CHICAGO — When the Dodgers signed Kiké Hernandez in February, Dave Roberts dismissed the idea that Hernandez would be a right-handed platoon partner for the left-handed hitting James Outman.
Outman hasn’t started the past three times the Dodgers faced a left-handed pitcher – Kyle Harrison of the Giants on Wednesday, Jordan Wicks and Shota Imanaga of the Cubs on Saturday and Sunday.
It’s still not a platoon, Roberts said Sunday. Outman’s down time has more to do with his .129 average through nine games.
“No, it’s not,” Roberts said. “I just think James has to get untracked offensively. So for me, talking to the hitting guys, allowing him to have a couple days’ work and then he’ll be in there all three days against Minnesota. But my plan is definitely not to platoon him. Right now, I do want him to get that swing kind of a little more dialed in.”
Outman’s slow start – which features 12 strikeouts in 31 at-bats – looks “very similar” to the deep slumps he fell into at times during his rookie season last year, Roberts acknowledged.
“I think he’s just in between,” Roberts said. “When you’re chasing in, away, up, down, hard, soft, I think that you’re in between. I think getting the mechanics, getting the head clear and just attacking his strengths, he’ll be back where we expect him to be.
“Right now, it’s kind of where he was at in the middle of last season. Hopefully we can get him back to squaring the baseball up and swinging at balls in the strike zone.”
Some players tend to be streaky at the plate, Roberts said. “But I just don’t want to concede the valleys (with Outman), if we can get the valleys to be not as deep.”
PITCHING PLANS
The Dodgers will start James Paxton, Tyler Glasnow and Bobby Miller in the three-game series against the Minnesota Twins starting Monday.
Miller’s start Wednesday will come on only four days’ rest, making him the first Dodgers starter this season to take the mound on “normal” rest.
The Dodgers might have gone with a bullpen game Wednesday, as they did at home Tuesday, and pushed Miller back to Friday. But he threw just 58 pitches in 1⅔ innings in Friday’s loss in Chicago.
“We try to leave things open,” Roberts said. “But just kind of the way it played out, it just made a lot of sense just to kind of go with Bobby on regular (rest). Fortunately or unfortunately, we didn’t have to have that conversation (about a bullpen game).”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will open the homestand Friday against the San Diego Padres.
BUEHLER’S DAY
Right-hander Walker Buehler made his second rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday and was sharper than in his first outing.
Buehler retired the first nine batters he faced and 14 of 16 overall in 4⅔ innings, allowing two hits, walking none and striking out six. Buehler threw 65 pitches (42 for strikes) with his fastball velocity steadily registering 94 mph with a high of 95.0 mph.
He is expected to make at least one more rehab start before joining the Dodgers’ starting rotation. His next rehab start could be with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga.
ALSO
Right-hander Connor Brogdon is expected to join the Dodgers on Monday in Minnesota. Brogdon was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for minor-league left-hander Benony Robles. The Dodgers will have to make a roster move in order to add Brogdon to the active roster.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (LHP James Paxton, 1-0, 0.00 ERA) at Twins (RHP Bailey Ober, 0-1, 54.00 ERA), Monday, 4:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA, 570 AM
