{"id":612063,"date":"2026-03-07T18:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T18:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/612063\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T18:51:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T18:51:19","slug":"five-dodgers-position-players-impressing-during-spring-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/612063\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Dodgers Position Players Impressing During Spring Training"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>, as most MLB teams do, have given multiple players chances during Spring Training, and five players took the opportunity in the first half of the preseason to capitalize.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 starting lineup is mostly set, with a big payroll leading to multiple key starters locked in, though some spots in the bottom of the order and on the depth chart are up in the air.<\/p>\n

The World Baseball Classic<\/a> has led to multiple starters departing from spring camp, and a handful of injuries are giving opportunities for position players to get multiple at-bats.<\/p>\n

\"FebFeb 27, 2026; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) looks on before a game against the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Here are five players who are lighting it up in the first half of Spring Training:<\/a><\/p>\n

Santiago Espinal<\/p>\n

At 31, Santiago Espinal is having a late-career renaissance. He was signed on a minor league deal after the Cincinnati Reds and the rest of the MLB did not present him with a more tangible deal.<\/p>\n

With the injury to Tommy Edman and Hyeseong Kim away on WBC duty, Espinal has been stealing the show in the battle for the second base role.<\/p>\n

Through 22 plate appearances, an admittedly small sample, Espinal is hitting .625\/.636\/1.1125 with a 307 wRC+. He has two home runs, two doubles, and 10 hits, along with drawing four walks and driving in eight runs.<\/p>\n

He is doing all of this while flashing high-quality fielding, which he has always had. With the Reds, Espinal was a subpar hitter, putting his MLB career in jeopardy, though his 2026 Spring Training is giving it new life and then some.<\/p>\n

Espinal, even if his numbers come down to earth some, will be a part of the infield platoon as long as he hits at least league average \u2014 anything else is gravy.<\/p>\n

Zach Ehrhard<\/p>\n

Ehrhard, who came via the Boston Red Sox in the Dustin May deal, did not come with much hype, but his Spring has looked quite promising.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old is having an amazing spring with 30 plate appearances, the highest total entering Friday\u2019s game against the Kansas City Royals.<\/p>\n

He has nine hits, four of which are doubles, a triple, and four RBIs, along with working three walks and stealing two bases.<\/p>\n

Even with a higher sample size than any other Dodger, Erhard has a wRC+ of 159, with a slash line of .346\/.433\/.577.<\/p>\n

Ehrhard is an outfielder in a crowded prospect pool, but stacking more performances as he has will potentially open the door for him to serve a role, either as a trade piece or in the platoon.<\/p>\n

Noah Miller<\/p>\n

Miller is the No. 31 prospect according to FanGraphs, and he came via the Dodgers, along with outfielder Manuel Margot.<\/p>\n

The infielder has 26 plate appearances, hitting .381\/.500\/.629 with a 190 wRC+. Additionally, he has hit a home run, racked up five walks and five RBIs, and recorded two doubles.<\/p>\n

He does a good job of fielding as a shortstop, along with showing good speed and quality ability as a contact hitter.<\/p>\n

Mill has struggled to hit in Triple-A, but he has figured things out on offense; his skill set could lead to a substantial role in the platoon down the line.<\/p>\n

Josue De Paula<\/p>\n

De Paula, the top prospect in the organization<\/a>, is only 21 years old, and he has racked up 24 plate appearances.<\/p>\n

In which he has 10 hits, two doubles, and two home runs, along with three RBIs and four walks.<\/p>\n

He is slashing .400\/.500\/.450 with a 160 wRC+. He has serious power, which makes it surprising that he does not have a home run, but his approach at the plate has shone.<\/p>\n

He has a full season of time with the Double-A team coming up, but if De Paula keeps hitting well, he could get to Triple-A sooner rather than later, leaving him one step away from a major league spot.<\/p>\n

With Teoscar Hernandez in his mid-30s and his deal coming to an end soon, De Paula looks in line to replace him or serve as a key trade piece in a deal down the line for a star.<\/p>\n

James Tibbs III<\/p>\n

Tibbs, the other piece in the Dustin May deal, is also impressing. He is on the older side for a prospect, but at 23, he is showing good flash on offense.<\/p>\n

He is hitting .292\/.393\/.625 with a 152 wRC+. The outfielder has 4 hits, including a triple and 2 home runs, with 5 RBIs.<\/p>\n

While he has walked four times, he has 10 strikeouts, showing his aggressive power approach.<\/p>\n

Tibbs III is the No. 9 prospect on FanGraphs. They project him to be more of a platoon player, but if he can keep hitting well and improve his fielding, he could be an everyday starter.<\/p>\n

As the No. 13 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Tibbs III has the pedigree to become a major league starter, and his offensive production thus far in the spring is raising the likelihood that he improves his ceiling.<\/p>\n

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GET<\/a> \u00d7 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Dodgers, as most MLB teams do, have given multiple players chances during Spring Training, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,39,24082,31341,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,28124,1552,32178],"class_list":{"0":"post-612063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-dodgers","10":"tag-james-tibbs-iii","11":"tag-josue-de-paula","12":"tag-la","13":"tag-la-dodgers","14":"tag-ladodgers","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-losangelesdodgers","19":"tag-mlb","20":"tag-noah-miller","21":"tag-santiago-espinal","22":"tag-zach-ehrhard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116189403437982627","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}