Veteran outfielder won NLCS MVP in beating LA in 2021 with Atlanta, but has struggled the last three years.
The Dodgers signed another veteran with a non-roster invitation to spring training. Outfielder Eddie Rosario signed a minor league contract with the team, and was in camp on Saturday at Camelback Ranch in Arizona.
Rosario, who turned 33 in September is coming off a terrible season, hitting just .175/.215/.316 in 91 games with the Nationals and Braves. He also caught on with the Mets on a minor league deal, and played in Triple-A for Syracuse as well as Gwinnett while with the Braves, Rosario’s first non-rehab minor league stints since 2016.
Among the 286 major league hitters with at least 300 plate appearances last season, Rosario ranked 285th with a 45 wRC+, ahead of only Brandon Drury (34 wRC+). He was dead last in on-base percentage and had the third-worst batting average.
Rosario’s 2024 season was the polar opposite of his dismantling of the Dodgers in the 2021 National League Championship Series. He had 14 hits in 25 at-bats with three home runs in that series, including the back-breaking three-run home run in the series-clinching Game 6. Rosario hit a robust .560/.607/1.040 with five extra-base hits and nine RBI to win NLCS MVP.
That made for a fun interaction in the Dodgers clubhouse at Camelback Ranch on Saturday, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times:
Eddie Rosario arrived at Dodgers camp today as a minor-league signing
He said his 2021 NLCS performance –– when he won series MVP against the Dodgers with the Braves –– has already come up a few times around camp
“But it’s in the past,” he said. “It was a good moment for me.”
— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) February 15, 2025
As Rosario was trying to downplay the 2021 NLCS, his ex-Atlanta teammate Freddie Freeman walked by and heard him
“Oh, I remember,” Freeman laughed
— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) February 15, 2025
It’s been downhill after winning a championship with Atlanta that season, beginning with a two-plus-month stint on the injured list in 2022 with blurred vision and swelling in his right retina. Over the last three seasons, Rosario hit just .221/.268/.381 with a 75 wRC+ in 313 games.
The lefty-batting Rosario has a career 102 wRC+ against right-handed pitching compared to just 83 vs. left-handers. But in the last three seasons he’s struggled against all pitchers, including a 77 wRC+ against right-handers.
This offseason, Rosario played in the Puerto Rican Winter League for the first time in eight years, and won a championship with Indios de Mayaguez in January.
Rosario posted on Instagram that he’s wearing number 9, for anyone keeping track of Dodgers uniform numbers.
The additions this week of pitcher Luis García, infielder Michael Chavis, and now Rosario give the Dodgers 27 non-roster invitees in big league camp, a group that includes 14 pitchers and 13 position players.