Roberts adds Toles to LA's NLDS roster
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SAN DIEGO -- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed on Thursday that rookie outfielder Andrew Toles would be on the postseason roster.
With just 46 Major League games under his belt, Toles has impressed Roberts in all areas of the game, while hitting .311/.363/.505 after starting the season at Class A Advanced.
"He's done nothing to disappoint," Roberts said before the Dodgers' 9-4 win over the Padres at Petco Park. "He's been great: offensively, defensively, running the bases. But I still want him getting out there, and see his name on a Major League lineup."
With just 113 Major League plate appearances, Roberts said that he still wanted a bigger sample of the 24-year-old outfielder. Toles wasn't in the starting lineup Thursday in Los Angeles' final game against the Padres, but Roberts said that decision was predetermined and had nothing to do with a left hamstring cramp Toles sustained in the ninth inning Wednesday night. On Thursday, Toles pinch-ran in the seventh and hit an RBI single in the ninth.
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"I asked him afterward and he said it was just a cramp," Roberts said. "He said to not read into anything. He's not in the lineup because I wanted to get other guys in there tonight."
Roberts has a handful of outfielders that he is trying to mix and match to get at-bats before the postseason begins, with Yasiel Puig, Rob Segedin and Joc Pederson starting Thursday. Roberts has said he's trying to get Andre Ethier -- who's played just 13 games, all in September -- going, but he also has Kiké Hernández, Josh Reddick and Howie Kendrick to try and find time for in the last four games.
Los Angeles won't be able to play all of them when the postseason begins, but after mustering the same amount of fWAR as Kendrick (1.2) in a third of the playing time, Toles has managed to win a spot.
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And Roberts is hoping that the Nationals test him at some point in the outfield, to further justify his inclusion on the postseason roster.
"The word's starting to get out [on Toles]," Roberts said. "And I'm sure the Nationals will have some accurate information, but I hope they keep running on him. Because this kid can throw."