3 Dodgers who will benefit most from Universal DH

The one good thing to come out of the lockout thus far is the near-guarantee that MLB will have a Universal DH starting in 2022. Goodbye to pitchers hitting! If you thoroughly enjoyed that, well, we guess we’re sorry? Not really, though, because it was one of the most underwhelming aspects of the game we’ve been forced to watch for an extremely long time.

The Universal DH will help the game with more offensive production, and it’ll make the Los Angeles Dodgers even stronger. Fans have long wondered how much better the Dodgers teams of the last decade would’ve been if they could have slotted a DH into their stacked lineup.

Now, LA can start realistically planning for that after getting a taste in 2020, and we saw how well that went for them. It’s even more valuable heading into 2022 with a number of aging players on the roster approaching expiring contracts. This could be the one final run for this remaining Dodgers core before it’s possibly stripped down to nothing.

Whenever the lockout ends, expect the Dodgers to acquire one more impact bat regardless of position because manager Dave Roberts will have the luxury of shuffling a number of guys in and out of the DH spot … and a few veterans will benefit the most.

The Universal DH will help these three Dodgers succeed even more in 2022.

3. Max Muncy

If the Dodgers sign Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy will likely see a good amount in the DH spot, but even if that doesn’t happen, it’ll be a help for Muncy to get off his feet coming off a partially torn UCL as he enters his age-31 season.

The lefty slugger was unquestionably the Dodgers’ offensive MVP throughout the 2021 season and we saw what happened to the lineup when he was lost for the playoffs after suffering the elbow injury in Game 162.

It’s unclear how far along he is in his recovery or if his 2022 season will be delayed as a result, but if Roberts can avoid using Muncy in the infield as much as possible at the onset to take pressure off his arm, then that’ll be a huge win. Muncy is far too valuable to the Dodgers’ success to not be preserved in every way possible.

And with a team option on the way for the 2023 campaign and his future somewhat in question, a top-notch showing in 2022 would help all parties involved.

1. Justin Turner

So much of the Universal DH conversation has focused on preserving Justin Turner despite the fact he’s coming off a year where he just played in a career-high 151 games. Only four of those featured him in the DH spot. But it eventually caught up to him when he left with a serious hamstring injury in the NLCS. And then the final nail was hammered into the Dodgers’ coffin.

Turner’s another guy who’s been labeled as oft-injured, dating back to his tenure with the New York Mets. Even in LA, though, he’s appeared in 947 out of a possible 1,194 games (that’s 247 games missed over eight years, and an average of 31 per year). Nobody’s going to be healthy every year and reach the 150 mark, but Turner’s only done that twice in his entire career.

Entering his age-37 season, preservation will be of paramount concern, especially with his hefty $16 million team option for 2023 expected to be magnified as the year goes on. And though it’s a small sample size, Turner, in 30 games as a DH (129 plate appearances), is hitting .352 with a .940 OPS.

Cycling in Edwin Rios at third base to get a lefty bat in the lineup or eventually giving some reps at the hot corner to Miguel Vargas later in 2022 could really help switch things up for LA. And what if the Dodgers surprise us all and sign a guy like Kris Bryant? He can snag reps all over the field, including most at third base, which is where he’s played most of his career.

Anywhere between 60-75 games of Turner at DH is helpful for his longevity as well as the Dodgers’ lineup flexibility.

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