Los Angeles Dodgers: Breakdown of why LA is still better than the Phillies

The infield:

You are going to have to wait until we bring Bryce Harper into this; we are starting with the infield. This is kind of hard, as the Dodgers have different guys in different spots, but we are going to go with who we think is the best player at each position.

(By the way, we think Cody Bellinger is the best first baseman on the team and should play first. However, it appears as if he is going to be an everyday outfielder in 2019.)

First base: Max Muncy v. Rhys Hoskins — Max Muncy

This one was very, very hard as the two players are very similar. There is a chance that Max Muncy has a huge regression in 2019 and Hoskins is the better player at season’s end. However, Muncy had a better WAR, OPS, batting average and wRC+ than Hoskins and slugged one more home run in 179 fewer plate appearances.

Second base: Enrique Hernandez v. Cesar Hernandez — Enrique Hernandez

This one is so close too. Besides sharing a last name, both guys are utility infielders that are better against left-handed pitching and hit within three points of each other. Enrique has more power, Cesar has more speed with Enrique taking home the honors because of better fielding.

Third base: Justin Turner v. Maikel Franco — Justin Turner

Maikel Franco is talented and is probably one of the most underrated third basemen in the league. However, he is still no Justin Turner. Even if Turner has a bad year this year he will still be better than Franco.

P.S: It does not appear that Turner is going to have a bad year. At the time of writing this, he is hitting .833 in Spring Training. That is insane.

Shortstop: Corey Seager v. Jean Segura — Corey Seager

This discussion is closer than Dodger fans would like to admit since Seager missed all of 2018 and Segura has hit over .300 the last three years.

However, Seager has not even grazed the surface of his potential and has already finished in the top three for National League MVP voting. Although Segura is a huge upgrade for the Phillies, he is not Corey Seager.

Catcher: Austin Barnes v. J.T. Realmuto — J.T. Realmuto

You could put Austin Barnes or Russell Martin here and it would not really even matter. J.T. Realmuto is a better catcher than both and is the best catcher in baseball.

Infield bench  — Los Angeles Dodgers

Part of the reason why the Los Angeles Dodgers are so good is because of the depth of the team. Los Angeles has Chris Taylor, David Freese and Russell Martin as their likely bench options heading into 2019.

That trio is better than the trio of Scott Kingrey, Andrew Knapp and whoever serves as the third bench infielder if the team even has one.