Dodgers Spring Training Update: Roster cuts, Miguel Vargas, Yoshinobu Yamamoto

The Seoul Series is just a few short weeks away, and almost half of the Dodgers' spring training games have already been played. Despite the awkward placement of three final spring games against the Angels after the Dodgers return from Korea, and the fact that LA's home opener against the Cardinals on March 28 isn't technically Opening Day, all of this is to say that spring has progressed at what feels like a breakneck pace.

The Dodgers will need to have everything figured out almost a week before 28 other teams, and spring training has given us some interesting storylines to follow. Week 2 is over; here's what you need to know.

Dodgers make first round of roster cuts including Andy Pages, which is good news for Miguel Vargas

On Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers announced their first round of spring training roster cuts, which optioned Landon Knack, Ricky Vanasco, Nick Frasso, Hunter Feduccia, River Ryan, and Andy Pages back to the minors. The team also reassigned Stephen Gonsalves, Jesse Hahn, Michael Petersen, Eduardo Salazar, and Travis Swaggerty to minor-league camp.

No big surprises here, with the possible exception of Pages, who's appeared in six games and has been performing exceptionally well. He's gotten down six hits, two for home runs and two for extra bases. His performance led to some early speculation that he was in the running for a bench spot on the Opening Day roster, but Miguel Vargas has been making some strides in the outfield, where the team has been retooling him.

Pages would've been direct competition for Vargas' bench spot, which he was seemingly holding onto by a thread coming into spring training. Instead, Vargas has been doing pretty well at the plate and has made a couple of nice plays in left field. Pages very well might be a threat for Vargas down the line, but for now, it's one less thing for him to worry about.

Dodgers not worried about Yoshinobu Yamamoto tipping pitches

After Yoshinobu Yamamoto's spring training debut last week, SportsNet LA's commentators noticed that they were able to call his pitches by spotting his grips though the webbing in his glove. Fans would think that the Dodgers would immediately jump on it, but instead they seem blasé about the situation. Per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Mark Prior said he'd heard about it didn't appear too concerned; Ardaya noted the difference between what hitters can see and what viewers can see from the center field camera (subscription required).

Yamamoto also said it's "not really a big concern for me at this point," but that he'd make adjustments in the future if it became a problem.

Dodgers 1-2-3 is doing exactly what it's supposed to do

On Sunday's matchup against the Rockies, Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman made their third appearance as the Dodgers' 1-2-3 hitters, and promptly proceeded to prove how devastating the three of them can be. In the bottom of the first, the Dodgers played small ball. Betts, Ohtani, then Freeman all singled, with Freeman's hit scoring Betts.

That wasn't all, either — two sac flies from Will Smith and Max Muncy promptly scored Ohtani, then Freeman. Teoscar Hernández and Jason Heyward also got themselves on base with one single apiece before Gavin Lux flew out to end the inning.

This was just about the platonic ideal of what an inning should look like with the lineup the Dodgers have, with the three biggest stars getting on base easily and the rest of the lineup coming through to demonstrate exactly the kind of depth LA has.