3 big questions facing Dodgers this spring

This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Super Bowl is this Sunday, which means baseball season is finally right around the corner.

Come next week, all eyes will be on Spring Training, and we can all start moving forward and trying to predict what will happen this season.

The six weeks of spring camp will be very interesting for the Dodgers. For the first time in quite some time, we have real storylines heading into camp, and there are a number of questions Los Angeles will need to find answers to before Opening Day on March 30 against the D-backs at Dodger Stadium.

What exactly are the biggest storylines of the spring for the Dodgers? Well, let’s try to narrow it down to just three.

1. Who will play center field?

As poor as Cody Bellinger was at the plate over the last three seasons, there was a level of comfort in knowing he was out there patrolling center field. Bellinger, though not as good defensively as he once was, is an above-average center fielder, and given the Dodgers were unable to land Kevin Kiermaier this offseason, Bellinger's absence could be felt immediately.

The Dodgers do, however, have some options -- the easiest being Chris Taylor. Taylor has been a decent center fielder in the past, but he has never played the position on a consistent basis. Trayce Thompson, who started in center during the postseason, is also a viable option.

Thompson and Taylor are both downgrades defensively from Bellinger. But on the other side, they surely would combine for better production at the plate than what Bellinger provided the past two seasons.

Outside of Taylor and Thompson, Bradley Zimmer and Jason Heyward are also options. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, general manager Brandon Gomes and manager Dave Roberts have all mentioned the two veterans when talking about the outfield, giving you a pretty good idea of what they’re thinking.

Zimmer is a very good defender in center, but he has struggled at the plate. Heyward, a five-time Gold Glove Award winner, is much more familiar with right field, but given Mookie Betts’ presence there, shifting to center makes some sense. James Outman -- ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Dodgers' No. 13 prospect -- will also get plenty of looks this spring. If he has a monster six weeks, he could be in the mix. If there are any doubts, he could benefit from getting consistent reps down in Triple-A Oklahoma City.

“Right now, your guess is as good as mine,” Roberts said last week, when asked about who will start in center field.

2. How will Lux look at shortstop?

In what seems like forever ago, Gavin Lux was once a top shortstop prospect. Now, after years of waiting behind Corey Seager and Trea Turner, it will finally be Lux’s show at shortstop this season.

In the past, there have been concerns about Lux’s arm strength and overall defense. But Lux stayed in Los Angeles this offseason and has added 15 pounds of muscle, which should help with some of those issues.

“Who I’m most excited for is Gavin Lux,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman. “The man was hitting .300 last year. Now he’s been given the task to play shortstop -- and not just shortstop, but shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s a big task, and if anybody is ready to do that, after what he did, it’s Gavin.”

3. Can Vargas handle second base?

Though his numbers didn't jump out in limited big league time last season, Miguel Vargas’ best tool is what he can do at the plate. Most scouts drool over his bat-to-ball skills, and there isn’t much concern about him putting up better numbers once he gets consistent reps.

But if there is one area of concern with Vargas, it's his lack of a regular position on defense. Last season, Vargas spent time at third, first and left field after being called up to the Majors. In the Minors, he played those positions as well as second base. This year, Vargas will go into camp with his name penciled in as the starting second baseman.

To Vargas’ credit, he spent most of the offseason working with third-base coach Dino Ebel at Dodger Stadium. He even solicited help from Miguel Rojas once the veteran infielder was acquired from the Marlins in January. On the offensive side, he worked out with newly acquired J.D. Martinez in Miami.

Vargas has done all the right things this offseason. Now it’s time to see how much of it will translate once games start.