Dodgers: Dave Roberts Explains Decision to Bat Trea Turner at Leadoff Spot
The Dodgers have quite the lineup shake-up going on for their game on Saturday. Fans are used to seeing Mookie at the top of the order when he is healthy and in the lineup, but that’s not the case in this one.
Trea Turner gets his first start with the Dodgers and will bat leadoff. Turner will also be playing second base and not his usual shortstop with Corey Seager cemented at the position for 2021. But the leadoff move was a bit of a surprise.
Dave Roberts explained in his pregame press conference that the Dodgers can’t really go wrong with any lineup configuration. Having Turner in there at the top just helps to create more runs and antagonize pitchers.
I think there is not a way to put it together that doesn’t look right. I think for me, both guys felt being in a certain part of the order with consistency was important to them. And Trea has hit a lot at the top of the order. So to be able to utilize his speed at the top to create havoc on the bases, I feel really good about that.
Both Mookie and Turner have spent a large majority of their careers hitting out of the leadoff spot. But with Betts dealing with a hip injury, it does take some stress off of him to help manufacture runs for the Dodgers on the bases.
Dodgers Related: Chad Wallach Claimed Off of Waivers by LAA
Regardless of the order they go with on a daily basis, there doesn’t really seem to be a wrong answer. That’s a lot of fire power at the top of their order with Trea in there.
Dodgers News: Mookie Betts Back in the Linupe One Day After Another Injury Scare
The first casualty in order to put Bellinger back in the starting lineup is the hot hitting AJ Pollock not in there.
The A.J. Ellis effect!!
They are going to trade off and may the best man win
Bellinger rather than Pollock in the line-up cost the Dodgers the chance to tie the score in the 4th inning. 2d and 3d, 1 out. He does not ground out or hit a sacrifice fly or squeeze bunt. He pops out, as he is doing often. This is on Roberts.
Let me be clear. AJ Pollock is hitting the ball so why do you want to lose games coach. I like Cody too but you gata go with what is right not wrong
The Angels ate throwing a LHP on Sunday and that means Bellinger will not start but Betts will also be down according to Robrrts..My guess then will be Pollock in LF, CT3 in CF so who’s in RF if both Cody and Betts are out of lineup, IDK.
Lineup tonight was solid except Pollock should have been hitting 5th in place of JT. I liked the idea of dropping JT down because he was not really producing in the 3 spot recently. Pollock deserved to be in that 5 spot tonight as JT was again inefficient, but who Doc could have put @ 3rd defensively? IDK. JT needs a blow right now because he has been struggling…..his KO’s are unusual looking.
T. Turner was electric tonight in all aspects of the game. Still, for most of the game the Dodgers struggled and looked like they were in trouble. Bellinger’s HR was huge and then we saw a nice 8th inning rally with Dodgers’ batters not swinging for the fences or trying to do too much. They executed aggressive, but controlled swings, resulting in the rally that ultimately won the game.
Had to have this one, especially since the Giants won another game when they were down to their last out and it looked like the last out, a fly ball to RF, was going to be caught for a Milwaukee win. But it wasn’t caught and a 2-1 Giants loss in 9 innings turned into a 9-6 win in 11 innings. The way the Giants have won some games this year is ridiculous–but they have big time mojo and magic so far this season. I’ve seen the Giants win 2 games this year, including a recent win over the Dodgers, when the opposing team celebrated the win, only to have a Giants’ challenge overturn the play and the game continues with the Giants eventually winning. Ridiculous!
The team is finally looking athletic enough to compete w/ the Pads, Giants, and whoever else. Now Doc has no excuse in being aggressive offensively and defensively. This team on the field tonight is the real Dodgers compared to the half-step slower guys that were impersonating the Dodgers earlier. The outfield mix of CT3, Belli, Pollock, and Mookie can cover a lot of ground ; middle infield of Seager and T. Turner is solid athletically. Offensively all these guys can run to steal, take the extra bases, and just create havoc w/ the pitcher and defense. I have said it before the farm need to develop more athletic players to compete in the bigs for the Dodgers.
Trae leading off is a logical move…Roberts needs to reward Pollock for his hitting consistentcy. We need to start having winning streaks with our best line up.Bellinger should play in late innings to secure a lead.