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The Ideal Time to Call Up Each of the Dodgers’ Top Prospects

By Sarah Maninger

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 10: Walker Buehler (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 10: Walker Buehler (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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Dodgers
GLENDALE, AZ – MARCH 01: Alex Verdugo (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

Alex Verdugo – OF

  • Age: 21

  • # of seasons in the majors: 4

  • Predicted call-up: whenever the Dodgers need him

Like Buehler, Alex Verdugo has seen the show before. He got the call in September of 2017 but went back down to Oklahoma City when the postseason began. Verdugo is young, and he could very well be in the majors for another season, but I don’t think he will be.

The Dodgers’ outfield is complex. They have more options for left field than any other position. Those complexities, however, could open the door for Verdugo. If anyone in the outfield gets hurt, there will probably be a major league solution for the empty space left behind them. If Chris Taylor gets hurt, or if Seager gets hurt and Taylor moves to short, Joc Pederson is first in line for the spot in center.

If Matt Kemp gets injured, Andrew Toles is the undeniable answer. Very few defensive problems involve Alex Verdugo as the answer; except for one, key issue the Dodgers may begin to deal with; a lack of offensive production.

Verdugo boasts a .305 minors career average. That’s better than plenty of major leaguers, and he’s only 21. Then again, he has yet to face enough big-league arms, bringing us back to a “small sample size.”

Verdugo could be the Dodgers answer to their offense, should it begin to flicker. The sample size may be small, but when you’ve been in the minors as long as Verdugo, a .305 average is a .305 average, and I doubt there’s a team out there who would dare ignore that.

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