PHOENIX — There is little cause for drama around the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s a luxury for a team that seemingly has everything and can spend enough to backfill whatever issues come up. It also usually makes for a lack of intrigue during spring training. Position battles are largely set unless a door unexpectedly swings open.
That’s exactly what happened Monday morning, when manager Dave Roberts said that Tommy Edman will not be ready for Opening Day. The development was not a massive surprise. Edman said it was “always going to be kind of a stretch” that he would be ready for the start of the season after undergoing surgery on his nagging right ankle.
But it still constitutes an opportunity at second base. There’s no immediate timetable for Edman’s return, but the Dodgers and the 30-year-old utilityman are incentivized to let things play out until he’s capable of playing multiple positions around the diamond again. Like everything with the Dodgers, all that matters is being ready in October.
That means another chance to sort through some options. Miguel Rojas will certainly get his share of starts against left-handed pitching; as he has seemingly every year since returning to Los Angeles, Rojas already has a bigger role than he was originally billed for at the start of the winter. The Dodgers tried to sign Andy Ibañez to a guaranteed big-league deal and sneak him through waivers as minor-league insurance, but he was claimed off waivers by the Athletics. They made a similar move Monday morning, signing former Blue Jays All-Star Santiago Espinal to a minor-league deal to serve as depth.
They still like their options against right-handed pitching. It’s just not clear if Hyeseong Kim or Alex Freeland has the upper hand as the spring begins.
Kim was signed last offseason to a multiyear deal, eschewing a guaranteed everyday role elsewhere in favor of a chance to prove himself among the game’s best. His first taste of the majors revealed his flaws. His role on the Dodgers’ postseason roster last October was strictly as a pinch runner and defensive replacement.
Freeland remains one of the best infield prospects in the sport, but his first taste of the majors last year didn’t go all that well, either. He never returned to the majors after being sent back down in early September.
Both players expressed disappointment with how their 2025 went. Now, they’re essentially competing for the same role.
“I think that’s okay to say,” Roberts said. “Competition is a good thing.”
Kim went back to Korea this past winter. In between English lessons, he continued some of the swing alterations that he started this time a year ago. His first taste of the big leagues produced a fine stat line — a .280 batting average with a .699 OPS in 170 plate appearances while flashing solid defense. The Dodgers still didn’t trust him to face left-handed pitching, or much at all against stiff competition. The style of pitching in Major League Baseball was different from what Kim was used to in Korea. He struggled against velocity, hitting .169 (11-for-65) in the majors and minors against pitches thrown 95 mph or harder. He chased too many off-speed pitches below the zone. His profile relies on making contact, and his swing wasn’t adaptable enough to make sufficient contact to survive.
There’s still room to grow.
“I was not satisfied last year,” Kim said through interpreter Dean Kim. “I found out some of the things that I needed to work on. I just want to work hard and make sure that I make the roster right off the bat after spring training.”
Kim will continue to make tweaks. The Dodgers want him to maintain his versatility as it is. Edman had represented the organization’s primary alternative to Andy Pages in center field. So Kim spent time working on his reads in center field this winter, just like he did last year.
Kim was among several Dodgers position players who arrived early for spring training. He’s already taken live at-bats against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Gavin Stone and Roki Sasaki, trying to prepare for his role as the starting second baseman for Korea in the World Baseball Classic.
Kim’s absence from Cactus League play should clear even more at-bats for Freeland, who spent his winter at the Dodgers’ complex in Arizona working to refine a swing that didn’t hit the ground running in the big leagues when he earned his first call-up in July. He hit .190 with a pair of home runs and a whopping 35 strikeouts in his 97 plate appearances before being sent down. All but 16 of those plate appearances came as a left-handed hitter, with the Dodgers showing their preference in how they’d like to use the switch hitting middle infielder.
Freeland took off as a prospect a couple of years ago, enhancing his contact profile by ditching a leg kick in favor of a toe tap. This winter didn’t involve a massive overhaul, but the results indicated it was time for a change so he could stick in the majors. Notably, cutting down the strikeouts.
“I don’t want to go back up there and do the same thing I just did,” Freeland said. The organization agreed. “So something had to change. We were on the same page.”
Both are hoping a taste of the big leagues can be a jumping-off point. Now, a door has opened with an opportunity to start the year.