Let’s be honest here, being a shortstop in the Dodgers organization behind two-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, and former National League Rookie of the Year Corey Seager isn’t exactly an ideal place to be. But as the 24-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native himself has shown us, stuff happens.

That stuff, of course, was Tommy John surgery to Seager’s right elbow last May, followed by arthroscopic surgery to his left hip last August. The good news is that by every indication, the extremely polite young shortstop might be ready by Opening Day on March 28.

But even during Seager’s absence, the Dodgers successfully filled the void at short with super-sub Kiké Hernandez and utility infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor, and later by less-than-fan-favorite Manny Machado, whom they acquired at the July 31, 2018 trade deadline, to get them into their second consecutive World Series.

But as is always the case, the world continues to turn and baseball is an on-going evolution in which future players are drafted and/or traded for each year, and there are always thousands of guys hoping (and praying) to one day get that call up to the Bigs.

One such guy is 24-year-old utility infielder Errol Robinson, whom the Dodgers selected in the sixth round of the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford, Mississippi.

It takes but one quick glance at ERob’s (as he is affectionately known) Baseball_Reference page to see that he has skyrocketed his way through the Dodgers minor league system, starting with the Pioneer Rookie League Ogden Raptors in 2016 (instead of the Arizona Rookie League) to Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga to Double-A Tulsa, and on to the prestigious Arizona Fall League – in only two seasons.

During his meteoric rise through the Dodgers farm system, ERob appeared in 16 games with the Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 11 as a shortstop and five as a second baseman. It was here that I first laid eyes on him and knew in an instant that he was destined for the major leagues … either as a Dodger or with some other team because of that Corey Seager thing.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who noticed just how good Robinson is.

Through the Dodgers first seven spring training games (including one split-squad game), Robinson has appeared in two consecutive major league games; the first on Thursday afternoon against the Colorado Rockies in which he replaced Chris Taylor at second base in the top of the seventh inning and going 1-for-1 at the plate with a single; and the second on Friday night against the San Diego Padres in which he played the entire game at shortstop, where he made several dazzling (and difficult) defensive plays.

But wait, there’s more.

In his first at-bat in the bottom of the third inning on Friday night, the 6′-0″ / 180-pound infielder led off the inning with a first-pitch triple into the gap in left-center field off of Padres starter Jacob Nix and scored the Dodgers first run of the night moments later on a wild pitch.

In his second at-bat in the bottom of the fourth inning and after missing a home run by only a couple of feet into foul territory down the right field line, Robinson hit a ground rule double which would have driven in two runs instead of one, had it not bounced over the fence in right field.

“He is [a fun player to watch], went to Ole Miss I think,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “He’s been on our side in the organization for three years and I just like his energy and he can catch the ball at shortstop.

“He sparked us early with a double, a triple, and so he’s going to be fun,” Roberts added.

Although it is highly unlikely that Robinson will break camp on the Dodgers 25-man Opening Day roster or even on the 40-man roster, it is very likely that he will be in the Opening Day line-up at Triple-A Oklahoma City – either at shortstop of second base – opposite Dodgers top infield prospect Gavin Lux.

Then again and as we all know, stuff happens.

…not to mention that Errol Robinson has the perfect last name to be a Dodger.

Play Ball!

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