Is there one positional itch your favorite MLB team has that it can never quite scratch, at least to your satisfaction?
Just as some ballclubs seem to have a feel for identifying standouts consistently at some spots over the years, others seem to flail at the same position year after year after year. We’ve looked at this dynamic before, two years ago, so consider this an update — based on what happened last season and what we’ve seen so far this offseason. Is there still a way to turn things around?
The rankings that follow are based on a concept called “hole score.” The full methodology is explained below, but the bottom line is this:
This is not a ranking in which you want to be high up on the list.
Position: RF (hole score: 72, added four in 2022)
Last green: Bobby Bonilla era in 1991 (26% green overall since 1969)
2022 review: For the third straight season, the Pirates tacked on four points to their hole score in right field, making this the tenderest sore spot of any team at any position in the majors. The most frequently used players at the spot were Cal Mitchell (minus-0.4 bWAR) and Ben Gamel (0.1 bWAR). Gregory Polanco helped the Bucs have one league-average season in 2018 but couldn’t string two of them together, which would have turned the position green. Now he’s headed overseas.
2023 outlook: There might be hope. FanGraphs ranks the Pirates 22nd in right field with a projection for 2.1 fWAR in 2023, which puts Pittsburgh in the neighborhood of league average if the young performers slotted for that spot improve. Mitchell and Canaan Smith-Njigba are among those who should get a shot. So maybe the Bucs can take a step toward erasing this ugly score next season.
Position: RF (hole score: 48, added two in 2022)
Last green: Jermaine Dye era in 2000 (2% overall)
2022 review: The beat goes on. The only two green seasons the Royals have ever had in right field were when Dye was mashing for them in 1999 and 2000. That’s it — 54 seasons, comprising just two greens and 52 reds. The Royals got just 0.4 bWAR from right fielders in 2022. It was a hodge-podge of performers behind that number, with the since-traded Whit Merrifield garnering the most plate appearances at the spot.
2023 outlook: We’ll see. FanGraphs’ right-field projection for Kansas City ranks 27th. However, the top two players on the depth chart are young: Drew Waters and Kyle Isbel. They are also unproven. But you can’t plug a gaping organizational hole with a stopgap. Maybe it’ll work out this time … finally.
Position: 3B (hole score: 44, added two in 2022)
Last green: Scott Rolen era in 2002 (33% overall)
2022 review: The Phillies ranked 21st in bWAR last season, a ranking that mostly stems from Alec Bohm, who put up 0.8 bWAR over 631 plate appearances.
2023 outlook: Bohm is the second straight organizationally developed former prospect the Phils hoped would be the franchise’s newest standout at the hot corner, following in the footsteps of Rolen, Mike Schmidt, Dick Allen and Puddin’ Head Jones. Maikel Franco didn’t work out, and Bohm has 0.3 bWAR to show for the first three seasons of his big league career. However, Bohm is coming off a fine performance in the World Series and will enter the 2023 season with bolstered expectations.
Position: SS (hole score: 39, added five in 2022)
Last green: Barry Larkin era in 1999 (33% overall)
2022 review: One could argue that the Reds haven’t had a primary shortstop the past two seasons as utility player Kyle Farmer was the most used player at the spot. The Reds have been digging their hole score deep at shortstop for years but after tacking on five points in 2022, maybe they’ve finally hit bottom. Cincinnati’s minus-0.7 bWAR at shortstop ranked last in the majors.
2023 outlook: It has to be better than that, right? Happier shortstop days could arrive in Cincinnati soon with more than one quality prospect at the position in the system. FanGraphs’ projections at shortstop still have the Reds slotted for last but rather than fixating on that, zero in on two names on their possible 2023 depth chart: Jose Barrero and, especially, Elly De La Cruz. There is hope.
Position: C (hole score: 38, added two in 2022)
Last green: Oligocene Epoch (0% overall)
2022 review: Best we can tell, Florida emerged from the sea during the Oligocene Epoch. Good times. As for the Rays’ catching situation, we should first acknowledge that the bWAR measures that undergird the hole-score system likely bear little resemblance to the method by which Tampa Bay assigns valuations to catchers. Even so, 2022 could have been an epic epoch in Rays catching history, as the 2021 season saw a robust first-place finish among their backstops, led by Mike Zunino and Francisco Mejia. But you’ve got to do it two years in a row in this system and in 2022, the Rays backslid to a No. 21 finish with 0.2 bWAR.
2023 outlook: With a projected bounce back for Mejia and the addition of veteran Christian Bethancourt, FanGraphs has the Rays splitting the difference between 2021 and 2022 with a 14th-place forecast. Zunino is gone, trade targets Sean Murphy and the Blue Jays’ spare catcher (Gabriel Moreno, it turns out) have already changed teams and there isn’t an obvious backstop of the future on the way. The door might keep revolving for a while.
Position: SP (hole score: 37, no change in 2022)
Last green: Jake Peavy era in 2007 (11% overall)
2022 review: Progress. After slipping to 22nd in rotation bWAR in 2021, the Padres’ No. 19 finish with 11.6 bWAR from their starters just barely got them into the bucket for a 50-grade season. So not only did they not add any to their longstanding hole score for this positional group, but it positions them to finally turn the spot green in 2023.
2023 outlook: Frankly, it would be a minor upset if the Padres didn’t reset their rotation score in the coming season. FanGraphs ranks them a decent No. 11 (12.6 fWAR), so it’s not a done deal. But if the trio of Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Blake Snell stay healthy, you like their chances. Still, for all the work the Padres have done this winter, another starter would not hurt. Among free agents, you could target someone like Michael Wacha or Zack Greinke. But if you really want to think big, as the Padres often do: Why not go after one of the Marlins’ surfeit of starters?
Position: 1B (hole score: 37, added two in 2022)
Last green: Derrek Lee era in 2003 (3% overall)
2022 review: Only Lee and Justin Bour have managed to hold the title as the Marlins’ most-used first baseman for four straight seasons. Other than Lee’s tenure, this position has just never been a strong point for the Fish. It certainly wasn’t in 2022, when a school of first basemen finished exactly replacement level, per Baseball-Reference.com.
2023 outlook: The Marlins bid goodbye to Jesus Aguilar last season and have since set Lewin Diaz adrift while, in the meantime, they have done precious little to bolster their position group, much less first base. FanGraphs has a group led by Garrett Cooper ranked 25th in their forecast. Aguilar, Luke Voit, Trey Mancini, Brandon Belt, Miguel Sano and Yuli Gurriel all remain free agents.
Position: SP (hole score: 37, added two in 2022)
Last green: Mike Mussina era in 1999 (28% overall)
2022 review: For anyone old enough to remember the Earl Weaver Orioles, the idea of starting pitching being a chronic problem in Baltimore seems odd, even though the O’s have really not strung together a multi-season stretch of good rotation work this century. Even the solid Buck Showalter teams were built more on the hitters and excellent bullpens. Last year was kind of like that, as the bullpen was the driving force behind Baltimore’s surprising run at a wild-card slot.
2023 outlook: FanGraphs’ No. 28 forecast for the Orioles’ rotation tells you all you need to know: They need more, and signing Kyle Gibson wasn’t anything close to enough. But signing Michael Wacha, Zack Greinke or Johnny Cueto wouldn’t be enough, either. The Orioles might not be at a point where they’d want to dig too deep into the system to go after one of the Miami starters or any other impact trade candidates. Hopes for a leap in this area are pinned to the emergence of elite prospects Grayson Rodriguez and D.L. Hall. Also, a triumphant return by John Means wouldn’t hurt.
Position: C (hole score: 36, added two in 2022)
Last green: Mike Piazza era in 2003 (30% overall)
2022 review: The Mets ranked 22nd in bWAR behind the plate despite hitting triple digits in the win column and did little to generate any momentum at the position beyond calling up Francisco Alvarez near the end of the season.
2023 outlook: Change is at hand, and it’s good. Adding Omar Narvaez to pair with Tomas Nido bolsters the short-term outlook, with the Mets ranking 11th in the FanGraphs forecast behind the plate. Alvarez lurks close by and is bursting at the seams with ability. And in the system, eyes will be on 2022 first-round pick Kevin Parada. This gaping hole should be filled sooner than later.
Position: 2B (hole score: 35, added two in 2022)
Last green: Ryne Sandberg era in 1993 (20% overall)
2022 review: Despite this score, the Cubs have had a number of good, still-productive players man second base in recent years. It’s just that they’ve often moved around to other positions as well. That was supposed to end when the Cubs acquired Nick Madrigal, but after two injury-plagued seasons, some of the shine has come off his glossy prospect status. Madrigal was among a number of players contributing to a No. 22 ranking for Chicago at the keystone last season.
2023 outlook: The Cubs’ outlook at second base improved markedly over the winter without bringing in anyone outside of the organization to take over. Instead, the Cubs signed free agent shortstop Dansby Swanson, which frees up 2022 breakout performer Nico Hoerner to slide over to second. What becomes of Madrigal from here is an open question but for now, Chicago’s second base forecast ranks sixth in the majors.
Position: RP (hole score: 34, added six in 2022)
Last green: Brandon Lyon era in 2008 (39% overall)
2022 review: The various versions of WAR don’t always do a great job of capturing the real quality of a bullpen, but there aren’t any error margins big enough to overlook what the Diamondbacks didn’t get from their relievers last year. The Pirates were 29th in bullpen bWAR at minus-0.8. That’s worth noting because of this: Arizona was at minus-4.4. It gets worse, because that pushed the two-season total of hole points tacked on to the Diamondbacks’ tally to 11. That’s really hard to do.
2023 outlook: It almost has to be better, but FanGraphs still has the Arizona bullpen flagged as a sore spot with a 29th-ranked forecast. This winter, Arizona has added an army of mostly low-profile candidates for the 2023 bullpen, so we’ll have to see what can be cobbled out of this stab at a crowdsourced solution.
Position: 3B (hole score: 33, added two in 2022)
Last green: Matt Williams era in 1996 (19% overall)
2022 review: There are invariably debatable conclusions in any methodology like this, so Giants fans who already think I’m against them are probably jumping up and down right now because of Pablo Sandoval and maybe even Bill Mueller. The Giants won a lot of games with both, and Sandoval in particular had some big seasons. He just could never put two of them together, which would have cleared the Giants’ hole score at the hot corner. Last year was an opportunity to do it, but Frisco ended up ranked 20th in bWAR in a cluster of teams finishing at 1.2 wins or worse.
2023 outlook: With Wilmer Flores and David Villar atop the depth chart, the Giants are the middle of the pack at third base in the FanGraphs forecasts. That could go either way, of course. Things would have looked much different if the Carlos Correa deal had not fallen through, which would have bumped Brandon Crawford over to third. Still, Crawford wouldn’t have been a long-term fit to fill the hole.
Position: 2B (hole score: 31, added three in 2022)
Last green: Tadahito Iguchi era in 2005 (20% overall)
2022 review: The White Sox tried to get by with stopgap veterans to fill the void opened up by the Madrigal trade. It didn’t work out, as only three teams finished with a worse total bWAR at the keystone.
2023 outlook: Right now, it’s bleak. Josh Harrison is gone and, so far, the White Sox have done nothing to replace him. FanGraphs ranks the White Sox 29th at second base in its forecast, so a team that is still trying to take advantage of a contention window needs to get busy. Jean Segura, who just signed with the Marlins, would have been a good fit. Right now, it looks like the White Sox are content to go with an organizational guy, like Romy Gonzalez, Lenyn Sosa or both. At this point, unless they can spring something via a trade, they might as well go the organizational route.
Position: RF (hole score: 29, added two in 2022)
Last green: Larry Walker era in 2003 (30% overall)
2022 review: The Rockies have had good players play right field. It’s just that Carlos Gonzalez and Charlie Blackmon had their best seasons at other positions. And Colorado probably rode a little too long with Brad Hawpe. Either way, it has been a minute since the Rockies had a strong right-field solution. Certainly that didn’t change last season when the position was largely shared by the aging Blackmon and Randal Grichuk.
2023 outlook: FanGraphs has the Rockies dead last in right field, with more to come from the Blackmon-Grichuk overdrive. They do have Cleveland import Nolan Jones on the depth chart, which at least offers the possibility of a breakout on the roster. But take heart, Rockies fans, top prospect Zac Veen should be coming along at some point, though perhaps not 2023.
Position: 1B (hole score: 28, no change in 2022)
Last green: Richie Sexson era in 2006 (15% overall)
2022 review: Fun fact: Sexson is the icon of the last good first base era for two teams. For most of the 2010s, the Mariners really struggled at first base, with a score that went from clear in 2006 to 26 by the end of 2018. Things have been trending up, and a 50-grade season in 2021 gives the M’s a chance to get off the schneid in 2023.
2023 outlook: Ty France made the All-Star team last season and is the primary reason Seattle’s forecast at first base ranks 14th at FanGraphs. If he does what he did in 2022, first base will finally be a position of strength in Seattle again.
Position: SP (hole score: 27, added two in 2022)
Last green: Johan Santana era in 2006 (33% overall)
2022 review: Since the 2006 green season noted above, the Twins have had five seasons with rotation grades under 40 and just three of 50 or better, none of which occurred in back-to-back-seasons. Minnesota rated a disappointing 23rd in rotation bWAR a season ago.
2023 outlook: The Twins’ starters rank 19th at FanGraphs and, frankly, you would have liked to see them do more in this area. They should have a solid base five, but there’s no ace there and the depth is concerning. This is exactly the kind of team that should be calling the Marlins, though a free agent like Michael Wacha, Johnny Cueto or Zack Greinke could be accommodated as well.
Position: SS (hole score: 24, added one in 2022)
Last green: Carlos Guillen era in 2007 (26% overall)
2022 review: Where have you gone, Alan Trammell? The signing of Javier Baez was supposed to supercharge the shortstop position in Detroit and perhaps it will going forward. But Baez’s debut season in the Motor City was a disappointment, as Detroit ranked just 22nd in shortstop bWAR.
2023 outlook: Baez isn’t going anywhere for awhile, and all hopes for this position remain in his hands. You might think that since Baez fell off so sharply that his forecast would carry a strong regression to the mean, which in theory would help the outlook at his spot. Instead, FanGraphs sees further troubles, forecasting Baez for 2.0 fWAR and ranking Detroit shortstops 27th. If that comes to pass … ouch.
Position: LF (hole score: 23, added four in 2022)
Last green: Josh Hamilton era in 2012 (19% overall)
2022 review: Left field in Arlington has been a locus of attrition over the past decade, since Hamilton’s brief but awesome peak. The Rangers have had a handful of good players in left who were able to hang on to the position for four or five years during their time in Texas, notably Rusty Greer and Pete Incaviglia. But to find the longest-tenured left fielder in club history, you have to go back to the Washington Senator days when Frank Howard was a fixture. Last year’s nominal regular was rookie Bubba Thompson, who played all of 35 games at the spot.
2023 outlook: If the speedy Thompson could learn how to take a walk, the Rangers might be in business. As it is, they rank 28th in the Fangraph forecasts with Thompson, Josh H. Smith and Brad Miller heading up the depth chart. Among the remaining free agents is one-time Texas super-prospect Jurickson Profar. Alas, the Rangers have already committed an awful lot of money this winter.
Position: LF (hole score: 22, added four in 2022)
Last green: JB Shuck era in 2013 (9% overall)
2022 review: My favorite thing in this whole exercise was getting to call something the “JB Shuck era.” That happened because the Angels’ last green season in left was 2013, when Shuck logged the most playing time at the position but put up just 0.9 bWAR. So how did the Angels turn green at this spot that year? Because Mike Trout played 47 games in left, and that was enough to lift the Halos to third overall at the position. As for last year, the Angels finished at minus-0.7 bWAR, ranking 28th, and the player who played the most at the position — Brandon Marsh — ended the season by playing in the World Series for the Phillies.
2023 outlook: The Angels rank a surprising 10th in the preseason forecast thanks to a projected full season in left from Taylor Ward. Ward enjoyed a breakout season last year, when the bulk of his playing came in right field. That spot figures to be occupied by newcomer Hunter Renfroe, which pushes Ward to the other corner.
Position: 1B (hole score: 17, added one in 2022)
Last green: The other Richie Sexson era in 2003 (28% overall)
2022 review: This Richie Sexson era is marked with some anticipated controversy. That’s because for the system to anoint those years as the last green seasons for Milwaukee at first base, that means overlooking a well-loved player. It is more than a little eyebrow raising. All those Brewers fans who still walk around in Prince Fielder jerseys will be quite surprised to learn that his time at the position represented an organizational hole.
There’s an explanation, but it’s not a great one. You have to have two straight green seasons to reset a hole score, as explained. Here is the progression of Fielder’s bWAR figures during his time as Milwaukee’s regular first baseman: minus-0.7, 3.6, 1.5, 6.3, 1.5 and 4.5. He alternated big years, or at least bWAR thinks he did. During those six years, Fielder averaged 38 homers and 108 RBIs with a .932 OPS, but his bWAR totals were constantly dragged down by horrific defensive metrics and poor baserunning metrics. Anyway, first base really has been a sore spot in recent seasons, as Milwaukee has tended to mix and match at the spot without committing to an everyday regular.
2023 outlook: Rowdy Tellez‘s power surge aside, that mix-and-match approach figures to continue this season, making the upside for the group more in the middle of the pack than the top of it. It’ll be interesting to see how the Brewers handle the position in the long term with so many high-level outfield prospects on the way and Christian Yelich under contract for a long time to come.
Position: RF (hole score: 16, no change in 2022)
Last green: Shin-Soo Choo era in 2013 (19% overall)
2022 review: Choo wasn’t with Cleveland in 2013 but was a fixture in right in the years before that. In 2013, a committee helped keep the position green, and the player who played the most was Drew Stubbs. Stubbs wasn’t great that year, but he was included in a big trade that sent Choo to Cincinnati, so we’ll ride with Choo for era-naming purposes. It has been constant turnover since Choo was dealt but, last season, things started looking up. The Guardians ranked ninth in right field with 2.7 bWAR with rookie Oscar Gonzalez leading the charge.
2023 outlook: Cleveland is 10th in the FanGraphs forecast for right field, and that seems about right, as Gonzalez looks like a keeper. Whether he’s a keeper in right field is another question, as he was ragged at times defensively and led all right fielders last season with six errors.
Position: C (hole score: 13, added one in 2022)
Last green: Jason Varitek era in 2010 (30% overall)
2022 review: Some holes are deeper than others. While the Red Sox haven’t turned green at catcher since Varitek was one of those who backed up Victor Martinez in 2010, they have rarely been terrible behind the plate. There have been two 55s, a 50 and a bunch of 40s and 45s. They were really bad only in 2018 which, ironically, was a championship season. Last season featured some shuffling but it all ended up in the same place: middle of the road.
2023 outlook: That middling approach at catcher figures to continue into this season with holdover Reese McGuire likely to get the most time. The Red Sox will probably add at least one more veteran and if the universe is just, that veteran will be Gary Sanchez.
Position: RP (hole score: 11, added two in 2022)
Last green: Seunghwan Oh era in 2016 (15% overall)
2022 review: The Cardinals have added two hole points to their tab in each of the last three seasons because of lagging bWAR totals for their relievers. Last season, St. Louis ranked 27th on the way to a division crown. I’m not sure I buy that figure, as it almost seems like St. Louis’ pitchers are overly penalized in the Baseball-Reference.com version of WAR because the team defense is so good and claims too much of the credit. That’s just a theory. Either way, the Cardinals win with what they’ve got.
2023 outlook: The bullpen will again be headed by closer Ryan Helsley and is forecasted for a No. 12 ranking in the pecking order by FanGraphs. The most notable external pickup has been Wilking Rodriguez, a Rule 5 pickup from the Yankees. Adding another veteran or two from free agency seems likely, but they won’t be splashy moves.
Position: 2B (hole score: 10, added three in 2022)
Last green: Daniel Murphy era in 2017 (11% overall)
2022 review: Second base has rarely been a standout spot in the history of the Expos/Nationals, as the Washington era started with the winding down phase of Jose Vidro’s career. Since then, it has been a lot of turnover, with Murphy’s run with the team serving as the highlight. Last season, the position was a mess, but the Nats had other positions that were even worse.
2023 outlook: The most positive development at the keystone during Washington’s long, long season was that Luis Garcia got plenty of run, though more of it came at shortstop than second base. He’s 22, swings at everything and has some pop, while his defensive metrics at shortstop suggest that a move to second is a good idea. Which is fine, because Washington has C.J. Abrams on hand and Brady House on the way.
Position: SP (hole score: 10, added three in 2022)
Last green: Sonny Gray era in 2015 (28% overall)
2022 review: We are now well into the area of the rankings where the hole scores are low enough that they are kind of a compliment to the teams that own them. Oakland is a good example: The A’s have had a couple of decent rotation seasons since 2015, but they just haven’t strung two of them together. Last season was bad — 28th in bWAR — but for 10 hole points to be the highest figure across all positions just shows how well the A’s have been able to fill out their rosters over the years despite constant turnover.
2023 outlook: FanGraphs sees a long season for the Oakland rotation with a projected 6.3 fWAR that ranks last in the majors. The A’s will probably scoop up a veteran or two late in the free agency season but no one who will dramatically alter that outlook. The future for this group has yet to come into focus.
Position: 3B (hole score: 9, subtracted one in 2022)
Last green: Josh Donaldson era in 2017 (30% overall)
2022 review: The second method by which a team can clear a hole score rarely comes into play. Mostly it happens because the team posts two straight solid seasons at the spot, but you can get there in one season if the hole isn’t too deep and you get a breakout performance that lowers the cumulative score to zero. Nothing like that happened during the 2022 season, but the Blue Jays did lop a point off their hole score at third base after acquiring Matt Chapman, who propelled the Jays to a ninth-place finish at third base even though he didn’t have a great offensive season.
2023 outlook: Chapman is back and while his forecast on offense remains tepid, he’s so good with the glove that the Jays should still be a top-10 club at the hot corner. If that happens, this spot will go green in 2023.
Position: SS (hole score: 8, no change in 2022)
Last green: Didi Gregorius era in 2018 (41% overall)
2022 review: Isiah Kiner-Falefa haters take note: The Yankees’ hole score at shortstop didn’t change in 2022, as he led the way to a 14th-place finish at the position. No, that’s not championship caliber, but it’s not disastrous, either.
2023 outlook: The forecast is for more of the same — a 14th-place finish, per FanGraphs — but the narrative will be very different. Kiner-Falefa will still be involved but so will some younger options who will have fans plenty excited: Anthony Volpe, Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera. And with youth comes variability, which can be a great thing, with less certainty but more upside.
Position: LF (hole score: 7, added five in 2022)
Last green: Adam Duvall era in 2020 (28% overall)
2022 review: This obviously isn’t a longstanding sore spot for the well-rounded Braves, but left field was very much a dumpster fire for them in 2022. Atlanta won 101 games even though its left fielders — Duvall, Marcell Ozuna, Eddie Rosario and others — combined for minus-1.4 bWAR, easily the worst figure in the majors.
2023 outlook: Duvall is gone, and Ozuna will not often don a glove in 2023. Rosario is back and is a solid bounce-back candidate, while Atlanta picked up veteran Jordan Luplow to help him out against lefties. FanGraphs still ranks the Braves just 29th in left field. But will anybody notice when Rosario and Luplow will be sharing an outfield with Michael Harris II and Ronald Acuna Jr.?
Position: C (hole score: 6, added three in 2022)
Last green: Robinson Chirinos era in 2019 (6% overall)
2022 review: This is a spot that has been mostly red throughout franchise history, featuring a lot of defense-first catchers. Last season’s 35 grade behind the plate was the team’s worst since the rebuilding years. As with the 2018 Red Sox, who also featured Christian Vazquez, the bWAR woes behind the plate handicapped the Astros so thoroughly that all they were able to do was win the World Series.
2023 outlook: There was some smoke about the Astros making an aggressive move for a catcher this winter but as of now, it looks like Martin Maldonado will again be the primary backstop. He could be pushed for playing time by Korey Lee, the Astros’ first-round pick in 2019 who made his big league debut a season ago. FanGraphs ranks Houston 29th for now, but with youth comes hope. And, not for nothing, there are good reasons teams like Maldonado even if his game doesn’t shine in the WAR framework.
Position: CF (hole score: 3, added one in 2022)
Last green: Cody Bellinger era in 2020 (24% overall)
2022 review: Justin Turner‘s mild decline contributed to the Dodgers’ breaking an eight-year streak of green seasons at third base. So they have a hole score there of one, and now Turner is in Boston. The only other red spot on the Dodgers’ dossier is the three points that have accumulated over the past two seasons because of Bellinger’s massive struggles on offense. Like Turner, Bellinger is now gone.
2023 outlook: It has been a really quiet offseason so far for the Dodgers. They look fine at third base with Max Muncy moving over to replace Turner. As for Bellinger’s replacement, that’s a bit murkier. It’ll likely be a committee with Trayce Thompson getting a lot of time as well as young outfielder James Outman, with Chris Taylor being sprinkled in and perhaps newcomer Bradley Zimmer. FanGraphs has the Dodgers projected for a 19th-place finish in center field.