March 11th, 2020 at 8:00 am 
by 0799291000348 The Dodgers have so much talent and depth that there will be difficult roster decisions before Opening Day of the 2020 regular season. One of the most difficult to date was optioning 24-year-old infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry to Triple-A Oklahoma City. He not only out-performed utility players Edwin Rios and Matt Beaty this Spring, but also Baseball America’s 2019 Minor League Player of the Year Gavin Lux.
Adam Kolarek is strictly a LOOGY (left-handed one-out guy) with right-handed hitters batting an incredible .571 against him in the Cactus League. The new three-batter minimum rule is likely the Waterloo of Kolarek’s Major League pitching career.
Jordan Sheffield was the Dodgers first-round supplemental selection in the 2016 Major League entry draft. He was not added to the 40-man roster after the 2019 season and went unclaimed by the other Major League teams in the December Rule 5 draft. A poor Cactus League performance (7.36 ERA) by the 24-year-old reliever has likely added “bust” next to his name in place of prospect.
Twenty-four-year-old outfielder DJ Peters, currently listed as the Dodgers number-13 prospect, is clearly being out-played this spring by 25-year-old Cody Thomas and 26-year-old Zach Reks, neither of whom is among the team’s top-30 prospects. Thomas, the one-time Oklahoma University Sooner quarterback, leads the team in home runs (5), and runs-batted-in (10) in Cactus League games. Reks is an on-base machine (.538) with some power, and can also play first base. Peters better step-up his game soon to remain in the elite top-30.
Right-handed pitchers Dennis Santana, Brusdar Graterol and Tony Gonsolin are deserving of roster spots come Opening Day, but will they suffer the same fate as McKinstry by starting the season in Triple-A Oklahoma City?
Hopefully, the Dodgers hitting coaches and 21-year-old catching prospect Keibert Ruiz will be successful in transforming his hitting mechanics, but right now I miss the sweet swing that previously sprayed line drives to all fields.
Austin Barnes is making the Opening Day catching assignment an interesting competition with Will Smith. Prior to the start of Spring Training, it was assumed that Barnes would be the backup to Smith; apparently Barnes did not get the memo.
The Corey Seager “marching and chowder society” (a Vin Scully-ism) is poetically doing cartwheels, as he is 100% healthy and playing as he did in 2016 and 2017.
Just a few observations from one fan.
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As we all know, it is very rare for non-roster invitees to break camp on the 25 (now 26)-man roster. It does happen from time to time, but again, it is very rare.
As much as I liked what I have seen of McKinstry this Spring (and when he was at Rancho), there was little doubt that he would eventually be reassigned to MiLB camp. And even though Cody Thomas (who I still think is an alien) continues to rake and play stellar defense, my guess is that he will soon be on the backfields at CBR too.
…but boy do their respective futures look bright!
Agree 100%. For McKinstry to make the opening day roster there would have to be trades, and/or injuries (which no one wants). I am hoping that the Dodgers take him to the Freeway Series in recognition of his progression and wonderful spring training. Thomas, who I have followed since being drafted (I have been an OU Sooner fan for almost as long as I have rooted for Dodgers), had zero chance of making the roster. But, I think he and Reks have demonstrated that they are legit outfield prospects comparable to DJ Peters; Peters gets extra points because he hits from the right side.
Although I haven’t seen Zach McKinstry without his sunglasses he seems to look, to me, a lot like Jeff Kent.
I think McKinstry and Lux pictures look like they could be brothers
I actually agree with you on this one, Joe. lol!
Don’t put too much stock in spring training results
Fair point. Cactus League batting averages, ERA’s, etc. must be viewed as statistically insignificant with very small sample size, but not ignored when players (McKinstry for example) continue to hit line drives to all fields. All you have to do is watch Corey Seager play and he passes any one’s eye test, whether it is hitting, fielding, throwing, or running the bases.
Doing cartwheels on the Corey Seager marching and chowder society. I love Zach MCKinstry and Cody Thomas. Love Beaty and Lux too. Wish we could have a 28 man roster. As far as the pitchers are concerned, I think Gonsolin has earned a sport on the OD roster. I just hope the decisions on the pitchers will not be based on who is out of options. Probably unreasonable for me to make this comment.
regarding player options, not an unreasonable consideration at all. Dodgers did move Casey Sadler and Yimi Garcia off of the 40 man roster, both of whom were out of options. The only Dodgers pitchers who cannot be optioned at this point are the veterans who cannot be optioned as they have more than enough Major League service time.
Looks like Ferguson and Alexander as lefties have the best path to make the opening day bullpen. If there is a season we have a tremendous team.
Yes, both have looked very good this spring. Ferguson with a much better breaking pitch, and Alexander healthy.
it’s frustrating to me how many fans are yelling ‘the kids are ready to play’ while simultaneously hollering ‘spend! spend! spend!’
also, we definitely should have kept sadler in place of kolarek.
I like Sadler, but being right handed, and no remaining minor league options made him expendable.