Dodgers: Players Who Deserve September Playing Time

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.