Jerry Sands. Jerry Hairston. Tony Gwynn. Justin Sellers. Adam Kennedy. Matt Treanor. Trent Oeltjen.
Dodger fans, say hello to the group of players who will probably determine — to a great extent — how good the team is in 2012.
The Bench.
As spring training winds down to an April 5th Opening Day in San Diego, just four of those players are likely to be on the roster against the Padres. Five is a possibility if the Dodgers decide to go with 11 pitchers instead of 12.
Hairston, Gwynn, Kennedy and Treanor seem to have reserve spots locked up — depending upon health, of course — as Hairston is continuing to battle a right shoulder injury suffered in last year's playoffs while with Milwaukee.
Hairston is the most versatile of the backups, able to play most defensive positions well. He also has the experience of playing on a World Series winner with the 2009 Yankees. Infielder Kennedy is a former Angel who earned MVP honors in the 2002 ALCS. In the final game against Minnesota, the Riverside native smashed three home runs, going 4-for-4 with 13 total bases, and ALCS record. He was a key performer in the Halos' seven-games series win over San Francisco in the World Series that October.
Gwynn has the pedigree of being the son of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn Sr. He also played well for the Dodgers last year, appearing in a career-high 136 games. Treanor is the catcher brought in to backup A.J. Ellis, and he also has World Series experience, getting three at bats for Texas as they lost the 2010 Championship to the Giants.
Overall, those four make up a very good bench, one capable of being part of a playoff team. But there's also one enormous question mark facing Dodger management: If manager Don Mattingly and GM Ned Colletti choose to go with five bench players, can they ignore the miserable spring Sands has been having so far.
A cinch to break camp with the big club just a few weeks ago, Sands may have played his way to Albuquerque rather than Los Angeles.
He's hitting a paltry .167 with one RBI and just six total bases in 30 at bats. His slugging percentage is .200, and Mattingly is clearly concerned.
"Jerry's scuffling, no doubt," said Mattingly in a national radio interview. "We know the kind of talent he has and we have high expectations for him. But he's really got to take off these last days down here if he is going to make the team."
Sands, who batted .253 with four homers, 26 RBI and 15 doubles during two stints with the Dodgers in 2011, doesn't have his head buried in the infield dirt. He knows the next 11 games have to be good ones if he's going to be a Dodger instead of an Isotope.
"I have to get my swing, my timing, where it should be," he said. "The next two weeks I'm going to do that; make some changes here and there and I'll be fine.
"This has been a different kind of spring for me. I got down here earlier than I normally do, trying to get a jump on a few things, and it's definitely been something I never experienced before.
"Now, I need to get more at bats and do something with them, change some things here and there."
Having Sands around will give the Dodgers a lot of flexibility, especially at first base, where he can step in against left-handers if Mattingly chooses to platoon James Loney. Sands has had 174 extra base hits in 350 minor league games while hitting .286 with an OBP of .376. If Sands makes the big club and if Loney comes out of the gate sputtering, those two could split playing time.
"This is a very important time for me, obviously," Sands said Saturday afternoon. "Spring is a time to work on things, and I know Donnie and the coaching staff understands that. I have been working on a lot of things, but like I said earlier, now it's time to show what I can do.
"I'm confident in my abilities and hopefully I'll be with the team on Opening Day. I really believe with the team that we have, and us guys on the bench, we can win a championship this season. I want to be part of that."
