"With Tommy Edman officially slated to begin the 2026 season on the injured list, the Opening Day second base job is open for competition. And it's more of a competition than it might appear to be at first glance. I wrote about the Dodgers' potential "problem" at second base about six weeks ago, but that was with an eye on the Dodgers being interested in Bo Bichette."
"Fitzgerald, 32, was claimed off waivers from the Twins before being outrighted to Triple-A. He had a strange stat line in 24 games (53 plate appearances) with the Twins in 2025: .196/.302/.457, 110 wRC+. That was mostly thanks to him running into four home runs in those 24 games. The lefty swinger did hit .277/.367/.469 in 59 games with Triple-A St. Paul. In 2024, he hit .244/.336/.418 with Triple-A Omaha (Royals), so the ability to put the bat on the ball seems to be there."
"He saw some improvement in exit velocity in the minors from '24 to '25, going from 87.2 MPH and a 27.1 HardHit% to 88.9 MPH and 37 HardHit%. In his brief MLB debut, those numbers were 89.1 MPH and 34.2%. He also logged a max exit velo of 110.1 MPH - which would have tied Will Smith for 9th-best on the Dodgers in 2025."
Tommy Edman is slated to begin 2026 on the injured list, creating an open competition for the Dodgers' Opening Day second base role. Andy Ibanez, originally signed as insurance, was designated for assignment and claimed by the Athletics, reducing immediate depth. Remaining internal options look limited. Fitzgerald, 32, was claimed off waivers from the Twins and outrighted to Triple-A; he produced a weak 24-game MLB line in 2025 but showed better Triple-A production. Fitzgerald improved minor-league exit velocity from 87.2 to 88.9 MPH and registered a 110.1 MPH max exit velocity in his brief MLB debut. He has extensive minor-league innings at shortstop and third and some experience at second.
Read at Dodgers Digest
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