Dodgers: Players Who Deserve September Playing Time

The Dodgers are going to be within striking distance of 100 wins as September begins.  While they need to keep the momentum going, they could also rest some starters and give the stage to several minor leaguers.

There is an old baseball saying that the team that gets hot going into the playoffs ends up winning the World Series. There may be some truth to that which is why the Dodgers should not rest starters for too long, but they could afford to give veterans like Justin Turner two games off a week. By doing this, they could also evaluate some of their minor league talent.

With the rosters expanding in September there will be plenty of innings to go around for pitchers out of the bullpen. There will also be spot starts for players on the expanded roster, and if games go into extra innings, the Dodgers could pull starters and give others a chance to play in a meaningful Major League game that won’t affect them too much in the standings.

The Dodgers current 40-man roster is full of players who will be out for the rest of the season so the Dodgers could move them to the 60-day DL to clear a roster spot. These include players like Julio Urias, Brett Eibner, Andrew Toles and Scott Kazmir. The Dodgers should easily be able to open up at least five roster spots for the extended roster of September.

Wilmer Font – OKC Dodgers

Wilmer Font has been quite the minor league signing for the Dodgers.  He leads the Pacific Coast League with a 3.58 ERA and 170 strikeouts.  He also has held the hitter-friendly league to a .226 average.

While there is certainly no room in the rotation for Font, he could appear out of the bullpen. His strikeouts could increase as he’s moved to the bullpen.

If LA finds themselves in a blowout game, whether they are winning or losing, they could use Font in mop up duty. Los Angeles would be wise to bring Font back on a minor league deal next season and to give him his first taste of the big leagues since 2012 could entice him to return to blue for next season.

The Dodgers always seem to find a way to burn through twenty pitchers a year so stashing Font in Triple-A next year could come in handy.

One possible scenario the Dodgers could employ in September is to piggy back starters to limit their innings before they go through the rigors of the postseason. Someone like Rich Hill could pitch for four innings then another starter like Font could come out of the pen to throw three to four innings to get the game into the later innings.

While it’s not a conventional idea, it is something the Los Angeles has done this year when they piggybacked Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu a couple of times.

Alex Verdugo – OKC Dodgers

This is one of the more anticipated September call-ups. Chris Taylor will get most of the playing time in center field, but he could also get some playing time at second base which will be when Verdugo gets a shot to start.

He could also fill in for Yasiel Puig since he often has sore hamstrings and the Dodgers will want him fresh for October. Los Angeles could get a head start on evaluating Verdugo by giving him some playing time next month. This will help shape the front office’s offseason plan for 2018.

This year so far, Verdugo has hit .315 with a stellar .391 on-base percentage. He has only hit six home runs, but his power will come as he gets older.

He can provide the Dodgers’ pitching staff with plenty of outfield coverage and has a cannon for an arm. When Puig needs a rest, the Dodgers won’t lose much in RF with the arm and defense of Verdugo. Here is one example of Verdugo gunning out a runner. That’s a pretty impressive arm.

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Verdugo won’t get much playing time since the Dodgers have to find playing time for Adrian Gonzalez, Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor but he should be able to fit in a handful of starts at least. That should be enough to get a preliminary scouting report on Verdugo before the Dodgers head into the playoffs.

Los Angeles could choose to give Joc Pederson playing time which would essentially rule out any playing time for Alex Verdugo, but given Joc’s struggles in the early portions of his Triple-A demotion, he may not get any more playing time in Los Angeles until spring training.

Walker Buehler – OKC Dodgers

This is another one to file under the obvious call-ups. Even though Walker Buehler has struggled a bit with his transition to being a reliever, he should still get a good look by the Dodgers. His stuff is as good as anybody’s in the minor leagues which is proven by his 117 strikeouts in only 83 innings this year.

The Dodgers moved Buehledto the pen to limit his innings and to prepare him to help the team in a possible call-up. Buehler routinely sits in the 93-96 mile per hour range as a starting pitcher, and as a reliever, he sits around 97-98 miles per hour.

Even though the Dodgers already have some flame throwers in Fields, Baez and Morrow, none of them have the type of curveball that Buehler does to compliment his fastball.

The bullpen can often be a good place for young pitchers to break into the majors and learn to control the strike zone so the franchise should take advantage of their massive division lead to get Buehler some experience.

In a best case scenario, Buehler would dominate his brief time in the big leagues and force the Dodgers to consider throwing him onto the playoff roster.

Next: Kershaw compared to other possible hall of famers

It’s a long shot, but we have seen stranger things. After all, Corey Seager forced himself into the starting lineup and playoff roster when he first came up.