Former Guardians outfielder became even more important for Dodgers after key injury

For three weeks in July 2022, Alex Call was on the Guardians’ big league roster. While he only played in 16 games during that time (and went 2-for-12), he still fit into the outfield picture and was one of 25 position players who saw time for Cleveland that year. 

But his career has grown to be defined by what’s happened since he left Cleveland, as he spent parts of four seasons with the Nationals after being traded there in 2022 before being dealt to the Dodgers last year. 

That trip out West resulted in him winning the World Series last year with Los Angeles in a part-time role. While that role carried over to the start of this season, he could be in line for a bit more playing time now thanks to outfielder Teoscar Hernández being placed on the injured list with a left hamstring strain. 

Alex Call has been thurst into bigger role with Dodgers

The Dodgers officially placed Hernández on the IL on Thursday with the expectation that he’s going to miss “a couple weeks.” 

Although the Dodgers called up rookie outfielder Ryan Ward to take Hernández’s spot on the roster, Call stands out as the main beneficiary of Hernández injury given he can play left field and hits right-handed (the same side Hernández hits on). 

The Dodgers have pretty much exclusively played Call against left-handed pitchers since they acquired him at last year’s deadline, but there’s always been a clear cap on how much playing time was available for him. 

But that equation changed thanks to the injury to the red-hot Hernández, who had hit .317 in 28 games since April 25. Hyeseong Kim could have also been an option in the outfield, but he was sent down to Triple-A earlier today to make room for Santiago Espinal. 

Call’s hitting .294 in 54 at-bats this year and appeared in both of the Dodgers’ final two games of their mid-week series against the Rockies. He’s in the Dodgers’ lineup tonight once again in left field. 

He stands out a bit in the Dodgers’ lineup, as only 20.5% of the balls he puts in play are classified as “hard-hit” and he has yet to barrel a ball. That said, he walks in 15% of his at-bats  and whiffs on just 10% of his swings. 

You can take the player away from the Guardians, but you can’t take the Guardians away from the player. 

Call’s presence on last year’s World Series team mostly seemed like a fun callback for Guardians fans considering he played well in limited playing time but was never in the center of the action. 

But now he’s anything but a part-time player for the best team in baseball.  

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