Dodgers: Running through expanded roster additions in bullpen, infield

With September 1 came additions to the Dodgers’ roster. None of the new faces are actually new, save Gavin Lux, but their roles are still up in the air.

In the Dodgers’ bullpen, Dylan Floro and Ross Stripling were activated off of the IL, instantly adding rotational depth and a new potential late-inning arm. Both Floro and Stripling can make bids for postseason roster spots, with September being their month-long auditions.

Stripling, of course, has the best shot. An All-Star just last season, Stripling deserves to start when healthy but building him up to a point where he overtakes Gonsolin and May should take some time. If he is left off the playoff roster, it would not be a first for the longtime Dodger, but it would likely still sting just the same.

Stripling should start games down the stretch in an attempt to build him up in case Kenta Maeda and/or Tony Gonsolin need rest or are to be transitioned to the bullpen come October.

In the field, Gavin Lux is obviously the most notable addition, but Kris Negrón and David Freese pack powerful punches of their own. Negrón and Freese will fill out the Dodgers’ platoon and utility machines to their maximum capacities, with Negrón likely serving a pinch-hitting and late-game or extra-inning fielding substitute. Freese will slot in where Jedd Gyorko and Tyler White have so notably struggled, at the first base left-handed starter platoon spot.

Freese has thrived in this role in the past, and with Max Muncy on the shelf, Alex Verdugo injured, and Matt Beaty struggling against southpaws, he can easily slide in right where he left off, which he did in his first game back by blasting a home run on September 1.

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Quite possibly the most October-savvy Dodger, it will be important for Freese to get back into the groove of playing the game of baseball every day at its highest levels, which will mean he will need the lion’s share of repetitions at first base.

Even when he doesn’t get the start, he should consistently come into the game to pinch-hit in order to fill out his game log and to prepare him for the rigors of October baseball.

At the same time, it would be tough to see Beaty lose too much playing time, but since the platoon is likely to kick into full gear in October, Roberts will have to manage to find both his first basemen ABs down the home stretch.

For Lux, he seems to have locked in an opportunity to start at second base in Muncy’s absence. If he can hold down the fort, he may just waltz into a starting job in October, which would help the Dodgers defensively for sure. While it would be tough to unseat Muncy, Lux seems to have the potential and the hitting skills to get the job done.

Even if Lux takes over the second base job in October, I feel Muncy still would start, if healthy, just at first base, sending Beaty to the bench to pinch-hit or, against righties, to play left. If the worst-case scenario for Beaty is an infield of Justin Turner, Corey Seager, Gavin Lux, and Max Muncy, that is a pretty nice scenario for the Dodgers as a team, though there is still a month of baseball to go before that infield could be trotted out in the NLDS.