The stretch run is important for the Los Angeles Dodgers for multiple reasons: They’re preparing for the playoffs, and—with a 3.5 game lead in the NL West as of Aug. 18—the players on the roster are attempting to prove their worth.
To a certain extent, the Dodgers’ 2015 core is locked in. Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Zack Greinke, and Clayton Kershaw are all scheduled to make at least $18 million next year, and other current members of the roster, such as Yasiel Puig and Juan Uribe, are signed to multimillion dollar deals and will be inked in to the lineup barring injury.
With all that being said, though, there are quite a few roster spots that are—to one level or another—up for grabs, and guys currently on the 2014 team have an opportunity to make their case for continued employment.
Note: All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.