Dodgers End Freeway Series With 6-6 Tie, Announce Opening Day Roster

The Los Angeles Dodgers ended their preseason on Saturday night in a 6-6 tie with the Angels.

We are officially a little over 24 hours away from Opening Day and the Picasso-like picture that is the Los Angeles Dodgers suddenly looks clearer. After ending their preseason Saturday night in a 6-6 tie with the rival Angels at Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers finally announced their 25-man active roster.
 
The presumptive starters all made the club, but it’s worthy to note that not a single one of the 20 non-roster invitees that went to Spring Training made the team. This includes names like Corey Seager, Erik Bedard, and Erisbel Arruebarrena.
 
Yasmani Grandal and A.J. Ellis go into Opening Day as the Dodgers’ two catchers. Grandal was the centerpiece in the blockbuster trade that sent Matt Kemp to the San Diego Padres and will go in as the starting catcher. They are counting on the pop in his bat to really shine now that he is away from Petco Park. Ellis could also be in the fold as Clayton Kershaw’s personal catcher.
 
The infield rounds out with reigning National League RBI champ Adrian Gonzalez at first base, Howie Kendrick (acquired by the Angels) at second base, Jimmy Rollins at shortstop (acquired by the Phillies) and Juan Uribe at third base.
 
As for the outfield, both Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford remain in place in the corners with rookie Joc Pederson coming in at centerfield. After the Kemp trade, Pederson was given every opportunity to win the job in Spring Training. Pederson comes in as a player who can hit .300, slug 30 home runs and steal 30 bases.
 
There were no trades over the weekend which means that rumored targets, Andre Ethier and Alex Guerrero are still on the team. In addition to Guerrero, Scott Van Slyke, Darwin Barney and Justin Turner will be the extra infielders and the hero of the finale of the Freeway Series, Kiké Hernandez, who hit a home run to deep center in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game, has been sent down to AAA.
 
The Dodgers will go into the first phase of the season with a four-man starting rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson. No. 3 starter Hyun-Jin Ryu is out with an injury and both Erik Bedard and Chad Gaudin are also injured. Therefore, they will carry an extra infielder until mid-April when they will have to call someone up to start.
 
Anderson started Saturday’s game as the Dodgers fourth starter in the rotation and he was knocked around by the Angels early as he gave up two runs on seven hits in three innings.
 
“My stuff was terrible, borderline embarrassing,” he said after the game. “If I wasn’t motivated before, this kind of sour taste in your mouth in the last outing is going to motivate me even more for my first start.”
 
There were many questions regarding the Dodgers bullpen as both closer Kenley Jansen and set-up man, Brandon League, are expected to miss the next two months with injuries. Unlike past seasons, youth won out over veteran experience as Paco Rodriguez, Yimi Garcia and Pedro Baez all made the roster over journeymen David Aardsma, Sergio Santos, and David Huff. Surprisingly, one young gun we thought would make the team was left-hander Adam Liberatore, who had an ERA of 0.00 during 11 appearances in spring. Liberatore would have been the team’s third lefty out of the bullpen, making him expendable.
 
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