Dodgers: Grading the Outfield for the Month of April

Coming into the 2017 season, perhaps no Dodger was a bigger question mark than Andrew Toles. After once being a top prospect, Toles found himself completely out of baseball before old friend Andrew Friedman brought him on board with the Dodgers. He excelled in his limited playing time last season, hitting a terrific .314 in 115 plate appearances.

In April, Toles provided the Dodgers with an unexpected power source, knocking out five home runs. All five of his home runs came from the leadoff spot, and he also posted an OPS of .870 from that position.

Toles is an interesting study no matter how you look at him. Despite having the lowest average exit velocity of any Dodger outfielder in April (84 MPH), he tied for the lead in home runs among their outfielders. Despite the surprising power, Toles hit just .239 in April and posted an on-base percentage below .300. Toles also failed to record a single stolen base despite possessing great speed on the base paths. Whether that is the coaching staff not trusting him to steal or Toles not trusting himself to steal, he needs to attempt to steal more bases.

Even though he heated up towards the end of the month, he was ineffective for the majority of April, which is why Andrew Toles gets a C- grade.

While the power was a pleasant surprise, the best case scenario for Toles is for him to be a sparkplug at the top of the order. Toles also needs to learn to work the count and not swing at the first pitch so often. Should Toles be able to get on-base more often and steal bases, he could be the leadoff threat the Dodgers have lacked for years.