The Dodgers started Hyeseong Kim in center field tonight against San Diego right-hander Stephen Kolek. Kim was flanked in the corners by Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández, leaving Michael Conforto out of the lineup. Manager Dave Roberts said pregame that he’s unsure whether the lefty-hitting Conforto will get a start against rookie righty Ryan Bergert in tomorrow’s series finale (relayed by Sonja Chen of MLB.com).
Roberts didn’t frame it as a benching, saying he envisions Conforto “playing a lot still.” At the same time, the veteran skipper acknowledged that Kim has earned the opportunity for regular playing time. Kim is a natural middle infielder, but the Dodgers have Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman playing at those spots. That leaves center field as the clearest position for Kim to get consistent at-bats.
Signed to a three-year offseason deal out of Korea, the 26-year-old Kim began his Dodger tenure on optional assignment. Los Angeles called him up in early May. Kim was expected to work as a multi-positional player off the bench. He has thrived in his first look at MLB pitching, running a .382/.425/.544 batting line through his first 30 big league contests. He’s obviously not going to continue hitting that well, but he’s putting the ball in play at an above-average rate and has gone 6-6 on stolen base attempts.
Pages is playing at an All-Star level, while Hernández remains a middle-of-the-order bat. Getting Kim regular outfield work will come at the expense of Conforto, who is hitting .168/.305/.277 in his first season as a Dodger. He has hit below the Mendoza line in each month. Kim’s ability to play up the middle also allows the Dodgers to use Pages in left field. He’d otherwise need to play center when Conforto is in left.
It’s clearly not what the Dodgers envisioned when they signed Conforto to a surprising $17MM free agent deal. It was a fairly sizable bet on his strong finish to the 2024 campaign while with the Giants. He’d been up-and-down through the season’s first couple months before posting an OPS above .840 in both August and September. An injury to any of L.A.’s outfielders or a slump from Kim could reopen everyday work for Conforto, but he may lose some playing time in the short term as they ride the hot hand.
Give Rushing some reps out there!
That’s for 2026. Let Rushing get acquainted to the major league level and learning the pitchers with the big club. That’s more important (especially if Will gets hurt) than having him play left, catch and adjust to the majors.
Agree completely. Rushing is in the majors now mostly as an eduction.
Hurler
Why? Kim is outperforming Rushing at the plate and is a better and more versatile defender comparing the two solely as outfielders.
Mainly because I just want to see him play more, I don’t have a strong argument for it.
How dare they play him in OF again, hes played both middle infield positions already. Kim should find an interpreter and speak out against this travesty publicly…
DFA Conforto, move Mookie back to right, Teo to left, Kim at second. Problem solved.
I think moving Mookie back to the outfield will get his bat going again, I feel like he needs some rest from the infield.
Maybe Freddie can move to the OF. His bat’s been pretty cold lately too.
Will Smith has passed Freddie in average, on base and even OPS. Smith is almost up to Ohtani for OPS. Most exciting players at this moment in time are Ohtani, Smith and Kim. Just imagine when Mookie and Freddie round back into form and both Blakes return.
Smith has a career pattern of falling off significantly in production as the summer wears on. The physical hazards of playing his position. So I don’t expect him to keep up this pace, but it’s fun to watch while it’s happening. We saw at the beginning of the season what this team can look like when everybody is hot.
Smith wore down in past years, but now he is getting every third game off. Along with Ohtani, I think this will be Will Smith’s year. That’s no slap in the face to Freddie, Mookie or Chris Rock.
Pages also deserves some recognition for his contibutions.
I suspect they are trying to conserve Smith’s bat by playing Rushing more often. Then again, this gets him fewer PAs. A balancing act.
Pages deserves to be bookmarked
I don’t think so, I think Mookie bat is a direct result of his illness at the beginning of the season and all of that weight loss. He will heat up soon.
So you want no one at Short! GEEZE
Ok, my bad, Edman at short.
And put Edman in center. Case solved.
Edman is a far better CF but is playing 2nd because of a nagging foot problem. I expect he and Kim will switch once that’s better. Thank goodness the forbearance for Conforto has ended. I was worried would last until the All Star Break.
Thanks, Highfly.
I was wondering why Edman was playing 2B.
Was just coming here to say that. When Tommy is 100%, he’ll be in center, Pages in right (best arm of the group), and Teoscar in left, with Kim at 2nd…where he really shines. I’d like to see Doc do less and less lefty/righty platooning, and make Kim a day in, day out lineup stalwart. Play Conforto, Hernandez and the like when someone needs a day off…..late/early game scenario.
Maybe Kim also wears down by playing everyday. He played daily at OKC and I believe his average hovered around .260 to .270. Doc and Friedman’s brain trust is pretty good at playing the odds.
If Conforto is going to sit, I’d rather see Edmon in CF and Kim at 2B, even before what we saw tonight.
Agreed-assuming you mean Edman’s drop on Muncy’s low throw (?)-yet I wonder if Teoscar’s preference for RF is more than a small factor.
LAD best OF alignment is Teoscar in left, Edman in center, and Pages in right. But Pages has improved in CF.
I hope Conforto turns it around and gets flipped at deadline, but unlikely.
That play, and another (the line drive that caromed off his glove and over his head). They weren’t scored as errors against him, but these plays are usually made. But as has already been pointed out, he’s nursing a foot injury. I don’t care where Pages plays so long as he plays!
He should have had both of those catches. He gets an error in my heart.
And I’m sure Tommy would be the first to say so.
Who?
Can they make ohtani go to outfield when he isn’t pitching so that DH is an option for the dodgers
He already has the hardest job in the game. You’re gonna make him run down balls now too?
Ohtani would have a cannon for right field
Check the YouTube highlights of him playing right field in Japan. He’s got a bazooka.
Hardest job in the league? One day a week he goes 6 innings, any other time he goes to the plate 5 times a game, and sits on his butt every half inning while his teammates play both sides of the ball.
I like the guy, but that’s a bit much.
You sound like someone that’s never pitched 6 major league innings
The Dodgers management have already come out and said they plan on playing Shohei in the outfield in thefuture. I think they want to get him back on the mound first.
When did anyone from the Dodgers come out and say this and who said it??
Dave Roberts has talked about it multiple times.
“There was even a little talk with Shohei about, come September when he can pick up a baseball and throw, would he be open to taking some balls out there in left field?” Roberts said on the Dan Patrick Show, according to MLB.com.
“[Ohtani] said, ‘If it works and my arm feels OK, I’m open to it.’ So we’ll see, but we’ve got a lot of time before we get to that point,” he added.”
This was only the first time he mentioned it. I know he brought it up again in 2024. It’s been talked about in Los Angeles radio interviews with management. They usually take a wait-and-see approach. Seems like they wanna get Otani on the mound first. Then they’ll talk about getting him outfield reps
I’d like to see Ohtani in the OF. From the sound of that Im guessing he’d be open to it in case they needed to DH someone else to keep bat in lineup during playoffs if they were dinged up a bit. His bat and arm are to valuable for them to risk having him chasing down balls in the OF.
For Ohtani, the limitation isn’t ability; it’s physical bandwidth. But hey, since Mark Walter now owns the Lakers, maybe Ohtani can play center during the baseball offseason.
There’s no risk in chasing down fly balls
The Dodgers need baseball players like every other baseball team. Otani plays baseball.
You guys who act like there’s some risk of getting injured because he’s out there playing a game or silly
There’s always a risk of getting injured
All professional athletes are at an increased risk of injury opposed to the average person. Over the course of 162 games most players suffer some type of injury.
In Ohtani’s case pitching every 5th day and playing in the OF absolutely would increase risk of injury. He’d be breaking routine of a position player to that of a pitcher at least once a week. Then there’s the risk of collisions be it with wall or another player.
Most pitcher injuries are to the arm. Position players have all ropes of injuries strains, sprains, fractures, concussions, etc. Playing both He’d be exposed at risk of what a typical pitcher has as well as that of an OF. That is a pitcher and an OF’s risk combined which is more. By just DHing it mitigates risk a bit taking out the risk of being hurt in the OF.
You say it as though hes playing beer league softball once a week. In its not just us guys who feel this way, the Angels and now Dodgers feel this way as well.
You act like these guys don’t get paid to play baseball. You’re such a silly little kid. It’s a game. I’m not the one who said he was being considered to play the outfield. Dave Robert said that multiple times. I’m sorry you don’t listen to Los Angeles sports radio enough to hear this stuff.
MLB is a business built upon a sport. That sport is played over the course of 162 games. That’s a ton of wear and tear on a body.
Im well they get paid to play baseball. And part of playomg is being healthy and available, being injured they get paid to not play baseball.
I read the link to the interview. Seems pretty obvious, he left door open for Ohtani to get some time in OF prior to playoffs which would not be a bad idea. He in no way mentioned anything that even remotely alluded to Ohtani playing OF on a regular basis.
He’s likely one more arm blowout away from some time in right field.
Your username makes me want to ignore anything you say as nonsense
I don’t care what you think. And your username is very unoriginal.
Freddie meet Gibby isn’t even a good call
Also, I’ve seen a lot of of your post. They’re pretty cringe.
Who?
Why?
where?
Conforto at the end of the leash now….
It’s getting there. Earlier in season, he was making hard contact and getting fairly unlucky. But Conforto in the box has had more shade than June gloom.
Not the best analogy because after June gloom in LA comes a heat wave and then fire season. I don’t see the same with Conforto’s bat.
Dodgers still have Outman and Rushing for the outfield; plus the other up and comers like Josue. So Dodgers can afford to trade Pages to the Mariners please, thank you very much.
Ignorant….I’m assuming you’re joking, why trade a player in his 2nd full year whose ceiling is still rising?
That would be the imprudent FO move; in case you haven’t noticed, Andrew Friedman is a fairly astute PoVO.
Hey paddyo would you mind reading this piece by a Dodger substacker: thought it made some salient points in regards to Friedman being an astute PoVO or not. He sure can spend his way out of problems. Thnx for any feedback you might have:
open.substack.com/pub/howardcole/p/pitchers-break-…
That article read like more like someone waxing on about their frustrations with Friedman. It wasn’t much an argument; but seemed more like all opinion from maybe awriter like a Bill Plascke in the the LA Times.
Those type of blogs/editorials are not something I typically care for as it’s more opinions than data.
Generally, this piece seems more about entertainment than sharing information/ news. If it’s for entertainment, give me something with more wit and less AI-derived rhetoric.
Generally, give me more a light-hearted, humorous piece like piece from a Charles Osgood or a Jim Murray or a Frank Deford.
I’m not opposed to people sharing their opinions with an overly negative vibe, but less so when it’s about sports-give me more Lewis Black for that.
Maybe it’s the format and verbal presentations seem more appealing that written ones when it’s a rant-type piece.
To sum up, I do not read editorial/opinion section of a traditional newspaper; if I won’t to darker, I’d just read the Obituray section.
If I *want darker* and obituary
Damn more bad auto-correct when criticizing AI generated pieces. Just my fat thumbs or…?
Appreciate your perspective, thnx
Mariners are more than welcome to take Outman off the Dodgers hands in a trade. Rushing isn’t an outfielder and the Mariners aren’t exactly in need of a catcher.
De Paula, Quintero, Sirota and Hope are 2027/28 ready prospects.
trade Pages? He has been the unsung hero of the Dodger’s team this season. I dont see how they can consider trading him. I would think he has played himself into another season with LA. Extending him doesnt make sense either, but if he follows up in ’26 with a year like he has had thus far in ’25, Id say it be on the table, unless you can get him to sign this year on a Freddy Peralta special.
They have Estuery Ruiz too. I’d think it would be Ruiz, Hernandez and Pages in the Dodgers OF for the next three seasons.
I dont know why Ruiz (.280/.390/.410 – 32SB in 250ABs in AAA OKC) isn’t up yet.
Ruiz should lead off for the Dodgers if he can post .350+ OBP in MLB.
@bwmiller…You seem to be quite a fan of Ruiz. While the slash line looks decent enough, I think K% and BB% is a better indication of how a guy in AAA might do at the big league level.
I haven’t looked up his minor league stats, but if memory serves from closer to the Murphy/ Contreras trade he was a part of, Ruiz’s BB rate is subpar.
That usually indicates that when a guy gets in just a little rough patch at MLB level, his floor will be quite low.
I am a fan of Ruiz, I hope the Dodgers trade him because I refuse be a Dodgers fan, but mostly want to see him play because he has great speed and I think he could be a great CF.
But in regards to his K% and his BB% Ruiz made a great improvement in his age 22 season. In 541 ABs, he had a BB% around 12% and a K% around 17% – those are good numbers – he hit .332/.447/.526 that season between AA and AAA.
He was a rookie in ’23, his BB% dropped to 4%, but he hit .256/.309 and managed to get on base enough to steal 67 bases. His K% was 19%.
In ’24 he injured his knee and missed most of the season but had a good return in AAA late in the year.
This season he has around 300 ABs in AAA and is back around BB% of 12% and K% of 18% is hitting .279/.393/.413 and has 32 SB – he is getting back to being great again, like Trump’s America.
To move Conforto the Dodgers would have to eat all of the $$ remaining on his contract. Since they can afford to do that, there are a few places he might get an opportunity to play OF/DH and perhaps rediscover some of his lost mojo. In no particular order they are IMHO:
Angels/Rockies: They both have an appetite for older players other teams have discarded. Orlando Arcia, La Monte Wade, Chris Taylor, Kyle Hendricks, Scott Kingery, Mickey Moniak et al.
Pirates: LF has been a dark hole all year.
Rays: They like players with a history of decent to high OBP figures.
Most likely Dodgers will DFA Conforto. No one will put in a waiver claim for him. Might get someone to bite afterwards for a low-level non-prospect. Again, LA eats the remaining cheese.
If no one puts a waiver claim in, he’d just be released and become a free agent for the league minimum….
He’s dreaming that someone would throw a low level prospect the Dodgers way if they eat his whole salary before he becomes a free agent.
That’s not happening.
Seems to be a lot of commentary on the Padres need for more production out of LF. Have we got a deal for you! 😀
Conforto’s horrendous numbers are still better than anything San Diego has trotted out to left field this season….
Can’t forto is an automatic out. Maybe he would perk up if he was benched and became a pinch hitter only. Or just toss him in the trash. I’m tired of him being the biggest hole in the lineup
I read this in Danny Devito’s voice from Always Sunny. “Dead body’s just trash”
I was referencing Sunny! But the episode where Dennis and Dee go to throw the old man in the trash at the hospital.
One hole in the line-up.
You Dodger fans have been so spoiled.
It’s true. But we did live through the 90s and 2000’s where we were trash and didn’t win a single playoff game.
The pure fact Roberts still puts him in the lineup is mind blowing. They have given this guy tooo much rope. It’s not working. Cut the bait and let kim play 2nd and Edman in center. Not very hard to figure out.
Someone, please. A logical explanation why St Louis let Edman go.
Edman was injured at the trade deadline and would be a free agent at the end of the season. Cardinals needed pitching and didn’t want to trade prospects. So they traded (essentially) 6 healthy weeks of Edman for Fedde. Perhaps Edman told them he wasn’t re-signing, or they took a chance they could re-sign him and didn’t figure on him catching on so well in LA.
They are dumb?
How is Fedde doing?
@Hondo…Because STL has not been run with excellence (at the PoBO level )for about 15+ years. It all went (slowly at first) downhill after Jocketty was let go.
And yeah. Let Conforto go. I hope he comes back to haunt the Dodgers in playoffs.