One LA Dodger Star Will Suffer Playing Time Cut This Season
The signing of full-time DH J.D. Martinez was a move that goes counter to the ways that the Dodgers worked their lineup from game to game in 2022. They cycled guys through the DH spot in order to get certain players a break from playing the field, while still keeping their bats in the lineup.
In fact, manager Dave Roberts doesn't sound like a fan of losing that flexibility. “It’s not in our DNA,” he said. “The biggest con (with one player serving as a full-time designated hitter) is you don’t have an opportunity to get a certain guy’s bat in there, to get him essentially a half-day off as the workload of running him out there. If you’re kind of locking yourself into one player taking those at-bats, that’s certainly a con.”
And one star player in particular who will be paying the price is catcher Will Smith.
#Dodgers signing J.D. Martinez could lead to Will Smith making fewer starts.https://t.co/e0WSwL1jB7 pic.twitter.com/TuZNMGnSgO
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) February 20, 2023
With a career OPS of .856 and 49 home runs in the past two seasons, Smith is one of the Dodgers' top hitters, but he is going to see his playing time diminish. As noted by Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, the introduction of the DH last season allowed Smith to accumulate 77 extra plate appearances from the pre-DH days.
“It’s just going to be more of Will will just have off days,” Roberts said. “I don’t expect J.D. to DH 162. But he’s going to be the guy who’s going to be in that position 99.9 percent of the time. So if there is a time Will doesn’t play, it’ll just be an off day."
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