While eight teams battle it out to see who will advance to the Division Series, the Dodgers are among four teams using this time off to prepare for October baseball.
After winning an even 100 games in the regular season, the Dodgers secured a first-round bye and will await the winner of the NL Wild Card matchup between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies. While the Dodgers continue to add the finishing touches to their postseason roster, there are some lingering questions as to which players
will be a part of the team’s depth chart.
21-year-old outfielder Josue De Paula made his presence known while filling in for the then-injured Shohei Ohtani, slashing .323/.500/.581 across 42 plate appearances before he was sent down to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Sonja Chen of MLB.com believes that both De Paula and utility man Hyeseong Kim can make an impact on the postseason roster, with the former being relegated to pinch-hit opportunities due to his lack of big-league experience in the outfield.
Of course, De Paula is capable of playing the corner outfield, but we only saw him play six innings in left as a Dodger. And given how important defense is in the postseason, I doubt we will see him in the field unless it’s an emergency.
The month of September has given Shohei Ohtani plenty of time to prepare for his third consecutive postseason run with the Dodgers. The Dodgers still have another three days to prepare for the NLDS, and Ohtani is using this time to get his swing in the right place, per Chen.
“Everything is feeling great physically,” general manager Brandon Gomes said on a Zoom call with the media on Tuesday. “The swings, once he came back, overall were in a good place. And using these five days to continue to get reps and feeling good into this series is really important. But feels like he’s in a great spot.”
Freddie Freeman had his power zapped in the second half of the regular season, hitting just one home run while posting a slugging percentage of .339. Freeman dealt with patellar tendonitis in his right knee, but entering the NLDS, he said that he’s feeling a lot better, reports Jack Harris of the California Post.
“I truly feel good right now, physically,” Freeman said on Tuesday, during a video conference with reporters ahead of the Dodgers’ first pre-National League Division Series bye week workout. “So it’s on me now to figure out the mechanics of the swing in the next five days. And I have all the confidence in myself that I will figure that out by [Game 1 on] Saturday.”
