Perhaps the best moment of the Los Angeles Dodgers 2016 season came in their final home game of the season. In what was also Vin Scully’s finale at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers and Colorado Rockies went into extra innings tied, 3-3.
With two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, Charlie Culberson came to the plate just hoping to get on base to start a potential rally. Instead, he turned on a ball and launched it into the seats in left field, not only giving the Dodgers a win, but clinching a fourth straight National League West title.
Culberson’s blast was just the sixth of his career, and first in the Majors since 2014. It also embodied the season as the Dodgers were forced to rely on much more of their organizational depth than could have been predicted.
The 27-year-old was re-signed to a one-year deal last December, then soon after was removed from the 40-man roster and sent outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Despite that, Culberson found a silver lining with his current status, via Bill Plaschke of the LA Times:
“I was very fortunate to get my contract, get invited to camp for another chance to make this team, I’m definitely not mad about it,’’ he said. “I’ve been in this situation before, this gets me in a good mindset, to keep working and competing.’’
Culberson is among a handful of known non-roster invitees to big league camp this spring. He first joined the organization in November 2015 on a Minor League deal with a non-roster invite to camp.
A combination of injures and positional versatility resulted in Culberson being included on the Dodgers roster for Opening Day of the 2016 season. He appeared in 34 games over multiple stints, batting .299/.309/.388 with one home run and eight RBIs. In 70 games with OKC, he hit .260/.310/.385 with four home runs and 33 RBIs.
