With the deadline approaching to formally do so, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced their active 25-man roster the morning prior to Opening Day of the 2015 season. None of the 20 non-roster invites to Spring Training made the 25-man active roster.
It’s made up of 14 position players and 11 pitches, though despite a strong finish to the spring and versatility, Kiké Hernandez was not among the players included. The breakdown is as follows:
Starting Pitchers: Brett Anderson, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Brandon McCarthy
Relief Pitchers: Pedro Baez, Yimi Garcia, Chris Hatcher, J.P. Howell, Juan Nicasio, Joel Peralta, Paco Rodriguez
Infielders: Darwin Barney, Adrian Gonzalez, Alex Guerrero, Howie Kendrick, Jimmy Rollins, Justin Turner, Juan Uribe
Catchers: A.J. Ellis, Yasmani Grandal
Outfielders: Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Scott Van Slyke
The Dodgers open the season with a bullpen featuring young faces in Baez and Garcia, who both made their Major-League debuts last season. Rodriguez is another relatively young reliever, though he’s made appearances with the club dating back to 2012.
Additionally, Hatcher makes an Opening-Day roster for the first time in his career, and it corresponds to it being his first season with the Dodgers. The group of outfielders is as expected, though there figures to be some jostling with respect to playing time.
Puig figures to start on a daily basis in right field, while the same holds true in center for Pederson. Ethier made it clear his desire is play on an everyday basis, which currently doesn’t appear to be feasible.
The Dodgers’ pitching staff will undergo some changes once Kenley Jansen, Brandon League and Hyun-Jin Ryu are set to be reinstated from their respective stints on the disabled list.
