Kike Hernandez or Chris Taylor?

Andre Ethier is most certainly going to start the season on the DL, but Andrew Toles Grand Salami yesterday iced his place on the team.  I punched his ticket!  It also doesn’t hurt that he is hitting .348.  I think this kid may have Wally Pipped Ethier. Next up is our utility infielder position.

Chris Taylor has garnered a lot of attention with his Spring success in the Cactus League.  He is hitting  .432 and OPS’ing 1.184. Charlie Culberson is having a good (not great) Spring and has the most AB’s of any player.  However, CC is not on the 40-man roster and because of that and other issues, he probably is not in the mix for the backup/utility man role.

Many people have already handed the position to Chris Taylor due to his outstanding Spring.  Not so fast!  Let’s not forget about Kike Hernandez and what he can bring.  He can play every position on the diamond and play it with credibility.  There’s the rumor that he can even catch.  I believe it! He is a team favorite and unlike Taylor, he has very good power.  Chris Taylor is a better SS, but Kike is a better All-Round Utility Man.  Kike is hitting .273 for the Spring and he has only 22 AB’s to Taylor’s 37 AB’s due to playing in the WBC.  Don’t write him off however.  I think the competition starts right about now.  How Taylor and Hernandez finish will determine their fates.

On Saturday, THE LA TIMES, Andy McCullough wrote about Kike Hernandez:

“After last year, the year that I had on the field and off the field, I lost a little bit of love for the game,” Hernandez said. “Heading back out there was pretty refreshing. That energy and that passion were pretty contagious, pretty quick. I could step back and think about everything, and realize that last year was just a bad year. I started to have fun playing baseball again.”

Hernandez filled a variety of roles for Team Puerto Rico, which fell in the championship game to Team USA on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. He hopes to play a similar part for the Dodgers, where he is the favorite to make the club as the last man on Manager Dave Roberts’ bench.

The bench puzzle features Hernandez, Chris Taylor and Charlie Culberson. Unlike Hernandez and Taylor, Culberson is not on the 40-man roster. The Dodgers may need the one current vacancy to add reliever Brandon Morrow.

Despite his recent absence, Hernandez holds a favorable position based on his ability to play the outfield. The team seeks a player who can both back up at shortstop and in center field, as an alternative for Joc Pederson against left-handed pitchers. In his first spring learning the outfield, Taylor has been eager but raw. Hernandez is a more polished defender.

McCullough went on the write this about Kike:

In July, Enrique Hernandez, Sr., a long-time coach and scout in Puerto Rico, underwent a bone marrow transplant. Hernandez shaved his head as his father started cancer treatment. He hit a game-winning homer on Father’s Day, but the moment could not offset his angst. He felt torn between his profession and his family.

“You want to be there to support your parents,” Hernandez said. “Not only my dad, but my mom, whose taking it like she’s the one who was going through the situation. You can’t be there. And you’re here, and you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do. It just gets hard.”

A lot of people have called Kike a “waste of a roster spot” and say that he “should not even be on the team.” I violently disagree.  He hit .307 in 2015 and then dealt with something a 24 year-old may not be equipped to deal with very well.  Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.  That said, Chris Taylor is playing out of his mind.  He wants a spot.  What do you do? The next few days will tell.  I can’t see both of them on the team, but it’s a possibility!

Some think there is a competition for backup catcher between Austin Barnes and Bobby Wilson – at first I did not think so, but Bobby Wilson is a baller.  Wilson has done an excellent job, but I think Barnes’ time is NOW.  Wilson is hitting .250 to Barnes .212 and Barnes is OPS’ing .790 while Wilson is .808.  Thew biggest difference is OB%, where Wilson is at .308 while Barnes is at .366.  Barnes gets on base much better. Wilson is an experienced backup catcher who calls a good game, but Austin Barnes does not need more seasoning.  I could see the Dodgers keeping Wilson, but if they do, they should trade Barnes – he has a lot of value.  Trade Barnes and Wood for Brad Brach if Ryu is healthy.

This from ESPN:

Seems as if hardly anybody is mentioning this, but it’s the super-deep Dodgers, not the Cubs, who have the top consensus preseason forecast in the big leagues. If needed, L.A. can tap into a terrific group of prospects and under-25 talents already on the 40-man roster. The Dodgers’ dilemma might turn out to be figuring out how to find spots for young guys demanding bigger roles at the big league level. Is it out of the realm of possibility that Cody Bellinger forces the Dodgers to consider dealing Adrian Gonzalez? Probably not, but that’s some nice insurance to have.

It’s interesting to read stuff like this:  “Dodgers News: Rich Hill’s Spring Struggles Continue Against Oakland”  I guess your perspective makes all the difference.  If you heard Rich Hill’s interview after the game, you would know that he was very happy with the outing.  He had issues in the beginning but then worked it out and he liked the way the ball was coming out of his hand.  I didn’t like the way he started, but I think the headline should have been “Rich Hill’s Struggles End Against Oakland,” because he actually figured it out!  I imagine it takes time to get the feel for that Big Spinner he throws.

Today’s Roster (subject to immense change)

1. Grandal
2. Barnes or Wilson
3. Gonzalez
4. Segedin (he could go to AAA and both Taylor and Hernandez make the squad)
5. Forsythe
6. Utley
7. Seager
8. Hernandez or Taylor
9. Turner
10. Toles
11. Gutierrez
12. Pederson
13. Puig
14. Kershaw
15. Meada
16. Hill
17. Ryu
18. McCarthy
19. Wood
20. Stripling
21. Baez
22. Avilan
23. Dayton
24. Romo
25. Jansen

Today’s Music