Editorials

Dodgers Lineup: Maeda, Gonzalez Makes Spring Debuts

The Dodgers face off against some snakes in the desert this evening and a couple notable Dodgers are making their Spring debuts.

There will be no Greinke in this game, with the Diamondbacks’ Shelby Miller (who the Dodgers were rumored to be interested in this offseason, nonetheless).




ICYMI: 2016 Dodgers Nation Spring Training Giveaway Kick-Off


This, via the Dodgers’ official Twitter.

Again, from top to bottom.

Howie Kendrick again leads off and plays second, his natural position. While it’s obviously important to get him reps there, I remain more interested in what he looks like at third, which would bring a lot more versatility to the infield in which lineups Dave Roberts might have at his disposal.

Andre Ethier will bat second and again man left field. Not much to point out here, really, other than the usual competition to get innings in the outfield this season.

Yasiel Puig will start in right field and bat third. This sentence will probably be written and repeated plenty over the duration of this season.

Adrian Gonzalez makes his spring training debut. No surprises here, as he plays first base and bats fourth. That lingering neck issue is reportedly not particularly serious, but the words “lingering neck issue” just sound awful when combined into the same sentence.

Yasmani Grandal will bat fifth and catch for Kenta Maeda (more on him in a bit). Grandal said earlier in the spring that he looked forward to working with Maeda’s four-pitch arsenal, so it will certainly be fun to watch that take place, starting today.

Corey Seager returns to action in his customary shortstop position. His spring has gotten off to a fairly inauspicious start thus far, but it’s still only a couple innings long. Let’s hope he can turn it around as best he can with a couple more this afternoon.

Alexander Guerrero continues to get ample playing time either to earn a spot on the roster or built trade value as other teams watch. Can’t really complain about the spring he’s put together thus far, which features a home run and steady play at third. He’ll be DH today.

Elian Herrera will bat eighth and play third today, as he tries to earn himself any kind of meaningful playing time either for the Dodgers or elsewhere. Not much to say about his spring so far.

Corey Brown rounds out the batting order and will play centerfield. I’d like to see some more time for Joc, but it’s still really early in this process.

Last, but certainly not least, is Maeda. It goes without saying he and the rest of today’s scheduled pitchers make this game more than worth watching. Just as we’ve said with any other players making their debuts, reading too deeply into this start would be foolish, but that won’t stop anyone — not remotely so.

NEXT: Saturday’s Starting Pitchers Will Garner Plenty of Intrigue

 

Staff Writer

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