Five questions Dodgers must answer at spring training

Shohei Ohtani will lead off again. Will Smith will bat fifth. Mookie Betts will probably be in the third spot.

Three weeks before the Dodgers’ first full-squad workout of spring training, manager Dave Roberts was already talking about what his batting order would look like.

And why not?

Roberts knows what he has.

All-Stars up and down the lineup. A rotation packed with potential Cy Young Award candidates. A bullpen loaded with flamethrowers.

Not much guesswork is involved when your team is the two-time defending World Series champion. Not as much finger-crossing when you have the most expensive collection of talent in baseball history.

That doesn’t mean the Dodgers don’t have any questions heading into spring training this year.

Here are the five most important:

What to expect of Roki Sasaki?

Considered a generational talent in his home country of Japan, the 24-year-old Sasaki remains a mystery as he prepares for his second year in the majors.

Sasaki underwhelmed as a starting pitcher last year, as his control was off and his velocity was down. He spent more than four months on the injured list, but returned in the final week of the regular season and quickly became the team’s closer.

The right-hander accepted the move to the bullpen under the condition that he be given a chance to start again this year. The Dodgers will honor their promise to him, but it’s uncertain whether he has the durability or arsenal required to be a starting pitcher in the majors.

In his five years with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese league, Sasaki was never healthy for an entire season. He said his goal this year was to “remain standing on the mound for the entire year without any injuries.”

Sasaki relies heavily on his fastball and forkball, so much so that Roberts has called for him to develop a third pitch. Sasaki is listening.

“I’ve been practicing a cutter and slider since last year,” he said.

Who’s at second base?

With Tommy Edman recovering from ankle surgery and expected to miss the start of the season, Miguel Rojas is expected to share time at second base with either Hyeseong Kim or Alex Freeland.

The fleet-footed Kim excelled as a bottom-of-the-order hitter when he was initially called up from triple-A last year, but his production plunged after a couple of months. In 71 major league games, he stole 13 bases.

The other option would be Freeland, who entered last season as one of the organization’s top prospects. He earned his first promotion to the majors in the middle of the season when Max Muncy and Kiké Hernandez were on the injured list. Batting just .190 in 29 games, Freeland finished the season with triple-A Oklahoma City.

Which version of Andy Pages shows up?

By running over Kiké Hernandez to make a season-saving catch in Game 7 of the World Series, Andy Pages assured himself a place in Dodgers folklore. But can Pages assure himself a place on the team going forward?

Pages, 25, finds himself at a career crossroads. He crushed 27 homers in the regular season last year, but was just four for 45 in the postseason.

This will be the year in which Pages transitions from prospect to regular starter — or becomes another James Outman. Another athletic outfielder, Outman homered 23 times for the Dodgers in 2023. He was traded last year to the Minnesota Twins.

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Can Tanner Scott live up to the money?

Tanner Scott described his first season with the Dodgers last year as “kind of awful.” The self-evaluation was charitable.

The $72-million left-hander was nothing like the pitcher who struck out Ohtani four times in four plate appearances pitching for the San Diego Padres in the 2024 National League Division Series. Scott registered a 4.74 earned-run average and was credited with nine blown saves.

Scott believes his problem was that he challenged opposing hitters too much, and the data indicates he’s onto something. The percentage of pitches he threw in the strikezone went up last year.

With Edwin Díaz signed to be the team’s closer, Scott is expected to be used in a setup role and Roberts should be able to deploy him against their opponents’ best left-handed hitters.

Is Ryan Ward already on the trading block?

Ryan Ward has hit 70 home runs in the minor leagues over the last two seasons. He was the Pacific Coast League’s most valuable player last year. He’s already 28.

So why did the Dodgers spend $240 million to avoid giving him a chance?

The team’s decision-makers swear the choice to splurge on Kyle Tucker was more about Tucker’s talent than Ward’s shortcomings.

The downside of coming up in an organization like the Dodgers is that because they have to win now, they don’t have the luxury of gambling on prospects. The Dodgers will take a look at him to see if he could be a late bloomer like Max Muncy, but his real chance might come elsewhere. Other teams are interested, making him a candidate to be moved at the trade deadline.

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