Los Angeles Dodgers: The biggest mistakes to avoid in 2019
By Jason Reed
3. Platooning Cody Bellinger, at all
One of the biggest criticisms of the Los Angeles Dodgers last season was how dependent the team was on platoons. It got to the point where the Dodgers were fielding lineups that had no business of being World Series lineups because the team was coming up against a left-handed pitcher.
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All signs are indicating that the Dodgers are going to platoon far less in 2019 and perhaps the biggest beneficiary of this is Cody Bellinger, who has spoken out about platoons already.
The narrative heading into the season is that Bellinger is going to be an everyday member of the starting lineup, which is the right thing for the Dodgers to do. Plus, with Alex Verdugo serving as the fourth outfielder, it seems unlikely there would be an outfield platoon.
However, it is not completely unlikely to see Bellinger get platooned if he has a cold stretch against left-handed pitching, especially if the team picks up a right-handed outfield bat, such as Nicholas Castellanos, as the trade deadline.
That would suddenly open the door to start Castellanos and David Freese in the same lineup with the power-hitting Bellinger and Muncy out of the lineup. Muncy is one thing, especially if he struggles and his defense continues to struggle, but this would be foolish for the Dodgers to do to Bellinger.
He might not be as even in his splits as Corey Seager is but Bellinger is still a threat against left-handed pitching and has actually hit it fairly well this spring. And even if he is worse against southpaws he is still an elite defensive piece with speed that can make things happen on the base paths.
dark. Next. The impacts of getting Seager back
The easiest thing to do as a manager is sitting the power-hitting left-handed bat against a good southpaw. Dave Roberts must avoid taking that bait frequently in 2019.