Five ways Craig Kimbrel trade bolsters Dodgers pitching, balances roster

Gavin Lux warms up during a Dodgers spring training workout on March 13.

(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)

As much as Kimbrel’s arrival helps the pitching staff, the loss of Pollock leaves an important hole to be filled in the lineup.

With left field open, Gomes said the team will use “a little bit more of a platoon” that likely will feature Chris Taylor and Gavin Lux, utility players who are coming off up-and-down 2021 campaigns.

Taylor, a right-handed bat, earned his first career All-Star selection after a strong start last season, but faded down the stretch to finish with a .254 batting average, 20 home runs, 73 RBIs and a .782 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. A free agent this offseason, he re-signed on a four-year, $60-million deal.

The left-handed-hitting Lux is a former top infield prospect who last year played in the outfield late in the season and the playoffs. In his three-year career, he has a .233 average with 12 home runs, 63 RBIs and .682 OPS. He also had been getting outfield work this spring in anticipation of another multi-position role.

Neither player matched Pollock’s production last season, when the outfielder hit .297 with 21 home runs, 69 RBIs and an .892 OPS that ranked third on the team. Though Pollock again dealt with injuries, appearing in only 117 games, there were stretches in which he performed like one of the team’s best hitters.

The Dodgers are trusting that Taylor, Lux and whoever else plays in left can hold their own — and that the rest of their star-studded batting order can absorb the blow of Pollock’s departure.