James Outman Stoic in Learning He Would be in Dodgers Opening Day Lineup
It was the right call but it was still somewhat surprising to see James Outman’s named penciled in on the Dodgers opening day lineup. He was arguably LA’s most productive outfielder during the spring hitting 3 home runs and posting a .957 OPS over 23 games.
While it may have been news to fans that Outman was in the lineup, he already got the word on Tuesday in Anaheim. According to Dave Roberts, he took the news in stride.
“I think he sort of straight-faced me. We were in Anaheim and I told him he was starting opening day, and he kind of gave me a nod while chewing his bubblegum. And that was it. It was good. I liked that. … He does a good job of getting the emotions through that gum he is always chewing.”
Via LA Times
He kept his cool heading into the game on opening day going 2-3 with a walk and hitting his first career home run at Dodger Stadium. He scored a run all three times he was on base.
“I just said, ‘All right, sounds good, let’s win a ballgame,’” Outman said. “We’ve been playing this game our whole lives, so it’s just a bigger stage at this point.”
And the Dodgers did just that behind a strong 6 innings from Julio Urias.
LA continues the series with the D-backs on Friday with Dustin May getting his first start of the 2023 season. First pitch is set for 7:10 PM PT.
