Los Angeles Dodgers: How to make more time for Alex Verdugo

Alex Verdugo has thrived in his limited chances thus far this season, making his case to get more playing time on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Alex Verdugo was one of the most exciting things about the Los Angeles Dodgers heading into the 2019 season despite nobody really talking about what he brings to the table.

This is the same highly touted prospect that the Dodgers have refused to trade on multiple times but was still not getting a starting role on the team. In fact, Verdugo has not even had a platoon role, serving as a pinch hitter and spot starter on the team.

That is a hard role to succeed in. It is not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to come in completely cold and face the best players on the planet but Verdugo has done just that.

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With two starts and several pinch-hit opportunities under his belt, Verdugo is seven for 16 with two home runs, two doubles, a triple and six RBIs.

Granted, the sample size is small but Verdugo has thoroughly impressed thus far. Not only is he putting together the impressive numbers in his limited appearances but he is absolutely smoking the baseball.

With others struggling and some people coming back down to earth, it has become evident that Verdugo might need more time than he currently has. While it is unreasonable to make him the everyday starter after just 16 at-bats, he is proving that the team is better off with him in the lineup more times than not.

The problem is that he is a left-handed outfielder and currently shares that role with Joc Pederson, who started the year out on fire but has since cooled down a tad. A.J. Pollock is a right-handed hitter and has not gotten a regular day off yet and Cody Bellinger is an everyday player.

So, how do we get Verdugo more playing time? Easy, set up a rotation.

We know that Verdugo is left-handed but you could legitimately make the case that he is a better platoon option in left field than the right-handed hitting Chris Taylor. However, it is too early to give up on Taylor completely, so we cannot strip that role just yet.

Verdugo can get, say, one in every three starts in left field against a southpaw pitcher. That gives Taylor his time while also giving a fresh look in left field.

You could make the case that he could play right field and Bellinger at first, but David Freese is getting the starts right now at first against southpaws. However, Freese should only be starting about 60 percent of games against southpaws.

Against right-handed pitching, Verdugo should get more of a fair share in left field. It should be about a 70/30 split between him and Joc against right-handed pitching. The only reason that is so low is because of the other way he can get in the lineup.

And that is the occasional day off against a right-handed pitcher for Enrique Hernandez. Hernandez should get a day off at least once every ten games, always being against a right-hander. That opens the door for Max Muncy to play second, Bellinger first and Verdugo right field.

Of course, there are other natural days off for the likes of Justin Turner and Corey Seager that could move things around but relying on these scheduled days off can actually give Verdugo really good playing time.

Let’s take a 10 game sample size and say five are against southpaws and five are against right-handed pitchers.

Well, Verdugo will get at least one start in left field against the southpaw because of the Taylor rotation. Also, the Los Angeles Dodgers use David Freese at first base three times, Muncy once and Bellinger once, opening the door for Verdugo to play right in other game. That is two games of the five.

Then against the right-handed pitcher, he would get two starts in left field in that platoon as well as Hernandez’ one day off every 10 games. That means Verdugo would start half of the 10 games, which is more than he is currently playing.

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And the other half he can be used as a late-game pinch-hitter as well as a double switch option. Managing isn’t easy, and it is a hard puzzle to follow but the Los Angeles Dodgers have to get him in there more often.

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