Last rookies standing: Why James Outman and Bobby Miller are key to Dodgers’ stretch run
SAN DIEGO — The Dodgers started this season talking about a youth movement.
With two months to go, they soon might have only two rookies left, one in the lineup and the other in the rotation.
Though they’ve rostered 11 different players with rookie status this season, and seen seven prospects make their MLB debuts since the start of the year, the Dodgers are no longer a young team, not after acquiring five veteran players to bolster their roster depth ahead of last week’s trade deadline.
Now, only two rookies remain in prominent roles — outfielder James Outman and Bobby Miller.
For the Dodgers to get where they want to go, they’ll need to count on both over the season’s final stretch.
Michael Grove was placed on the injured list Sunday with a sore lat but could serve as a swingman in the bullpen down the stretch if the team wants another bulk-inning option to pair with trade acquisition Ryan Yarbrough.
“That’s something I’ve always wanted to be,” Miller said. “The biggest goal is you want to be a ‘count on’ guy when you’re out there. Just got to make improvements each time.”
The Dodgers overcome a rocky start from Tony Gonsolin thanks to a 15-hit effort highlighted by a Mookie Betts grand slam in a 13-7 win over the Padres.
Miller is still on a sharp learning curve just 2 ½ months removed from his initial call up.
After giving up two total runs in his first four starts, the club’s former top pitching prospect has struggled to string together consistent results since then.
He has a 6.25 ERA in his last eight outings (and a 4.26 mark on the season). His high-velocity stuff has produced only a league-average strikeout rate of 23.3%. He hasn’t pitched as deep into games in recent weeks, getting past the fifth inning in just one of his last four starts.
“There’s certainly a lot of improvement to be had,” manager Dave Roberts said, “which makes sense given his experience.”
What excites the Dodgers, however, is the improvements they’ve seen in Miller’s process.
He has cut down on walks, issuing only four in his last 30 innings. He has added to his tantalizing arsenal, toying with a couple different slider variations since joining the Dodgers in late May to couple with his 100-mph fastball.
“He has a little bit of that versatility,” pitching coach Mark Prior said. “It’s really hard to game plan against him, when he’s going from heavy two-seamers and four-seamers, to more curveballs and less sliders or vice versa. If he can have control of all of them, it makes it really hard for hitters to zero in.”
This is what has separated Miller from his rookie peers.
His performances thus far have been just good enough, with the third-best ERA on an underwhelming Dodgers rotation. He continues to showcase the possibility for more rapid growth, putting him squarely in the mix for a potential postseason rotation spot.
“Right now, he’s a big part of what we are,” Prior said. “And he’s gonna be a big part of impacting this roster in a big way come playoff time.”
Outman’s place is even more cemented.
After winning rookie of the month with a breakout showing in April, the center fielder looked headed for a minor-league demotion, batting just .192 with 60 strikeouts in 166 plate appearances during May and June.
Since the start of July, however, Outman has rebounded. He simplified his approach, countering the league’s adjustment to pitching him up and in. He cut down on his strikeouts and increased his contact rate, helping him enter Sunday with a .321 batting average in his previous 26 games.
The key to his midseason resurgence?
“Just being more picky with what I want [at the plate],” Outman said. “In April, I felt like I could hit everything. I was like, ‘That’s a hittable ball. Swing at it.’ Then May rolled around, June rolled around, and I wasn’t feeling as good, but I was still trying to do the same thing.”
Roberts said the team never seriously considered sending Outman down during his struggles, as they did with fellow rookie Miguel Vargas at the All-Star break. While Outman’s big April helped preserve his big-league status, so did his unshakable demeanor while trying to work through his slump.
“I saw him get frustrated, but he always had a little bit of levity with his struggles,” Roberts said. “I think that’s really telling for a young player. To be a little self-deprecating. To make some jokes about it. That was a little solace for me to see that, as opposed to [having your] head between the legs and [feeling like] poor me.”
While Outman will probably be pushed into more of a platoon role the rest of the way, following the deadline acquisitions of right-handed hitters Kiké Hernández and Amed Rosario, he remains the team’s primary option in center field.
His batting average is back up to .250, sixth on the team. His on-base-plus-slugging percentage is .781, well above the league-average mark. And his defense has improved in recent weeks, cutting out the misread fly balls and throwing mistakes that plagued him earlier in the season.
“The last five or six weeks, he’s played fantastic center-field defense,” Roberts said. “And the bat has just been as consistent as we could’ve asked for.”
There are other young players the Dodgers could call upon before the end of the season.
With MLB’s trade deadline over, the Dodgers and Angels know what their rosters will be for the final two months of the regular season and — they both hope — the postseason.
Grove is still with the big-league team for now, and might be kept on the roster after Kershaw returns, if the club wants another swingman in the bullpen to pair with recently acquired Ryan Yarbrough.
Right-hander Emmet Sheehan was optioned last Friday, joining a triple-A rotation that includes promising prospects Gavin Stone, Ryan Pepiot and Landon Knack.
Among position players, rookie outfielder Jonny DeLuca remains on the injured list. Vargas, meanwhile, has posted a .940 OPS since his minor-league demotion.
The Dodgers, following their flurry of deadline moves, have pivoted to an increased veteran presence. After cycling through a string of young faces early in the year, they are banking on experience to help get them to the finish line. And in their push for October, it’s likely only Miller and Outman will remain as the two rookie exceptions.
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