With nine guys vying for three Opening Day outfield spots, it’s no surprise that the competition at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, AZ is heating up for the Dodgers’ Opening Day back-up outfield spots.

It’s pretty much a given that Mookie Betts and Jayson Heyward, and David Peralta will be the so-called every day right, center, and left fielders respectively. But with the Dodgers expected to carry as many as seven outfielders on their 40-man roster, the competition for those remaining outfield spots is heating up between Chris Taylor, Trayce Thompson, James Outman, and Minor Leaguers Drew Avans, Andy Pages, and Jonny DeLuca.

It is certainly safe to say that Taylor has a distinct advantage over the others in that he can also play second base and shortstop, which became a very big deal when outfielder-turned-infielder Gavin Lux went down with a season-ending torn right ACL this past week, for which he will soon have surgery (presumably on Monday).

Getting back to that competition thing and although the sample size is ridiculously small (six Spring Training games to date), it is probably safe to say that Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts (Et al.) are paying very close attention to which of their remaining potential outfield candidates are also swinging a hot bat this Spring.

Meaning absolutely no disrespect whatsoever to Messrs. Taylor, Thompson, Avans, Pages, and DeLuca, they are hitting .200/.100/.333/.375/.250 respectively, with zero home runs. Outman, on the other hand, is currently 5-for-11 (.455), with one of the Dodgers (thus far) eight Spring Training home runs, with three RBI.

Here again, although the sample size is ridiculously small, it is impossible not to notice what 25-year-old Redwood City, CA native and the Dodgers seventh-round draft pick in 2018 out of California State University Sacramento James Outman has done (and continuing to do) this Spring.

Play Ball!

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