Rookie Outman a surprising savior for L.A.'s offense

CHICAGO -- James Outman says he never envisioned how the start of his career would go. He just wanted to play his usual game, showcase his talent and see where that would take him.

Through 22 games, Outman’s game has turned him into the early favorite for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, with one of the best starts to a season by a rookie in the Dodgers’ storied franchise history.

Outman’s latest trick was to record another multihomer game, his second in three games, helping the Dodgers earn a much-needed bounceback 9-4 win over the Cubs on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

“It’s been great,” Outman said when asked about the start of his rookie season. “Just trying to play good baseball and help the team win, and I think guys are starting to come around. [Max Muncy] has been awesome. Learning a lot from these guys, the clubhouse has been awesome, they’ve been helping me a lot. Thankful for my teammates.”

While Outman constantly gives credit to his teammates, it’s the rest of the Dodgers’ clubhouse that has been thankful for the 25-year-old. During a start that has produced a lot of inconsistencies, Outman has been the one reliable source of offense for Los Angeles.

With his two-homer performance on Saturday, Outman has seven, the most of any rookie in the Majors. He also became the first Dodgers rookie to hit seven homers in March/April, and he has the most homers by a Los Angeles rookie in a month since Will Smith hit eight in August 2019.

“It’s remarkable,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “It’s just fun watching him continuing to make adjustments, and the league is still trying to learn him. He’s earning pitches, earning counts, and when they make a mistake out over, he’s making them pay. And that’s sort of the plan that we’re all trying to do.”

Outman’s first homer of the day came in the second inning, a solo shot off Cubs starter Hayden Wesneski on an 80 mph sweeper that stayed out over the middle of the plate. In the ninth, Outman capped the Dodgers’ strong offensive performance with a two-run homer off right-hander Brad Boxberger, this time on a changeup.

“He’s a good player. He works hard. He’s smart, and he’s always talking about what a pitcher is doing, what we think, what we feel about certain guys,” Muncy said. “For a guy that doesn’t have a lot of experience with a lot of these pitchers, it’s really impressive for him to be so open to what we talk to him about.”

Seven homers in 22 games is a pace Outman probably won’t continue for the rest of the season. However, there are plenty of indicators that Outman has all the tools to be a very good Major League hitter and one of the best hitters in the Dodgers’ lineup.

Outman came into Saturday’s game ranked in the 95th percentile in barrels and in the 68th percentile in hard-hit rate, per Baseball Savant. Perhaps most impressively, Outman is in the 84th percentile in chase rate, meaning he hasn’t expanded the strike zone.

Four of the five homers Outman had coming into Saturday were on fastballs. But on Saturday, he showed his ability to cover different types of pitches. For someone with 83 at-bats in the Majors, that’s a rare trait.

“I think the goal for any player is to be able to stay in the moment,” Roberts said. “And I think for him, he does a pretty good job of that innately and not getting too far ahead, not looking back, even if there is a tough at-bat or a tough game. That’s hard to do when you’re in it, but somehow he just has that ability.”

Muncy also helped the Dodgers with a two-homer game of his own. The third baseman has 10 homers, tying him with Mets first baseman Pete Alonso for the Major League lead. But Muncy’s production was something Los Angeles was banking on coming into the season.

Outman, on the other hand, had to earn his way onto the roster in Spring Training. Just a few weeks later, Outman enjoyed his second multihomer of the week and the first four-hit game of his career.

“There’s been some days where I feel horrible. Some days where I feel really good,” Outman said. “I just try to take things day by day. Overall, I feel pretty good.”