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

The outfield:

It is a bit harder to go position-by-position in the outfield as it is not clear who is going to play where in Philadelphia and the Dodgers, although they have A.J. Pollock in center, can go either way in the corner outfield.

But here we are, finally talking about Bryce Harper and how he compares to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfield.

The outfield: Cody Bellinger, A.J. Pollock and Alex Verdugo v. Bryce Harper, Odubel Herrera and Andrew McCutchen — Los Angeles Dodgers

This might seem like I have homer bias and I completely would understand why if a fan of the Phillies read this. This area is where I went the most back and forth on but I decided to give it to the Dodgers.

I still think Bryce Harper is the best player in this group. Dodger fans might disagree because of Cody Bellinger and Harper’s poor fielding but Harper’s career OPS is still higher than Bellinger’s in a larger sample size and the ceiling on Harper is higher.

However, right now, as crazy as it sounds, there is not that big of a difference between Harper and Bellinger. Like Muncy and Hoskins, Bellinger very well could have the better 2019 season.

A.J. Pollock is an all-star-caliber player when he is healthy but has not been healthy a whole lot. He is the third-best outfielder of this group when he is at 100 percent but we are unsure if the Dodgers are going to get that out of Pollock. For that reason, I will make him and a regressing Andrew McCutchen a wash.

The difference-maker here is Alex Verdugo, who is the Dodgers’ second-best prospect and should be an early front runner for Rookie of the Year. Verdugo has been big league ready for more than a year and excels at all of baseball’s five tools.

He is a great fielder with range and speed on the basepaths. He has an elite arm similar to Yasiel Puig‘s, hit over .300 in AAA last season and can slug 15-20 home runs in a season. He does not have the dreaded southpaw split, at least not in his minor league career, and is better than Odubel Herrera.

Outfield bench — Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia has Aaron Altherr and Nick Williams on the bench while the Dodgers will go with Joc Pederson and either Hernandez or Taylor or a Spring Training standout.

Altherr has the power of Pederson without the terrible split and we don’t even know who the second outfield bench option if there is one, will be. Williams is better than nothing.