“Honestly, to be quite frank, he’s not on this team, and we didn’t acquire him, to be an everyday player

For the second time in as many years, the Dodgers have acquired Amed Rosario ahead of the trade deadline. Coming off a down season in Cleveland last year that left him as a below-average hitter overall, Rosario was used almost exclusively against left-handed pitching during his time with L.A. last season. Despite the fact that he’s hit both righties and lefties quite well with the Rays this year, however, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) that Rosario’s role with the club will be similar to last year.

“Honestly, to be quite frank, he’s not on this team, and we didn’t acquire him, to be an everyday player — he didn’t play every day in Tampa — and to hit righties,” Roberts said (as relayed by Plunkett) when asked about Rosario’s role this year.

Rosario has improved considerably in terms of both his overall slash line, which sits at .308/.332/.421 (116 wRC+) in 277 trips to the plate, and in boosting his slash against righties to a respectable .299/.324/.395 (107 wRC+). Even so, it’s worth noting that the 28-year-old is still hitting lefties better than same-handed pitching. With lefty-swinging Gavin Lux at second base, Shohei Ohtani locked into everyday at-bats at DH, and a trio of lefty-swingers in James Outman, Jason Heyward, and Kevin Kiermaier all part of the club’s deep outfield mix, it’s fair to wonder where exactly Rosario would fit into the club’s lineup against right-handed pitching.

Rosario has plenty of experience at shortstop and played a bit of third base for Tampa this year, but the club seems satisfied with Kiké Hernández at third base and Nick Ahmed at shortstop for the time being. Perhaps more importantly, each of those pieces are only stopgap options to begin with. Plunkett goes on to note that Roberts indicated the club hopes to see superstar Mookie Betts return to the lineup on August 12 or 13. Betts has been sidelined since mid-June after an errant pitch fractured his left hand.

Betts was in the midst of a MVP-caliber season prior to his injury, slashing an incredible .304/.405/.488 in 72 games that’s made all the more impressive by the fact that he was simultaneously making a relatively seamless transition to becoming the everyday shortstop in L.A. this season. While it seemed at one point that veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas had staked his claim to regular starts at short in Betts’ absence, a forearm issue sent him to the shelf as well and seemingly leaves the position for Betts to slide back into upon his return.