Los Angeles Dodgers: Right-handed bench bats that fit perfectly in LA
By Jason Reed
1. Howie Kendrick
The man that hit the 10th inning grand slam off of Joe Kelly to seal the Los Angeles Dodgers’ fate in the NLDS. Prior to that at-bat, Howie Kendrick was doing everything to lose that series for the Nationals. Since then, he has been red-hot and earned the NLCS MVP as a result.
Hendrick’s stock has risen exponentially in the last two weeks because of the playoffs and that might hurt the Dodgers from making the perfect low-key signing and bringing him in. Despite putting together really good numbers in his regular-seasn chances, nobody really talked about Kendrick, which would have been perfect for the Dodgers.
It also follows the two-year trend of bringing back former Dodgers to serve in a different role as before. The team traded for Matt Kemp and Russell Martin the last two years and it would not be all that surprising to see them pursue Kendrick to be the veteran infielder on a two-year deal this winter.
Kendrick hit .376 against left-handed pitching this season, which was fourth in the majors among players with at least 60 plate appearances against southpaws. Of his 44 hits, 16 were of the extra-base hit variety.
He would be perfect to backup Gavin Lux at second base while also providing depth at both first and third base if needed. Heck, as the Dodgers showed when Kendrick was on the team, he could even play the outfield as well.
The only concern here is that Kendrick will actually have a bigger market now and that some team will pay him more to be a starter. But if he gets no other offers from legitimate contenders, I could definitely see him agreeing to come back to LA to contend for another World Series after potentially winning one this year.