The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced their active roster for Opening Day of the 2017 regular season, which given the decisions that trickled out in recent days, didn’t come with any surprises. As expected, the Dodgers are beginning the year with 13 position players and 12 pitchers.
Their starting rotation, in order, is comprised of Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Last season, Hill pitched back of Kershaw. McCarthy and Ryu outperformed and outlasted Scott Kazmir, Brock Stewart and Alex Wood, among others, to earn the available spots in the rotation.
Though, one of them may be somewhat of place holder, as Julio Urias’ arrival looms. The young left-hander is expected to remain in extended Spring Training for now.
As for the bullpen, Chris Hatcher appears to have benefitted on being out of Minor League options. Brandon Morrow was paid a retention bonus and accepted a role with Triple-A Oklahoma City. He presumably will pitch for the Dodgers at some point this season.
The pitching staff should see a fair share of shuffling, considering Pedro Baez, Kazmir and Josh Ravin are beginning the season on the disabled list. Last year the Dodgers tied franchise records by using 55 different players and 31 pitchers.
The final bench spots came down to a competition between Kiké Hernandez and Chris Taylor, and Trayce Thompson and Scott Van Slyke. They broke in Hernandez’s and Van Slyke’s favor.
Bobby Wilson pushed Austin Barnes for the backup catcher role, but it was not enough to crack the roster. Pedro Baez, Andre Ethier, Scott Kazmir, Josh Ravin and Brock Stewart were all placed on the 10-day disabled list. Yimi Garcia remains on the 60-day DL.
Complete breakdown of Dodgers 2017 Opening Day roster, with players listed alphabetically.
Starting pitchers (5): Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Brandon McCarthy, Hyun-Jin Ryu
Relief pitchers (7): Luis Avilan, Grant Dayton, Chris Hatcher, Kenley Jansen, Sergio Romo, Ross Stripling, Alex Wood
Catchers (2): Austin Barnes, Yasmani Grandal
Infielders (6): Logan Forsythe, Adrian Gonzalez, Kiké Hernandez, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Chase Utley
Outfielders (5): Franklin Gutierrez, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Andrew Toles, Scott Van Slyke
