Lefty-hitting outfielder Kyle Tucker was batting second on Monday, behind leadoff hitter Shohei Ohtani. The new look lineup has three left-handed bats in the top five spots, with the right-handed bats of Mookie Betts and Will Smith third…
The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, shown during a Cactus League game against the San Francisco Giants last week in Glendale, Ariz., will hit fifth in the order against left-handed starters to begin the season.
will get a whole new perspective as he gets set to help the Dodgers pursue a third consecutive World Series title. Freeman was in the No. 5 spot of the batting order for Monday night’s Freeway Series game against the Angels, with Manager Dave Roberts saying that is how the lineup will look, at least against left-handed pitching, in the early part of the regular season.“I think to start, yeah,” Roberts said of the order against lefties, which had Freeman batting behind cleanup hitter Will Smith. “I think a lot of times when I put together a lineup, try to make it more difficult for the opposing manager to navigate.”. He had two plate appearances there in 2017 as a member of the Atlanta Braves and last started a game as the fifth hitter in 2013. In 132 career games for the fifth spot, Freeman is batting .263 with an .808 OPS, 20 home runs and 80 RBIs.was the impetus for the change. Tucker was batting second on Monday, behind leadoff hitter Shohei Ohtani. The new look had three left-handed bats in the top five spots of the order, with the right-handed bats of Mookie Betts and Smith in succession at the three and four spots. “Having the ability to sandwich Will in between Freddie and Mookie and having Espinal in the seven to potentially have Muncy ready to hit, it just poses threats and not just right-handed and left-handed runs. It just makes our lineup tougher to navigate.” In Sunday’s Freeway Series game against Angels right-hander George Klassen, Freeman was the cleanup hitter with Smith batting fifth. It gave the Dodgers three left-handed bats in the first four spots., spending 115 games there. His previous high as a No. 5 hitter was 30 games in 2024 with the Houston Astros. In 12 games with the Dodgers to get ready for the upcoming season, Tucker entered Monday’s game batting .231 with a .912 OPS, two home runs and three RBIs. “It’s just the quality of at-bat every time he gets up there, and he certainly has the respect of opposing pitchers,” Roberts said. “It seems like every time he gets in the box, he runs a 3-2 count. He sees a lot of pitches. … I think he’s still kind of getting acclimated with our team but the at-bat quality that we’ve seen, you can’t argue that.”The Dodgers will eventually incorporate a sixth starter into the mix but not until the second homestand of the season in mid-April.Left-hander Blake Snell and utility man Tommy Edman participated in baseball activities on Monday with Roberts saying that both are targeted for a late-May return. “ is going to need a rehab assignment,” Roberts said. “He’s throwing bullpens, which is good. The velocity was right around, a couple of days ago, around 90-91 , so that was good. He looks good, says he’s healthy, feels good with no pain.”There were minimal changes to Dodger Stadium in the offseason with the most visible being the installation of electronic ribbon boards on the façade of the loge, club and reserve levels. The previous ribbon boards were only on the loge and club levels. That project will remain incomplete during the opening homestand, though, because of shipping delays. There also will be new signage above the batter’s eye in center field. That signage remains covered in advance of Wednesday’s press conference when UNIQLO Field will be announced.4 women hospitalized after stabbing at DTLA restaurant210 Freeway section closed for hours after person jumps from freeway in IrwindaleLA to raise property tax bills because criminals are stealing copper wireGranada Hills man charged in series of arsons in Canoga Park, downtown LA
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