Mailbag Monday: Opening Day soon! What to do with Kyle Hurt?
Answering questions from my paid subscribers!
Happy Monday, everyone! Opening Day is TWO DAYS AWAY!!!
If you’re going to be waking up at 3am to watch the games, let me know in the comments below! I’d love to see how many people are going to be waking up early to watch.
I’m actually going to be out of town this week, so I’ll be missing both games and will be off the grid until Saturday. Hopefully when I return we’re talking about two Dodgers victories!
Before I head out for the week, let’s answer some of your questions! As always, if you’d like to ask me a question in a future mailbag, become a paid subscriber today!
MJ Maldonado — What should the dodgers do about Kyle Hurt???
I’m so intrigued by Kyle Hurt. I want to see him as a reliever…. but I also kinda want to see him as a starter? Hurt appeared in 26 games last season in the minors, with 16 of them being starts. However, the games he appeared out of the bullpen he was going multiple innings.
It sounds like the Dodgers are still treating him as a starter, but with how deep their rotation looks, he’d be like the eighth or ninth option assuming everyone is healthy. With the rotation set, he’d likely be starting the season in the minors. Or will he?
Dave Roberts recently said that Hurt is in position to begin the season with the big league club. If that happens, it’ll be in the bullpen. I think this is where I prefer Hurt, because I strongly believe he could turn into LA’s top reliever by the end of the season. That’s how high I am on him.
He had the highest strikeout rate in the minors last season. Imagine if they’re able to have him as a high-leverage option late in games? I think he provides more value there than as the occasional starting pitcher.
Tom — With the Dodgers corner outfielders on one year deals, do you think the plan is for Pages and Vargas to take over next season?
I think Pages will be in the Opening Day lineup next year for the Dodgers. I’m not sure what outfield spot he’ll be playing, but he’ll be there. Hell, he could be the starting outfielder for the Dodgers at some point in the second half of THIS year.
Miguel Vargas, I’m not so sure. I’m losing confidence in him with every at bat I see him take. Maybe he turns things around and is the guy next season, but at this point I’m not so sure that’s going to happen.
Stan B — Non roster/games related question: What happens to the Bobbleheads for a player who is no longer playing for the Dodgers when their bobblehead night rolls around. Do they end up in Africa like the useless losing team SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS t-shirts?
I’m not sure, but I’d love to add bobbleheads that were never given out to my collection!
If you recall, about a decade ago the Dodgers had a Juan Uribe bobblehead night…. a couple weeks after he was traded to the Braves. The team still gave them out. He even hit a home run that night… but for the Braves.
Alex Khalifa — Did Freeman’s first inning homer against the Heroes land yet?
I think the ball actually just landed on my balcony here in Los Angeles!
Josh Elliott — If Betts struggles in the field or at the plate to begin the year, what is the likelihood that the Dodgers pay the price for Adames, especially in light of the lousy news about Devin Williams' injury and the corresponding likelihood that perhaps Milwaukee commits to a rebuild this season?
I don’t think them making a trade would have to do with Mookie struggling, I think it would be because Lux struggled. They can afford Mookie to be average at shortstop. They can’t afford Lux to be horrific at second base. It sounds like the Dodgers are still interested in Adames according to multiple reports, so they’re still monitoring that situation. At this rate, the only way I see a trade happening is if there’s an injury or Lux just struggles through the first few months of the season.
Bob Lowe — Will the Dodgers eclipse 4M fans? Will losing the one game in Seoul be the difference?
The Dodgers have never surpassed four million fans in a season at Dodger Stadium. The closest they’ve come was in 2019 when they finished just 26,000 fans shy. Although they have one fewer game, I definitely think they can make it happen.
In order to hit that number, they’ll need to average exactly 50,000 fans a game. In 2019 when they set the record, they averaged 49,066. So they pretty much need to average 1,000 more fans a game. I think that’s doable.
Last season the Dodgers averaged 47,371 a game, so they’ll have to make quite the jump this year. With Shohei Ohtani now on the team, I think every night will be a sellout and they’ll be able to hit that four million mark.
One of the beauties of being an east coast fan is that I can watch the game in Korea at a less absurd hour. I mean hell the GP in Australia is at midnight this weekend anyway, so why not totally screw up my sleep schedule.
Watched both Korea games. Watching Dodgers v Padres tonight & tomorrow.