Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Select the Contract of OF Steven Souza Jr

The Dodgers are making a roster move ahead of the series finale against the Phillies on Wednesday. The move comes just one day after Los Angeles was forced to put Cody Bellinger on the injured list with his hamstring issue. 

To help out in the outfield, the Dodgers selected the contract of outfielder Steven Souza Jr. Los Angeles signed him to a minor-league deal in April as a surplus right-handed bat. In his 21 games with the OKC team, Souza Jr is batting .284 with 6 homeruns and 16 runs driven in. 



To make room for Souza Jr on the active and the 40-man roster, the Dodgers designated Nate Jones for assignment. The right-handed reliever was signed to a minor-league deal in May before making the team. In 8 games with LA, he posted a 8.31 ERA and 7 strikeouts.

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The hope for the Dodgers isn’t so much that Souza Jr will regain the 30 homerun form that he had with Tampa Bay. Instead, they need someone that can fill in at the outfield spots for Bellinger. Souza is also a guy that can help them with left-handed pitching, hitting slightly better against them in his career. 

Defensively, he can be really good in the outfield. Souza had 5 defensive runs saved playing the outfield for the Rays in 2017. The Dodgers will likely use him in right field in Bellinger’s absence and slide Mookie Betts over to center for the next couple of games. 

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