Following Tuesday’s game against the Angels, the Dodgers announced their 25-man roster for Opening Day, and let’s be honest: there’s not a whole lot of surprises here.
Catchers (2): A.J. Ellis, Matt Treanor
Infielders (7): James Loney, Mark Ellis, Dee Gordon, Juan Uribe, Adam Kennedy, Jerry Hairston, Justin Sellers
Outfielders (4): Juan Rivera, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Tony Gwynn
Rotation (4): Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Chris Capuano, Aaron Harang
Bullpen (8): Javy Guerra, Kenley Jansen, Matt Guerrier, Mike MacDougal, Scott Elbert, Todd Coffey, Jamey Wright, Josh Lindblom
Sellers beat out Josh Fields & Luis Cruz for the final spot, which was without question the right move. He’s clearly a better choice to sub for Gordon at shortstop than Hairston is, and having him around frees up Hairston to play all over, which is nice to have since they’re carrying just four outfielders. Fields got off to a hot start that lasted for about two weeks, which should be in no way surprising for a guy who had a brief moment of glory five years ago and has done nothing since then. As for Cruz, well, I never quite got that infatuation. Besides for being the right baseball call, Sellers was the only one of the three on the 40-man roster and neither Fields nor Cruz had out clauses in their contracts, meaning they’ll be sent to Triple-A Albuquerque to start the season. (Assuming it ever stops snowing there, which, wow.) Fields may get more playing time than expected, since Chris Jackson of the Albuquerque Baseball Examiner reports that Russ Mitchell was somewhat surprisingly released a few days ago.
On the pitching side, Ted Lilly, Blake Hawksworth, and Rubby De La Rosa will start on the disabled list, along with Ronald Belisario on the suspended list. Lilly is expected to return to start on April 14 against the Padres, which means the Dodgers can get by until then without needing a fifth starter, thanks to off-days.
With the roster coming together, including most of the minor league groups coming out, our fancy new depth charts have been updated.
