Getting Ready to Rubble
Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on March 26 is approaching sooner than later. Except for 2B, which ultimately seems to belong to Tommy Edman, who will start the season on the IL, all the positions are set… barring injury… and there will be…
Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on March 26 is approaching sooner than later. Except for 2B, which ultimately seems to belong to Tommy Edman, who will start the season on the IL, all the positions are set… barring injury… and there will be injuries. Won’t there?
Breakout candidate: Christian Zazueta is a RHP who is 6′ 3″ and very skinny. He came to the Dodgers in the Caleb Ferguson deal with the Yankees. He has recently added 17 pounds but needs about 30 more. His fastball tops out at 98 MPH and has a killer changeup. He is working on a sweeper/curve, but he is a strike thrower. Last season, between Great Lakes and Rancho Cucamonga, he was 7-2 with a 2.41 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. In 67 IP, he struck out 81 and walked just 16, so he has incredible control for someone so young. He will start at Great Lakes, but he could move rapidly and could possibly see the show by fall. Watch this kid:
Players most likely to be traded: I am going to preface this by saying, “If he has a good spring.” The player is Hyeseong Kim. He is essentially Alex Freeland with less power and not able to hit from both sides of the plate. I can see him being traded if he has a hot spring. Oh, and if Freeland has a good Spring. Kim really isn’t the type of player the Dodgers seek. I prefer Freeland, and Kim has some real value to certain teams.
Some fans will say Miller or Knack, but that would involve selling low. We know that Graterol and maybe Snell will be late to the dance, along with Edman and Kike, so some pitchers will get an opportunity early. I think that after the World Series of 2025 and the long season, the Dodgers will slow-play a lot of the staff. Look for Wrobleski, Casparius, Stone, Sheehan, and Ryan, along with Knack, to get opportunities.
The Lineup:
Right about now, it looks like this:
- Ohtani DF
- Tucker RF
- Betts SS
- Freeman 1B
- Smith C
- Muncie 3B
- Teoscar LF
- Pages RF
- Kim/Rojas 2B
Bench: Rushing, Call, Freeland
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Discussion (110)
Disagree, not disagreeable
No way they trade Kim so soon. Everything about him is positive. Maybe he never slugs. Doing everything else well, while playing multiple up the middle positions is a damn good bench player. But this front office isn’t going to give up on him so fast. Trading him so soon wouldn’t reflect well back in Korea either.
Bear, I don’t think you read my post correctly.
What’s up with Bear’s multiple posting? Self-import? User error? SEO?
I agree. I bet he makes the 26 man roster.
According to Cary Osborne of Dodger Insider, manager Dave Roberts said Yamamoto is starting against the Los Angeles Angels in the Dodgers’ first game of the year on the Saturday.The outing is expected to be Yamamoto’s only start for the Dodgers before he leaves to join Samurai Japan, which opened their training camp in Miyazaki on Feb. 14.
Dude, you’ve developed a stutter.
Untreated stutter?
Hiccup in the matrix.
What a signing
No chance Kim isn’t a Dodger for a long time. Rojas is gone after this season, and so is Kiki, and possibly sooner for either. Kim is multi-positional, speedy, and a contact hitter, though he needs to improve his strikeout issue during his 1st season. He’ll become a much better version of Edman in time. Freeland, if they hang on to him, will be the backup to Kim.
😉
Always a chance… Spring will decide a lot of things.
Look, I like Kim. He is an amazing athlete, but last season may have been his best. Here’s why I think that: In Korea, Ha-Seong Kim (the other Kim) hit 123 HR with a .294 BA/.373 OB% and a .866 OPS. In MLB, he has hit about 60% less HR and has a .242 BA/.324 OB% and a .701 OPS. In Korea, Hyeseong Kim hit 37 HR (in roughly the same # of ABs) with a .304 BA/.364 OB% a nd a .766 OPS. Assuming his OPS continues to follow Ha-Seong Kim (and there is no reason to think otherwise), he will continue to put up sub-.700 OPS numbers. The Dodgers typically don’t keep players who hit that poorly. If Alex Freeland delivers, I think the Dodgers will seek to trade Kim THIS YEAR! Just my opinion!
AKA Middletown, U.S.A. “Muncie, Indiana, gained national recognition as ‘Middletown, U.S.A.’ following a 1924 sociological study by Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd, who deemed it the archetypal American city for analyzing industrial transformation. Their 1929 book, Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture, set the stage for decades of studies that used Muncie to represent average American life.” https://muncieparks.com/history-and-background/ Maybe Alex Call will blow up this year and join the ranks of Bob Ross, Jim Davis, and David Letterman as one of Muncie’s favorite “adopted sons”.
Muncie is not a very nice town right about now, and neither is Anderson, which is a few miles to the West.
I agree Bear! But I usually think like you .we are just 2 very smart people!
Again, it’s very, very, very rare for the Dodgers to trade an asset when his value is low.
When LA signed Kim they touted his double-plus running ability, defensive versatility & offensive upside. He has delivered on those things in limited time. We hold two $5m options for ’28 & ’29–which must be exercised together–with a $1.5m buyout. Basically, if he can perform like a utility man he’s worth it. I think he shows growth this year and next and we exercise the options.
Kim makes the 26 man roster out of Spring Training. Bet it!
There is a glitch in the system. I press post just once. I have no clue why it repeats. the post.
Glitch is the system. I do not do that on purpose
With Edman most likely starting the year on the IL< that makes sense.
The case everyone is making for Kim is with their heart. That’s fine… but it’s not reality. Here’s the reality, EVERY Korean player who came to MLB showed a significant drop in OPS in MLB. Here’s the list: 1. Ha-seong Kim – 160 points 2. Jung-hoo Lee – 140 points 3. Byung-ho Park – -350 points 4. Ji-man Choi – 140 points I ran it by AI and here was their verdict: Conservative drop (–150): → ~.680–.700 MLB OPS Optimistic adjustment (elite contact carries): → ~.710–.730 OPS Given his profile is closer to Ha-seong than to a pure slugger like Park, the most reasonable steady-state expectation: .690–.715 OPS hitter 2–3 WAR upside if defense and speed play. I don’t think that will play with the Dodgers. Alex Freeland has more thunder in his bat. So do Kike and Rojas. If all three are healthy, there’s no place for Kim. He could be sent to AAA, but that would devalue him even more. Feel free to disagree, but there is a method to my madness.
Major League Baseball is officially implementing the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System for the 2026 season. This system serves as a “middle ground” between traditional human umpiring and full automation. Under this format, human home-plate umpires continue to call every pitch, but players have a limited number of opportunities to appeal those calls to an automated system. How the System Works The ABS system uses 12 Hawk-Eye cameras positioned around the stadium to track pitch locations with a margin of error of approximately 1/6 of an inch. The Strike Zone: Each batter is assigned an individualized strike zone based on their measured height. The top of the zone is set at 53.5% of the player’s height, and the bottom is at 27%. The Call: If any part of the ball touches any part of this two-dimensional zone—measured at the midpoint of home plate—the pitch is a strike. Review Process: Once a challenge is issued, an animated graphic showing the ball’s location is displayed on the stadium scoreboard and the television broadcast. The entire process typically takes about 15 seconds. Challenge Rules for 2026 Feature Rule Details Allotted Challenges Each team starts with 2 challenges per game. Retention A team retains their challenge if the call is overturned; they lose it only if the original call is upheld. Who Can Challenge Only the batter, catcher, or pitcher can initiate a challenge. Managers and dugouts are prohibited from doing so. How to Signal The player must immediately (within ~2 seconds) tap their cap or helmet to alert the umpire. Extra Innings Teams that start an extra inning with no challenges will be awarded 1 extra challenge for that inning (non-accumulating). Key Restrictions & Nuances No Outside Help: Players cannot receive signals or advice from the dugout or teammates before deciding to challenge. Position Players: Challenges are not permitted when a position player is pitching. Runner Placement: If a ball/strike call is overturned during a live play (e.g., a stolen base attempt), umpires determine if the original call impacted the play’s outcome to decide runner placement. Implementation: The system will be used in all regular season and postseason games, with exceptions for international or special neutral-site games lacking the necessary infrastructure.
Give Kim a chance. With all the premier bats we have in the lineup, his offense is NOT that important. Bat him ninth and platoon him with Rojas at second until Edman comes off the IL. Build up his confidence rather than send him to Oklahoma City.