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The Los Angeles Dodgers have a handful of decisions to make over the next couple weeks before the team travels to Japan for Opening Day.
At this point in time, there are six spots up for grabs on the team’s Opening Day roster: The No. 5 starter spot, two position player spots, and three bullpen spots.
More news: 5 Bold Predictions for Dodgers Opening Day Roster Competitions
In regards to the position player spots, entering camp, there were four players competing for two spots: Chris Taylor, Hyeseong Kim, James Outman, and Andy Pages. However, over the first couple weeks of spring, two non-roster invites have appeared to enter the conversation.
The first is outfielder Eddie Rosario, who joined the Dodgers while spring training was already underway and hit the team’s first home run of Cactus League play.
The second one, however, has been arguably the team’s biggest surprise of the spring.
In late December, the Dodgers signed longtime Chicago Cubs infielder David Bote to a minor league deal. The versatile infielder was almost an afterthought as he was a career .234 hitter with an OPS of .711 across 421 games. However, since Cactus League play began, he’s been the team’s best hitter.
Across five games, Bote is an incredible 8-for-12 with one home run, two doubles, and six runs batted in. His slash line is an unbelievable .667/.692/1.083.
Bote has mainly played at first base — a position that’s obviously locked up by Freddie Freeman. However, on Thursday, he’s the team’s starting second baseman, a position that lacks a starter with just two weeks to go until L.A. travels to Japan.
Second base was supposed to be Hyeseong Kim’s position in 2025, but as he transitions from the Korean Baseball Organization, it’s sounding more and more possible that the Dodgers could have him open the season in the minor leagues.
Read more: Dodgers GM Non-Committal on Hyeseong Kim Making Opening Day Roster
The most obvious candidate to play second base would be Tommy Edman, with someone like Andy Pages getting reps in center field. However, if Bote continues to impress, he may just earn himself a spot on the Opening Day roster with the defending World Series champions.
Twelve at-bats is obviously a small sample size, and the Dodgers don’t exactly need another right-handed bat on the bench with Taylor, Kiké Hernández, Miguel Rojas, and Austin Barnes taking up spots.
However, if Bote continues to hit like he has, the Dodgers would almost have no choice but to bring him to Japan, where he would get the opportunity to face the only team he’s ever known with the whole world watching.
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Photo Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
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