Dodgers: Infield grades for the month of April

With the injury to Logan Forsythe, the Dodgers were left scrambling trying to fill the hole that he left. Since his injury, Chris Taylor, Chase Utley, and Kike Hernandez have all seen playing time, not only at second but all over the infield. Austin Barnes has also been a key bench piece, as he has spelled a few games for Yasmani Grandal over the first month of the season.

Chase Utley started off the season terribly and was at one point batting .036. Since then, Chase has not played much better, and questions are starting to arise about his roster spot on the team.

Kike Hernandez, on the other hand, has been an important and versatile piece for the team because of his ability to play all over the field. He’s played four different positions for Los Angeles so far this season, in part due to the injuries they have faced.

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After a terrible 2016 campaign, Kike was hitting better and homered twice (both off lefties) during the first month of the season, but he still struggled to get on-base as his .288 on-base percentage for the month of April shows.

Chris Taylor has done more than enough to earn himself a spot on the team, and like Kike is a Swiss Army Knife at the Dodgers’ disposal. In 13 games for the team, Chris has two home runs and owns a .444 on-base percentage and a .937 OPS in April. Coming into the year, I questioned whether Chris could be a major piece to this club. I have been happily proven wrong thus far, as Taylor has been playing like the team’s best bench piece so far.

Austin Barnes is another one of those versatile guys that this front office covets so very much. He has played seven games behind the plate, and one game each at second and third. At the plate, Barnes did not hit well as shown by his .231 batting average in April.

He has, however, shown great discipline at the plate. He’s drawn five walks in 29 at-bats to start the 2017 campaign. He has also been able to give Grandal some much-needed days off, so I would say he has proven his value to the club so far.

Next: April Outfield Grades

2017 has already been a roller-coaster for the Dodgers. They’ve seen plenty of struggles and injuries during the single month of April, but they have also seen their fair share of success stories.

With this Dodgers’ infield, you get a little taste of each category. The infield has, by all means, been good for the team and will definitely help them make a push for the playoffs later on in the year.