Dodgers re-vamped roster already paying-off

Alex Guerrero has been really good for the Dodgers in limited time so far this season. By Owen Main

Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy battled through seven innings, despite giving up four home runs. Alex Guerrero and Joc Pederson each had two RBI’s. Andre Ethier doubled in his only at-bat of the game, scoring the winning run on Guerrero’s 10th-inning single, and the Dodgers won a game they probably shouldn’t have, 6-5 over the Mariners.

If the team had old management in place for the better part of the last year, none of those players might have even been in the lineup.

Andrew Friedman went out and spent good money on McCarthy, a guy with some injury history, to bolster the rotation. Despite the four homers he surrendered, McCarthy had really good sixth and seventh innings, giving the team a chance to get back in the game.

Trading Matt Kemp opened a spot for Joc Pederson, who has been generally as-advertised. Pederson will surely go through a rookie slump at some point, but for now he’s a solid contributor to wins. His .877 OPS in his first seven games this season is a nice thing to see after the struggles he had in 18 regular season games last year. Yeah, sample sizes are still small, but I’m encouraged.

Moving on, Alex Guerrero is a player who people made noise about this offseason. He hadn’t developed defensively. People wondered, was he even going to make the big league club?

Andre Ethier’s ability to be effective and willing as a fourth or fifth outfielder will be crucial to the Dodgers’ success this year. By Owen Main

Guerrero has shown that his bat plays in the majors. Whether he ends up at second or third-base in the long term, he’s showing himself as a more-than-adequate replacement for Juan Uribe at third base. He’s not as good defensively, but I wonder what some consistent playing time does for a player like Guerrero.

Guerrero’s ability to play third base gives the Dodgers the option to have other utility guys get maximum value. Justin Turner and Darwin Barney can do what they do — filling in up the middle. Scott Van Slyke can be a fifth outfielder and back-up first baseman. Man, this team is just really nicely balanced.

Lastly, Ethier’s role is probably the most interesting this season. He’s sure to get his share of at-bats. Mattingly has said he doesn’t expect Ethier to be happy in his backup role, and Ethier shouldn’t be. Ethier’s loss in playing time is the Dodgers’ gain in being able to send him up for high-leverage at-bats whenever they want. When he’s dialed-in, Ethier is a dangerous hitter, and the Dodgers can deploy him however they want.

I see a guy like Ethier getting some significant playing time come September and October. Baseball teams always have attrition and having a guy like Ethier to fill a backup role is pretty awesome.

All in all, this was the most encouraging win of the season for me. Last year, with Miguel Rojas or whoever playing third base in Uribe’s absence, I don’t know that the Dodgers could have dug themselves out of the hole a starting pitcher created. It’s great for a team to get wins like this early in the year. After last night’s win, the Dodgers sit at 4-3 on the season, but the combination of confidence and momentum a team gets from a game like last night’s can be a heck of a thing.