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LOS ANGELES -- Mookie Betts' return gave the Dodgers a difficult decision to make.
In order to clear an active roster spot for their starting shortstop on Monday, the Dodgers optioned Alex Freeland to Triple-A Oklahoma City. They chose to keep Hyeseong Kim -- who should form a platoon at second base with Miguel Rojas -- and Santiago Espinal -- who is out of Minor League options -- on the active roster instead.
From their pure numbers alone, the decision seemed pretty clear-cut. But the Dodgers took more than each player's performance into consideration.
"Who's going to get the lion's share [of playing time], how much is Mookie going to play, the value of somebody going to the Minors and playing more vs. having some optionality with the roster. Opponent, off-days potentially and how much depth you need," manager Dave Roberts said over the weekend. "So there's a lot of different ways you can go about it. We're kind of in the process of having those conversations now."
Let's break down how the Dodgers approached each player who was on the bubble:
Alex Freeland
2026 stats: .235/.309/.337 slash line with 11 walks and 32 strikeouts in 112 plate appearances
Freeland made the Opening Day roster over Kim despite looking quite overmatched at the plate during Spring Training. That carried into the beginning of the season, but Freeland has actually started to turn things around over the past few weeks. In his last 16 games, Freeland is slashing .277/.370/.383.
As a switch-hitter, Freeland brings more versatility to the table, but the Dodgers have mostly been using him from the left-hand side, even pinch-hitting for him against some lefty pitchers. Freeland has been L.A.'s primary second baseman through the first quarter of the season, but he came up through the system as a shortstop and has experience at third base as well.
Credit to Freeland: he made this a much more difficult decision than it was shaping up to be two weeks ago. But the Dodgers ultimately decided that he would benefit from more regular playing time in Oklahoma City.
Hyeseong Kim
2026 stats: .289/.353/.395 slash line with eight walks and 18 strikeouts in 86 plate appearances
After beginning the season with Oklahoma City, Kim has impressed in this stint with the Dodgers. Roberts has described him as the type of player who seems to make something happen every time he's in a game, noting how Kim has particularly grown in his approach at the plate.
"I think that he's done a much better job of controlling the strike zone," Roberts said. "I think that's something that we felt he could be exposed to balls at the top, spin down below. He's done a much better job of managing that."
Kim has split time with Rojas at shortstop, and the duo should become the new platoon at second base when Betts returns. Kim brings additional defensive versatility to the table with some limited experience in center field, but he hasn't appeared there for the Dodgers this year. Kim has thrived in his time back in the big leagues, and L.A. will continue to ride that wave with him.
Santiago Espinal
2026 stats: .188/.188/.250 slash line with no walks and five strikeouts in 34 plate appearances
Espinal has performed the worst and seen the least playing time of the three, so that could have made him the natural odd man out. But contrary to logic, that might just be the reason why he made the cut.
Betts' return cuts down the playing time for Freeland and Kim, who are still developing and would benefit from regular repetitions. If they were both on the roster as currently configured, then they would essentially split an already limited number of plate appearances given that both primarily play against right-handed pitchers. That's why demoting one of them would be to their benefit.
As a right-handed-hitting utility man, Espinal also brings some qualities to the bench that the Dodgers are lacking without Kiké Hernández and Tommy Edman. Once Hernández is activated from the 60-day IL on or after May 24 and that role becomes redundant, then L.A. seems more likely to part ways with Espinal. But until then, he still fits on the roster.