Dodgers 2019 Outfield: A Closer Look at Shane Peterson

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While we first heard news about it on New Year’s Eve, and even though the Dodgers themselves still haven’t announced the signing of Shane Peterson, on Wednesday Ken Rosenthal tweeted a report, which makes the addition at least a little more official.

This isn’t one of those big-splash type of free agent signings by any means. Peterson will be used as Triple-A roster depth, plain and simple. For all intents and purposes, he might be this year’s version of Travis Taijeron, except for the fact that Peterson both hits and throws left-handed.

Besides, if the 30-year-old Fallbrook, CA native was somehow able to slip onto the big league roster, it would create a nightmare for the techies who create the visuals on the telecasts, being that there’s already some dude named Joc Pederson roaming the major league outfield.

Yet, as far as Shane goes, there’s really not much to write home about. He can play all three outfield spots—which is great, considering that it will give skipper Bill Haselman some flexibility when writing out his lineup cards at Oklahoma City.  Furthermore, guys like Henry Ramos, Tim Locastro, Jacob Scavuzzo and Taijeron all have left OKC via free agency, creating a huge void in the outfield. And, with Alex Verdugo and Andrew Toles conceivably figuring into the big league outfield picture—especially if there aren’t any major additions between now and Opening Day—Peterson will probably be playing daily at the Triple-A level this year.

Peterson made his MLB debut in 2013, having appeared in two big league games for Oakland. From that point, he alternated years between the minors and the majors like clockwork. It was strictly the odd-numbered years when he saw major league action. In 2015, he logged 93 games with the Brewers, which is his biggest major league sample size. Over 226 plate appearances, the 6’0″, 225-pounder hit .259/.324/.353 with seven doubles, two homes runs and 16 RBI.

For the Rays in 2017, Peterson put up near-identical numbers over 88 plate appearances, slashing .253/.310/.392 with two more home runs and 11 RBI.

He spent the entirety of last season with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas, where he hit .286/.343/.451 with 11 HR, 31 doubles and 74 RBI in the hitter-friendly confines of the Pacific Coast League.

At the end of his 2018 campaign, he was named as an organizational All-Star for the Padres by milb.com.

Originally, Peterson was selected in the second round of the 2008 MLB draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He played his college ball at Cal State-Long Beach.

If his big league pedigree holds true to form, since 2019 is an odd-numbered year, he’ll likely see some big league action, whether it be for the Dodgers or somebody else.

 

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9 thoughts on “Dodgers 2019 Outfield: A Closer Look at Shane Peterson

  1. And now we know exactly how slow things are going if Dennis takes up an entire post on Shane Peterson. How about a World of Horrors where these turn out to be the top 5 Dodger stories this winter: 5) Quackenbush signing, 4) Peterson signing, 3) Grandal comes back on a 1 year contract, 2) Kelly signing, 1) Van Scoyoc signing

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ya missed Corcino there big guy. They brought him back on a minor league deal. Harper meeting with the Phillies. White Sox basically do not want to go more than 7 years on either guy, Tulo to the Bronx. But at least there is some action.

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      1. As a minor league deal I’m fine with Corcino. Can’t quite figure out why he’d want to stay with the Dodgers since the odds he ever gets called up again are miniscule. I would have thought he could have gotten a deal somewhere else where he would have had a better chance of making the 25-man at some point. Maybe Andrew likes him enough that he paid him nicely. I could see Harper waiting until March 25th to sign. We’ll see video of him working out in Vegas during Feb/March with Boras posting tweets every day about Bryce being in the best shape ever.

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