Three years ago, the Dodgers took a chance on outfielder Jason Heyward after a disappointing finish to his seven-year tenure with the Chicago Cubs. Although signed to a minor-league deal, Heyward eventually broke camp, had a bounce back season in 2023 and was able to prolong his career for another two years afterwards.
Now, the Dodgers find themselves in a similar situation with Santiago Espinal.
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After two seasons playing at a below replacement level rate with the Cincinnati Reds, Espinal latched on a minor league deal with the Dodgers, uncertain of whether or not he could continue his time in Major League Baseball. So far this spring, he is leading the Dodgers in both batting average and OPS (.625, 1.761 OPS), most recently wrecking havoc against his old team with a two home run, five RBI game in Thursday’s loss to the Reds.
With 20 days to go until the Dodgers’ home opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Dave Roberts commented that it’d be hard to not see Espinal on the opening day roster, with the utility man adding that he’s not thinking too far ahead in the future despite the positive results this spring, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
“It’d be hard to imagine him not being on the team,” Roberts said of Espinal… “It would be amazing,” Espinal said. “I’ve just got to let my work talk for it. So far, that’s what I’m doing, and I’m just going to keep working for it, but I’m not worrying about that.”
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Hyeseong Kim made quite the audition for the starting second base gig this spring before departing for the World Baseball Classic, but Alex Freeland is now being handed an equal opportunity to assume the role as well.
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Freeland is trying to make the most of his opportunities both at second base and shortstop this spring as he attempts to increase his chances of cracking the opening day roster, per Jack Vita of the Los Angeles Times.
“Opportunity is present, so I’m trying to make the most of it,” Freeland said. “It sucks that Tommy’s not ready and he won’t be ready for the beginning of the season. He’s a big part of this team, so I wish him a super speedy recovery and I hope that he gets out there as quickly as possible. But yeah, with Hyeseong being gone, I am getting more reps at second and short, so I’m just trying to make the most of them.”
Despite a horrible second half in 2025 and with just one year left on his current contract, Blake Treinen does not want to go out on a whimper, writes Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
“I don’t think God would have given me a two-year contract for me to just have the year I had last year,” Treinen said. “I’m praying my whole life that I’m able to go out on top as the best version of myself. I don’t think I’m done.”
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