Los Angeles Dodgers: Platooning less in 2019 is the right move

The Los Angeles Dodgers platooned in 2018 like it was going out of style and appear ready to ditch those platoon efforts for the 2019 season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers best attribute was one that may have been their biggest vice last season. Los Angeles had the deepest roster in the National League, and arguably the deepest from top to bottom, in Major League Baseball.

The only problem was that after a slow start to the season, the Dodgers resorted to platooning this deep roster on a daily basis. Down the stretch of the year, the only everyday players were Justin Turner and Manny Machado.

Turner still only played in 103 games because of injury and Machado was only present for 66 games.

The Dodgers would often field the dreaded right-handed lineup, to the dismay of many fans. These right-handed lineups often led to Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy, Yasmani Grandal, Joc Pederson and (ironically) Yasiel Puig sitting on the bench.

And the worst part was that once the left-handers were put in the opposing team could then switch back to a southpaw and there would be an issue. The thing that helped the team survive during the regular season also led to terrible matchup problems in October.

It was a bit of necessity last season because of the roster and the platoon splits that the players had. However, this year, it is not really a necessity at all and it appears as if the Dodgers are going to mostly get rid of platooning players altogether.

Bill Plunkett of the OC Register has a great piece explaining why the Dodgers platooned last season that includes quotes from Dave Roberts about the platooning. In the piece, Roberts makes it pretty clear that he did not like how much the team had to platoon, either.

That goes back to the issue of the front office managing games, not the manager, but let’s not dive down that rabbit hole.

While statistically, it was the right move to platoon in 2018, we should see an increase in production in some guys from finally getting everyday at-bats. Justin Turner and Corey Seager (when healthy) are obvious candidates to be everyday players.

However, so is Cody Bellinger (who can play the outfield and first base), A.J. Pollock and Alex Verdugo. That still might seem like a lot but having six of the eight hitters on the team be everyday guys is huge.

The only platoon that the Dodgers will likely look to run early in the season is Max Muncy and David Freese at first base if Muncy cannot show progression against left-handed pitching.

Enrique Hernandez and Chris Taylor will start at second base with the other being able to start anywhere else when someone needs a day off. Hernandez is the more traditional platoon-split player, as he thrives against left-handed pitching, but also showed he can hit right-handed pitching as well.

Whoever starts there will be performance-based, not based on the hand of the opposing pitcher.

The other outlier in this situation is Joc Pederson, hence why the team is rumored to trade him. He did well being the power-hitting left-handed platoon piece last year but that does not really work when you have Pollock and two left-handed hitters in the outfield.

And despite what everyone thinks there really shouldn’t be a position battle between Verdugo and Joc Pederson. Verdugo is an elite fielder with a great arm, has great speed and is much more reliable at the plate.

The best part? Verdugo hit .368 against left-handed pitching (as a left-handed batter) in AAA Oklahoma City last season. Granted, that is the minor leagues, but that shows that he will not be a slouch against left-handed pitching.

Then finally you have the catching tandem behind the plate of Russell Martin and Austin Barnes. That should not be an outright platoon like it was last season and be more of a traditional situation at catcher.

Martin should be Clayton Kershaw‘s personal catcher due to his veteran experience and past with Kershaw with Barnes getting the other four starts if he is performing up to standards. If not, you can alternate the guys and really go a myriad of ways there. They are both right-handed.

So the fans that hated platoons last season can finally rejoice. It appears as if the Los Angeles Dodgers might actually have a lineup that is somewhat similar on a daily basis.