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Villain
#VillainYourFriend
It's what everyone keeps talking about and it's pretty obvious. I was thinking about how the Dodgers can address that, and the more I think about it, the more I think the answer is going to come from outside of the organization.
Internal pieces:
Trayce Thompson. Remember him? He's actually like Justin Turner. He had a reverse platoon split in 2016. 10 homers versus righties and 3 versus lefties. So yeah, a big right-handed power bat, but he doesn't fill the hole.
The big bat prospects knocking on the MLB door? They hit lefty. Willie Calhoun. Alex Verdugo. Cody Bellinger. The only expection for that is Austin Barnes, who is blocked from the MLB roster by Grandal and probably Carlos Ruiz. Barnes can play other positions but I think the Dodgers are doing everything they can to keep him in catchers gear.
There are more right-handed prospects but they don't scream "answer to the problem in 2017." Johan Mieses was awesome for the Quakes last year (28 homers, 31 doubles - but the Cal League is considered hitter-friendly), so maybe he will pull an "Andrew Toles" and rocket through AA and AAA in 2017. For a 21 year old that has been with the organization since 2013, I doubt it. FWIW MLB.com projects a 2018 big league ETA for him.
Anyways, those are just some thoughts on the subject. It's clearly a chink in the armor that would do well to be addressed before the start of next season, most likely by way of trade or free angency.
Internal pieces:
Trayce Thompson. Remember him? He's actually like Justin Turner. He had a reverse platoon split in 2016. 10 homers versus righties and 3 versus lefties. So yeah, a big right-handed power bat, but he doesn't fill the hole.
The big bat prospects knocking on the MLB door? They hit lefty. Willie Calhoun. Alex Verdugo. Cody Bellinger. The only expection for that is Austin Barnes, who is blocked from the MLB roster by Grandal and probably Carlos Ruiz. Barnes can play other positions but I think the Dodgers are doing everything they can to keep him in catchers gear.
There are more right-handed prospects but they don't scream "answer to the problem in 2017." Johan Mieses was awesome for the Quakes last year (28 homers, 31 doubles - but the Cal League is considered hitter-friendly), so maybe he will pull an "Andrew Toles" and rocket through AA and AAA in 2017. For a 21 year old that has been with the organization since 2013, I doubt it. FWIW MLB.com projects a 2018 big league ETA for him.
Anyways, those are just some thoughts on the subject. It's clearly a chink in the armor that would do well to be addressed before the start of next season, most likely by way of trade or free angency.