and that isn’t likely to change any time soon. However, with Van Slyke’s ability to also play first base as well as his .268 career batting average against lefties makes him a strong candidate to come out of spring training as a right-handed-hitting bench player.
Next is Kiké Hernandez. Hernandez’s best tool is his ability to absolutely crush left handed pitching. Over the last two year, Hernandez has hit a crazy .306 against left-handers. Last year, while his overall numbers were down from his first season in a Dodger uniform in 2015, he still managed to hit five home runs off southpaws. Like Van Slyke, Kiké can play multiple infield positions as well as all three outfield positions, thus making him quite valuable off the bench. As such, look for Hernandez to once again fill the so-called super utility role in 2017.
Briefly, let’s talk Trayce Thompson. He is a great player and he proved it last season with two huge walk-off home runs – including the game-winner in rookie phenom Julio Urias‘ Dodger Stadium debut on May 10 – and played solid defense. But due to a late-season back injury and the fact that he is just trying to be ready and healthy for opening day, it is very unlikely that he will make the Dodgers opening day roster but could get into a starting job later in the season.
And then there were two. The finalists for left field are Andre Ethier and Andrew Toles. Both are lefty hitters and both have experience, although one a lot more than the other. For Ethier it looks as though things are starting to slow down in the stats department after suffering a near-season-long injury last spring. But he is a veteran of 11 MLB seasons and, after making the playoff roster this past post-season, he clearly showed that he still has some pop in his bat and is still a plus defender. Andrew Toles also makes a very compelling argument to be the everyday starter as he can do a little of everything. His bat has shown extreme promise with power and contact to all fields. This past season, in only 105 at-bats, Toles hit three home runs and drove in 16 runs – this after beginning the 2016 season at Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. Along with the lumber, he has a great arm as well as a great glove. Toles is still only 23 years old and is still rookie-eligible. With a lot of talent already established and a whole lot more potential, he has, in my opinion, won the left field starting spot.
On the very first pitch of his very first major league at-bat, Andrew Toles lined a double into the left-center field gap. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Now let’s talk about the other side of the outfield. This one is a little easier of a decision in my opinion as it really comes down to how much Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wants to utilize Yasiel Puig. If he has a good spring training and continues to show his much-improved attitude, I don’t think he’ll have a problem winning that spot. So, unless he is traded or does something really bad this spring, the everyday right field job is his to lose.
Just to sum it up, the outfield lineup will have Toles in left, Pederson in center, and Puig in right. And barring a last-minute trade or (Heaven forbid) a spring training injury, it should look like this come opening day.
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A well thought-out and thought-provoking piece, Jacob. Thanks. I must say, however, that while I agree with many of your opinions, I do not agree with all of them.
It’s very clear that you think very highly of Andrew Toles, as do I. (Just ask Harold or AM 570 LA Sports’ David Vassegh). But to be boldly honest, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised it he begins the 2017 season at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Barring an unforeseen and unexpected last-minute trade, there is absolutely no way that Andre Ethier is not the Opening Day (and everyday) left fielder – at least to begin the season. Keep in mind that although 10 years older than Toles, Ethier still is still owed $17.5 million for 2017 and has a $17.5 million club option (or a $2.5 million buyout) for 2018. In other words, there is no way that the Dodgers will eat a minimum of $20 million on a guy who is still very much “Captain Clutch.”
Although Toles clearly showed that he is MLB-ready and a decent ball player with plus speed and very good offense, his defensive gaffs during the NLCS were flat out embarrassing and cannot be overlooked and confirm that he is still a work in progress.
Another thing to consider is that even though Ethier missed nearly all of the 2016 season recovering from his freak spring training 2016 broken tibia (shin), the Dodgers – more specifically Andrew Friedman – felt strongly enough about Ethier to include him on the playoff roster even though he had only 26 plate appearances in the 16 September games in which he played. This speaks volumes about what the Dodgers think of him. Keep in mind that Toles still has all three of his options remaining while Ethier (of course) has none.
Another player who needs to have an absolutely incredible spring if he has any hope of making the Dodgers Opening Day roster is Kiké Hernandez. Although there is zero debating that Kiké is a huge fan-favorite, he was absolutely horrible in 2016. And with guys like Scott Van Slyke, Brett Eibner and (perhaps) Andrew Toles as potential bench players, Kiké has his work cut out for him to make the Dodgers’ 25-man. Here again, Hernandez also has an option remaining.
All of this said, I anxiously await your second installment of your 2017 Battle Series. Keep up the great work!
This is a GREAT response and one that I definitely want to talk about more.
First, I completely agree with you that it will be very difficult for Kike to make the opening day, 25-man, roster given his poor stats from last year as well as the many options we have in house. But, when he is hitting well, his ability to hit southpaws is well above average and that can’t be over looked. I think that as long as he shows everyone that he can actually hit the ball again, he’ll be fine.
Second, I disagree (as stated in the article) about Ethier and Toles. I think that Andrew has emphatically proven that he is MLB ready and deserving of a starting job. But, you are correct when you said his post-season errors were both costly and can’t be overlooked. With that being said, he was on America’s biggest stage and had started that season in Advanced-A Rancho so, the pressure may not be something we can fairly evaluate when talking about his performance.
Next, I think that Ethier will serve the team better as a mentor type player. Don’t get me wrong though, when I said he will not be the opening day starter I did not mean he will not get his fair share of at-bats this season. As a matter of fact, I think that he and Toles will almost split time in left but Toles will start the first game of the year.
Finally, I think that Toles has the ability to be the next “Captain Clutch”. We can look back to games like the one in Colorado where Toles hit the clutch grand slam to give us the lead. Or even throughout the post-season when Andrew was spraying balls into the outfield with runners on base.
I think that Spring Training will absolutely serve as the battle ground for the two of them and it will come down to performance to determine a winner.
Thanks for reading!!!
A very interesting article and I’m sure many would agree with you, Jacob, on who would be the starting three outfielders.
Thanks for reading!