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On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired the All-Star Manny Machado Shortstop of the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for a pack of five hopes .
A natural response to the news is to ask what the Dodgers' training will look like. First, let's look at how they have generally aligned up to now
Compositions before the Machado Trade
| 1. | CF Pederson | SS Taylor | ||
| 2. | 2B Muncy [19659005] LF Hernandez | |||
| 3. | 3B Turner | 3B Turner | ||
| 4. | 1B Bellinger | RF Kemp | ||
| 5. | LF Kemp | 1B Muncy [19659007] | C Grandal | CF Bellinger |
| 7. | SS Taylor | 2B Forsythe | ||
| 8. | RF Puig | C Barnes |
These queues are of good that players rest and treat injuries, but especially for the alignment of Dodgers against left-handed, where Yasiel Puig sees a lot of time (when he is not dealing with an injury), giving most of the team's regulars a day off. 19659002] How will the Dodgers adapt Machado to these queues? Here is our best guess – emphasis on guessing.
Compositions after the Machado Trade
| 1. | LF Pederson | 2B Taylor |
| 2. | 1B Muncy | 3B Turner |
| 3. | SS Machado | SS Machado |
| 4. | CF Bellinger | 1B Muncy |
| 5. | 3B Turner | RF Kemp |
| 6. | RF Kemp | CF Bellinger |
| 7. | C Grandal | LF Hernandez |
| 8. | 2B Taylor | C Barnes |
It is there that builds an overflowing list of versatile players is very convenient. Taylor has been stopping the Dodgers since Corey Seager fell in April, but can slip through the bag to accommodate Machado. Bellinger, meanwhile, is the rare first-baseman who can also play the outfield. Add to that how the Dodgers have postponed non-Pederson options to the human center, and it only makes sense to stand in the middle.
Offensively, it is a strong group. What is the strength? Turner's OPS + 104 is the lowest among the starters expected. If and when the return of Puig, the Dodgers could boast of 10 batters with OPS + north of mark 100. The return of Puig will also create a line crunch against right-handed, as Joc Pederson played too well against left-handed to sit evenly, while Puig himself has strong backward deviations against the straight. Against left-handed, simply send Enrique Hernandez on the bench, move Matt Kemp to the left field and play Puig to his natural position.
The Dodgers will certainly move players to Machado (a big problem to have). Muncy might not have the defensive chops for second goal, but putting him there or third to rest Justin Turner (when he is healthy) allows Bellinger to get back to first base and Pederson to have reps In the center. Taylor could make sense in the middle field if Max Muncy proves able to handle the second base.
Sounds good, is not it? But how does it project? People need to know. According to Stephen Oh's SportsLine projections, the Dodgers' chances of qualifying for the playoffs improved from 94.7% to 96.5%. Los Angeles should also win 94.6 games instead of 94.1.
But what if the Dodgers thought a little about how they built their alignment?
Proposals for All in Health
| 1. | RF Puig | 3B Turner |
| 2. [19659005] SS Machado | SS Machado | |
| 3. | 1B Muncy | 1B Muncy |
| 4. | LF Kemp | LF Kemp |
| 5. | CF Bellinger [19659005] CF Bellinger | |
| 6. | 3B Turner | RF Puig |
| 7. | C Grandal | C Barnes |
| 8. | 2B Taylor | 2B Taylor [19659028] Puig did not have a lot of batting experience, but he did it early in his career. He spent more time in second place than in any other job, but again, much of that happened early in his career. He hits .293 / .344 / .521 against the rights this year and provided an excellent line .288 / .355 / .554 against them last year.
If Muncy can hold on to second base, we would send Taylor to the bench as super-sub by getting 4-5 games a week and get Pederson's bat in alignment regularly in the center field . At that point, we probably would have beaten Pederson and Puig seventh, Yasmani Grandal being eighth. Unlike Puig, Turner has virtually no experience in mind, normally beating third or second in order. But he struggled to stay healthy and seek power when he is in alignment this year. His best work came against lefties, sporting a .295 / .448 / .409 line against lefties. This OBP is not a coincidence. Turner hit .380 / .477 / .704 against lefties last season. Turner's 2018 line will play high in the lineup in front of a Machado-Muncy-Kemp-Bellinger heart of the order. If he can begin to rediscover his form, perhaps it will be worthwhile to bring Taylor back to the position of leader against left-handers and beat Turner at the heart of the order. Until that happens, a Turner squad with Puig leading the formation could be the best bet for the Dodgers
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