Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Addresses James Outman’s Playing Time

Rookie outfielder James Outman will be on the Dodgers’ opening day roster on Thursday. The 25-year-old earned the opportunity with his steady play this spring and will have the chance to prove that his breakout 2022 season wasn’t a fluke.

The only concern for Outman and the Dodgers is divvying up playing for the team’s 6 players expected to see time in the outfield. Alongside Outman, Mookie Betts, Trayce Thompson, David Peralta, Chris Taylor, and Jason Heyward will be on the opening day roster.

Last week, manager Dave Roberts touched on that challenge but on Wednesday, ahead of the spring training finale in Anaheim, he expanded on the outfield outlook acknowledging the team will run with two platoons in the outfield to start the season

“For us right now, Trayce and CT are going to take the brunt of those left-handed at-bats. Versus right, I think it’s a combination of James, Peralta, and J-Hey. And I think that James is going to get the lion’s share of those at-bats in centerfield. When you look at it like that, then it’s kind of seeing how guys perform.”

Via SportsNet LA

From the sound of it, even though spring training is coming to an end, there will still be extended auditions into the regular season. One of Heyward or Thompson are the obvious early candidates that could be under a microscope in April.

For Heyward, he has to prove that the swing changes he’s implemented since signing with the Dodgers will produce results during a real baseball season. He’ll also need to show that he’s able to adjust to the game and to opposition pitching as it adjusts for him.

And Thompson, if he’s primarily slated to get in against left-handed pitching, he needs to prove very quickly that his surprising reverse splits from a season ago were an anomaly.

Peralta and Taylor have higher dollar contracts that make them unlikely to go anywhere.

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