Los Angeles Dodgers: Players that will have a surprising impact in 2019
By Jason Reed
1. Edwin Rios
Edwin Rios is someone that I have circled four times over while previewing the 2019 season as someone that could have an impact that nobody saw coming. Rios can impact the big league club with his production or could be a surprisingly valuable trade chip in a deal that keeps the Dodgers from having to trade Alex Verdugo.
We are going to go with the former. If Rios does not get traded this winter, he is bound to have some sort of impact in 2019.
He might not even play the entire year and might only be called up once someone gets hurt. Rios is corner infielder that can also play the corner outfield spots with decent range. He is not the best fielder, but his bat in AAA OKC last season proved that he is big league ready.
Rios hit .304 with 10 home runs, 55 RBIs and a .837 OPS in 88 games at the AAA level. The most surprising part is that Rios is a left-handed bat that is hard to strategize against as southpaws traditionally don’t give him a lot of trouble.
This could change once he faces big league pitching but Rios was still a .291 hitter against southpaws last season.
That is important because right now the Dodgers biggest weakness is facing southpaws, which makes it much easier to gameplan against the team in the playoffs. Los Angeles needs a respectable bat against left-handers that Dave Roberts can sandwich between two other left-handed hitters to make game planning more difficult.
The Dodgers can try the same right-handed lineup but that causes for logistical nightmares down the stretch of a game. Instead, the team needs to find someone that can hit southpaws, which Rios can, and so can the other players on this list.