Fight for Dodgers' last roster spots is hard to watch as key figures slump in spring

If the season had to start tomorrow, it's a given that the Dodgers would start either Kiké Hernández or Miguel Rojas at second and put the spare on the bench with Austin Barnes. However, the two players that end up in the last few bench spots sort of look like they're anyone's guess right now.

There are four frontrunners — Chris Taylor, Hyeseong Kim, James Outman, and Andy Pages — based on money owed (Taylor, Kim) or former top prospect status (Outman, Pages), but none of them have managed to make a splash so far in spring training.

Dave Roberts has also been noncommittal about each of these players' futures. Taylor was bad last year, Kim's adjustment to major league hitting has been rocky so far, Outman spent most of 2024 in the minors, and the Dodgers don't really need Pages anymore since they signed Michael Conforto for the outfield.

Collectively, these four are batting .178 (8-45) with 24 strikeouts through the Dodgers' Thursday loss against the Rockies. Very little progress was made Friday night, either; Kim K'd twice, and Pages once in an ofer. That's definitely not what the Dodgers want to see.

Chris Taylor, Hyeseong Kim, James Outman, Andy Pages failing to impress so far in Dodgers spring training

When asked what Taylor's future with the Dodgers looked like, Dave Roberts just said, "I don't know right now." There have been some reports that the Dodgers are willing to start Kim in the minors to give him more time to adapt, and Outman and Pages both seemed like long shots from the beginning.

Could this give a couple of NRIs the opportunity to make the major league roster? Maybe. David Bote, who signed his first deal outside of the Cubs organization last year, has been the Dodgers' best hitter in spring so far. Chris Okey's .333 average and 1.233 OPS also look nice.

Of course, these are tiny sample sizes, but the Tokyo Series is just over two weeks away. There's a chance that Taylor, Kim, Outman, and Pages find some kind of rhythm during that time, but the way they're currently playing isn't fun to watch.

If we're going to be realistic, Taylor is probably still a lock because the Dodgers owe him $13 million this year and might be trying to get him to an MLB pension benchmark. If Kim doesn't make it, Pages seems like the likelier choice over Outman because of his consistency last season.

But this is still far from ideal, and it may, unfortunately, lead the Dodgers to start regretting the Gavin Lux trade if Taylor and Kim especially don't pan out.