4 Dodgers who won't make the Opening Day roster but will contribute a lot in 2023

Daniel Hudson

Hudson pitched in just 24.1 innings for the Dodgers in 2022 before tearing his ACL. He missed the rest of the year and spent the offseason rehabbing. Though he's now facing live hitters, he dealt with ankle tendinitis, which further delayed his spring. Manager Dave Roberts said the right-hander isn't expected to be ready for Opening Day.

But you better believe he'll be a key bullpen piece after the Dodgers guaranteed his team option for 2023 shortly after his injury, and then tacked on a team option for 2024. Hudson was viewed as an important piece to bridge the gap to the ninth inning in 2022, and that'll be even more so the case in 2023 now that there's really no definitive closer situation (not that there really was with Craig Kimbrel, anyway).

Hudson's been a fairly erratic pitcher throughout his career, but he was a driving bullpen force during the Nationals' 2019 World Series title run, had a really good first half in 2021, and then appeared to be back on track with the Dodgers last year after floundering with the Padres following the '21 deadline.

He just needs to get healthy and get back to working consistently in the lab. All will be fine.