GLENDALE, Ariz. — James Outman’s big-league career couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start.
Called up from Triple-A in July 2022, Outman hit a home run in his first major-league at-bat then became the first Dodgers rookie to have three (or more) hits in his MLB debut since Mike Piazza in 1992.
Outman was 6 for 13 in a four-game major-league cameo that year and won a job out of spring training the following year. He hit .292 with seven home runs and a .991 OPS in the first month of the regular season on his way to a third-place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2023.
He broke camp last spring as the Dodgers’ everyday center fielder, but that promising start soon dissolved. His batting average quickly sank below .200 and never recovered. In mid-May, he was batting .147 and was sent to the minors, passed by Andy Pages on the Dodgers’ depth chart of young outfielders.
“Yeah, it was frustrating,” Outman said this spring. “But I just kind of take it in stride. Use it as fuel. Learn from it. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
He’s done more than that.
In January, Outman went to the Maven Baseball Lab in Atlanta with the Dodgers’ hitting coaches. Outman has described himself as “a caveman” in his hitting approach when he entered professional baseball. The visit to Maven was a deep dive into the mechanics of his swing seven years later. They suggested he flatten his barrel in his setup, holding it close to parallel. The change is supposed to make his upper and lower body more connected during his swing.
“The super vertical barrel was kind of throwing off my sequencing. By the time it was coming back to this position (the start of his swing), my hips were gone so my bat was dragging through a lot.”
Outman had worked with hitting guru Craig Wallenbrock in the past “but that’s all his eye – this was a lot more data-driven. So they were presenting me with stuff I couldn’t really argue with.”
The adjustments are still a work in progress. Outman has started the spring 2 for 10 with six strikeouts in Cactus League play.
“I think his posture is better, which should be able to cover the top half of the zone a little bit better, which has been a place that he’s been exploited,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think last year he certainly needed to make an adjustment, and he did.”
How Outman got so far off track after his initial success, Roberts said he didn’t know. But it certainly doesn’t make Outman unique among young players.
“I think that, like a lot of young players, when you start to scuffle, you just can’t stop that spiral,” Roberts said. “I think that there is a little feeling of the pressure of trying to perform bled into last year. And I just think that we couldn’t slow it down. I think that this year, he’s in a healthy competition. I think that’s good. I think he looks good physically, as always, and he made the swing change, so he’s holding his own right now.”
With most of the 29 other MLB teams, Outman would probably also be holding onto a roster spot right now. But he finds himself with an uncertain path back into the Dodgers’ plans.
“Maybe. But that’s not the situation I’m in so there’s no sense wasting any energy on it,” Outman said.
“My job is still the same. My job is to play baseball. I can’t really read into anything like that. My job is to be James Outman.”
OHTANI DEBUT
Shohei Ohtani took live at-bats against a minor-league pitcher and did some baserunning drills on a back field at Camelback Ranch on Wednesday morning. He saw 37 pitches, swung at 14 and hit one over the fence.
Roberts said Ohtani will see his first game action of the spring on Friday night when the Dodgers face Ohtani’s former team, the Angels, in Glendale. Ohtani will be at DH with left-hander Yusei Kikuchi scheduled to start for the Angels. Ohtani and Kikuchi are from the same hometown in Japan (Iwate) and went to the same high school a few years apart.
Ohtani has thrown four bullpen sessions since the start of spring camp, building up to 30 pitches and touching 95 mph in his most recent session. The Dodgers do not plan to have Ohtani pitch in any Cactus League games and will set up simulated games for him to prepare for a return to the mound in MLB games sometime in May.
“There’s still a process that we all have to go through,” Roberts said. “Obviously, Shohei is very anxious in everything. But, he’s bought into the program on the progression. Swinging of the bat, I expect him to be in a major league game very soon. And then pitching, he’s just understanding that we got a long season to go, so he’s sort of bought into whatever we need from him.
“But (I’m) very surprised how quick it’s gone and seamless. It’s great.”
Ohtani had surgery on his right elbow in September 2023 and on his left shoulder last November.
ALSO
Right-hander Bobby Miller remains in concussion protocol but is expected to throw a bullpen session during Friday’s workout. Miller was hit in the head by a line drive last Thursday.