Where the Dodgers' roster battles currently stand

LOS ANGELES -- When you move players around the diamond the way the Dodgers do, they don’t have position battles as much as they have roster battles.

Here are three of the most surprising and intriguing battles of this Spring Training.

Gavin Lux
So, he’s pretty much the projected National League Rookie of the Year by acclimation of preseason prognosticators. The only problem is, he might not make the Opening Day roster. Yes, the Dodgers gave him the starting second-base job last September and he kept it in the ill-fated series against the Nationals. But the 22-year-old struggled down the stretch and started at second base in only four of 17 Cactus League games while he worked mostly on reworking his swing, hardly the typical spring of a can’t-miss starter preparing for Opening Day. Then there’s also the possibility that service-time considerations could factor into the decision-making process. There are plenty of veteran options available, among them sliding Max Muncy to second base with Cody Bellinger at first, as well as the presence of Kiké Hernández and Chris Taylor deserving of playing time. Add it all up and whenever the season begins, Lux could be in Oklahoma City just as easily as Los Angeles.

Dennis Santana
In contrast to Lux, who figured to make the roster but might not, who had Santana vying for an Opening Day roster spot two months ago? Especially coming off a 2019 season at Triple-A where the right-hander went 5-9 with a 6.94 ERA? But as Santana explained, he matured over the winter. He worked on his body, his mind and his mechanics to become the biggest surprise of the spring and, more importantly, in the conversation for a bullpen role, according to manager Dave Roberts. The No. 16 prospect in the organization, according to MLB Pipeline, relies on a fastball/slider combination that misses bats. He hasn’t completely overcome crossfire mechanics and a stiff landing leg, but the improvements he’s made are unmistakable. He dominated in the small sample of six Cactus League games, with 10 strikeouts and one walk in 5 1/3 scoreless innings. That compares to a year ago, when he allowed eight runs, six walks, three homers, three wild pitches and a hit batter in 8 2/3 innings. Regardless whether there’s room for him when the season starts, he’s definitely back in the picture after two seasons of injury and regression.

Will Smith and Austin Barnes
Here’s a traditional position battle. When Spring Training began, Roberts said Smith would get the bulk of the catching duties. By the time Spring Training paused, it had turned into “a partnership.” Smith got the call-up last summer and put up Mike Piazza-like power numbers, with 10 homers in his first 25 games. He struggled badly down the stretch and it’s been more of the same this year, hitting .143 without a homer in the Cactus League. Meanwhile, 2019 was so rough for Barnes that he was demoted to Triple-A and didn’t make the postseason roster. But in nine spring games, he posted a 1.033 OPS and looked a lot more like the player that inherited the starting job from Yasmani Grandal in 2017. Unlike last year, there isn’t a Russell Martin-type veteran with a guaranteed salary as a fallback option.