Dodgers: Ten Crucial Questions the Dodgers Have to Answer in 2019

After coming off back-to-back World Series losses, the Dodgers went into the off season with numerous questions that needed to be answered.  And while several of the those questions have been answered, some new questions have arisen.

Here are some of the questions the Dodgers face as well as some predictions for the 2019 season:

 Question 1: What is going on with Kershaw?

The biggest question that loomed for the Dodgers this off-season was the status of the Dodgers’ ace pitcher, Clayton Kershaw.  The future Hall of Famer had the right to opt out of his contract and become a free agent after the season ended.  That question was answered quickly as both Kershaw and the Dodgers seemed to genuinely want to get a deal done, as evidenced by their mutual agreement to extend the deadline Kershaw had to make his decision.  Within a few days they had agreed to a three year extension for $93 million, plus incentives based on number of games started, awards won, etc.

The other question about Kershaw’s status is still unknown.  Namely will Kershaw be able to stay healthy and maybe even pick up a few ticks in his velocity.  Kershaw has lost playing time to back issues several times in the last five years, including the last three years.  He also lost time last year due to biceps tendinitis in his pitching arm.  While I am certainly no doctor, I am hoping that last year’s dip in velocity was more a function of his tendinitis than his age or back issues.

If so, I think it would be much more likely that he could return to “vintage” Kershaw.  On a side note, it makes one realize just how insanely good Kershaw has been throughout his career when posting a 2.73 ERA and 1.04 WHIP over 161 innings is thought of as a disappointing year.  Even if his velocity doesn’t pick up, I still have faith that Kershaw has enough talent and smarts to still be an incredibly effective, if not still elite, pitcher.  Either way, time will tell on this question.

Question 2: How long until Seager returns to elite form?

Dodger fans let out a collective groan last year when Corey Seager lost the majority of the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery as well as hip surgery.  While I fully expect him to recover, it remains to be seen just how long it will take for him to get back to where he was.  Will the Cactus League games be enough to get him back up to speed, or will he need to do additional rehab and possibly start the season in the minors.  The good news here is that given his age, the question for Seager shouldn’t be if he returns to elite form, but rather when.

Question 3: Who’s on Second?

In a classic case of life imitating art, the Dodger’s continued inability to lock down an everyday second baseman has fans feeling as frustrated as Lou Costello.  The revolving door continued in 2018, with Logan Forsythe, Chase Utley, Kiké Hernandez, Chris Taylor, Brian Dozier and Max Muncy all having logged time at second.  Half of those players are now gone as Utley retired, Forsythe was traded away and the Nationals picked up Dozier as a free agent.

Back in May, I expressed my doubts about the Dodgers pursuing Bryce Harper or Manny Machado but predicted they would sign either Dozier or D.J. LeMahieu to fill the hole at second.  While it looks like I was spot on with Machado and Harper, I was wrong about second base.  Second base remains a question mark.

Will Hernandez finally get a chance to be a everyday starter at a set position or is he more valuable as a super utility man?  Is Muncy’s defense good enough to keep his bat in the lineup as the starting second baseman?  Will CT3 get the nod at second or will he be spending most of his time in the outfield?  Will Gavin Lux get an early call up out of sheer desperation?  These are questions that will soon be answered.

Question 4: Will Pollock outperform Puig and Kemp?

In a move that surprised many, the Dodgers essentially packaged Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Alex Wood and Kyle Farmer for a couple of prospects and some salary cap flexibility.  Then in what seemed like a coordinated move, they turned around a few weeks later and signed A.J. Pollock to a four-year $55 million dollar contract.

Will Pollock’s production be enough to make up for losing both Puig and Kemp?  Last year in 405 AB’s, Puig’s slash line was .267/.327/.494/.820 with 23 HR’s and 63 RBI’s while Kemp’s was .290/.338/.481/.818 with 21 HR’s and 85 RBI’s in 462 AB’s.  By comparison, Pollock’s slash line was .257/.316/.484/.800 with 21 HR’s and 65 RBI’s in 413 AB’s.  It doesn’t seem like a big upgrade over either individually, let alone as a 2 for 1 deal.

From an age standpoint, the 30-year old Pollock slots right between the 27-year old Puig and 33-year old Kemp.  The biggest concern about Pollock has been his inability to stay healthy.  Over the last 3 years he’s only managed to stay on the field for 237 games.  His best year was 2015 when he managed to avoid injury for the entire season and put up a slash line of .315/.367/.498/.865 with 20 HR’s and 67 RBI’s in 609 AB’s.

I suppose signing Pollock shouldn’t have come as a big surprise.  Signing injury-prone players seems to fit right into the Dodger’s playbook.  So maybe the real question here should be how many days will it take after he gets injured for the Front Office to pat themselves on the back for their depth at being able to “handle” his injury?  In the meantime, I’m going to throw out 110 games; Do you want to take the over or the under on that?

Question 6: Will the bullpen be good enough next October?

The 2018 bullpen was good, but they didn’t really live up to the 2017 bullpen and it showed.  The simple reality is that the Dodger’s bullpen starts and ends with Kenley Jansen.  While he certainly didn’t have a terrible year, he never seemed to really get locked in.  He saved 38 games while posting a respectable 3.01 ERA and 0.99 WHIP but his FIP was 4.03 and his HR/9IP was double his career average.

Kenley’s strikeout to walk plummeted to 4.82 from an otherworldly 15.57.  He still has to be regarded as one of the elite closers in the game, but something just seemed to be a little off last season as compared to the prior few years.  He got off to a slow start, perhaps do to a rather light Spring Training regimen that the Dodgers had hoped would allow his arm to carry them deep into the post-season for the sixth straight year.

Then he had another setback after his heart issue resurfaced in Colorado.  That shut him down again and even after he returned, there was a struggle to get used to the effects of his medication.  I think Jansen is poised to return to his previous dominant form.  He not only came through his second heart surgery in 6 years with flying colors, but came into camp 25 pounds lighter and with something to prove.

Although the Dodgers didn’t pick up one of the elite closers, they did make some additions, most notably Joe Kelly.  Kelly’s 98+ mph average fastball should be a solid addition to the bullpen, either as the set-up man or for high leverage situations.  As far as the supporting cast, Pedro Baez had a very respectable season and performed well down the stretch.

I’ll admit it still made me nervous whenever they called Pedro in, but there wasn’t that sense of dread.  He has had some good stretches in the past, but he always seemed to regress.  Let’s hope this time it sticks.  Caleb Ferguson should only improve on a solid rookie campaign.

Question 7: What will be Julio’s role in 2019?

How will Julio Urias be utilized this year and does he have the same ceiling he used to?  The former rookie phenom is returning from 2017 shoulder surgery which limited him to just a few appearances at the very end of the 2018 regular season.  The Dodgers clearly still have a lot of faith in the young lefty that was once highly touted as the heir apparent to Kershaw as he was included on both the NLCS and World Series rosters.  Urias actually saw more innings in the post-season (6.1) than he did during the regular season (4)!

Will Urias see more time as a starter or a reliever?  Will any of it be spent in the minors?  Coming off his injury (an injury with a much lower success rate than the now ubiquitous Tommy John surgery), there’s no way they don’t limit his innings.  Are they really going to want to waste those innings in the minors?  I’m thinking most likely he’ll work mainly out of the bullpen, barring the occasional spot start, with perhaps a move to the starting rotation late in the season (depending on the rest of the rotation’s health and effectiveness at that point).

Question 8: Who is in the starting rotation beyond 2019?

Assuming everyone can manage to stay healthy, in 2020 the front of the Dodgers starting rotation could be Kershaw-Buehler-Urias.  Followed up by Kenta Maeda as the number four starter.  I guess this isn’t really so much of a question as it is something to look forward to and which prospects will emerge.

Question 9: Will the TV contract situation ever get fixed?

Are the Dodgers ever going to fix their TV broadcast fiasco?  While it doesn’t impact me since I live on the East Coast and stream it through MLB .com, I sympathize with my fellow Dodger fans and stand in solidarity with them!

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Question 10: Will the Dodgers finally retire the numbers of these franchise greats?

Do the Dodgers feel bad for waiting so long to honor legendary pitcher, Don Newcombe, that he passed away before his Legends of Dodger Baseball induction ceremony?  If they don’t, they should.

Are the Dodgers finally going to get over their own inferiority complex and retire the numbers of team legends regardless of what Hall of Fame voters do?  You think the Yankees wait to be told who their great players were?

You know who your legends are, you don’t need someone else to validate you.  And if they’re really not sure, I’ll give them a few to start with: Gil Hodges (this is an absolute travesty as far as I’m concerned), Maury Wills, Fernando Valenzuela, Carl Furillo, Steve Garvey, Orel Hershiser, and yes, Mike Piazza.

These are just some of the questions facing the Dodgers in 2019, some will get answer quickly but some may take all season to figure out.  Go blue!