Dodgers News: Dave Roberts is Keeping the Faith with Trayce Thompson vs Lefty Pitching
Trayce Thompson opened his season with a home run off left-handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner. He had two more home runs that game and it looked like he'd quickly put any concerns the Dodgers had over his production to bed.
That game was on April 1st.
The joke's on us as one month later Thompson is hitting .159 total on the season and has just one more hit in 23 more at-bats against lefties. He's hitting .083 against southpaws and, considering that's his primary job on this roster, it's pretty concerning for the Dodgers moving forward.
Dave Roberts was asked about Thompson's ineptitude vs lefties so far this season, and really so far since re-joining the Dodgers last season. Ever the optimist, Doc is keeping the faith.
"Trayce is trying to figure it out vs lefties. They're trying to crowd him... he's been working really hard. It is an angle thing with the lefties vs the righties but I still think he's going to figure it out."
Trayce Thompson is a great dude. He's one of the quietest, polite people you'll meet in the Dodger clubhouse. But this is a job that is based on production. And, sadly, the Dodgers aren't getting it.
There are guys down at the minor league level that are deserving of a shot. And for a team that is struggling to score runs on a consistent basis, it's tough to see not only guys like Thompson run out there multiple times per week, but also guys like David Peralta and, let's call it like we see it, Chris Taylor who is hitting .145 and is striking out nearly 50% of the time.
May 1st is tomorrow. It wouldn't be shocking to see the Dodgers consider some sort of changes to the active roster.
