Dodgers: 4 roster battles to watch in spring training 2.0

The Los Angeles Dodgers will report to spring training at Dodger Stadium on July 1.

Finally, we have baseball. At least that is the plan, as players will report next week to Spring Training 2.0 to try to play a season amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Los Angeles Dodgers remain poised to end their championship drought with a roster that was built for a long playoff run.

While there aren’t many holes on the Dodger roster, there are a few spots where healthy competition will decide who gets the most playing time or the opportunity to serve in a back-up role.

As a means to ease teams into the sudden start to the season, MLB teams will be allowed to carry 30 players on their active rosters on opening day, with rosters shrinking to 28 players after two weeks, and to 26 players two weeks after that. It will be interesting to see how the team manages those extra spots early in the season.

Despite the compressed schedule, manager Dave Roberts indicated that he doesn’t plan on using a six-man rotation to start the season, instead limiting the number of innings his pitchers work through their first few starts. That would have created an interesting roster battle and potential opening for Ross Stripling, but it appears the rotation is set for now.

As the Dodgers prepare to report to camp next week, let’s look at a few roster battles that still aren’t settled.