Los Angeles Dodgers: 5 Key Questions That Need Answering in Spring Training

The Los Angeles Dodgers are odds-on favorites to win a fifth straight National League West title. According to Baseball Prospectus, the PECOTA projection system pegged the Dodgers to finish with a 99-63 finish, and those unfeeling computers are not prone to hyperbole.

That would leave the Dodgers with the best record in baseball and a clear path to their first World Series appearance since 1988.

We're a long way from there, obviously. Right now, the Dodgers are focused on spring training. Rosy projections aside, they've got questions to answer in the Cactus League.

L.A.'s outfield is a jigsaw puzzle that might be missing a piece or two. The back of the rotation is a muddled mishmash of injury comebacks and unproven youngsters. Even Clayton Kershaw, the club's unassailable ace, carries a little uncertainty on his back.

Stretch your hammies, bust out the fungo bat and proceed when ready.

Is Andrew Toles for Real?

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Andrew Toles was easily the coolest story for the Dodgers last season.

The 24-year-old fell briefly out of the game and took a job stocking shelves at a grocery store before Los Angeles picked him up.

Toles made his big league debut with the Dodgers in July and finished with a .314/.365/.505 slash line in 115 plate appearances.

Now, he's penciled in as Los Angeles' starting left fielder. As good as he looked in 2016, that's a roll of the dice for a team with championship aspirations.

The projection systems foresee significant backsliding for Toles, who is technically still a rookie. Steamer projects a .276/.317/.413 line with seven home runs, per FanGraphs.

Those are fine numbers for a fourth outfielder, but if Toles is producing like that at the trade deadline, L.A. may feel motivated to rekindle talks for Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun.

A scalding spring should assure Toles regular at-bats. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated as much when he said Toles would be among the players he'd be "continuing to put eyes on," per Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times.

Who Starts in Right Field?

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Outfielders Yasiel Puig (left) and Andre Ethier.

Sticking with the outfield, there's an intriguing position battle brewing in right field.

Yasiel Puig is back after last season's embarrassing demotion, which led yours truly to wonder if he would ever again don Dodger blue.

The mercurial Cuban returned and posted a .900 OPS in the season's final month, flashing the talent that made him a rising star a few short years ago. If he rakes in the spring, it's tough to imagine L.A. keeping him out of the lineup.

Also in the mix: veteran Andre Ethier, who missed most of 2016 with a broken leg. In 2015, Ethier hit .294 with 14 home runs. He's also owed $17.5 million in 2017.

If Toles struggles, Ethier could move to left. The picture is crowded, however, with Joc Pederson ensconced in center and Trayce Thompson and Scott Van Slyke also hanging around.

"He feels great," Roberts said of Ethier, per McCullough. "He feels stronger than ever. What I do know from Andre is he's going to go out there and compete to get as many at-bats as possible. And that's what we would expect from any one of those guys. It's going to be a competition."

Kershaw's Healthy...Right?

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Clayton Kershaw is mortal after all.

The three-time National League Cy Young Award winner and one-time NL MVP missed two full calendar months with a back injury last season, sending enough shockwaves through Southern California to nudge the San Andreas fault line.

Then, in typical Kershaw fashion, he returned and was almost instantly dominant, posting a 1.29 ERA in his five starts off the disabled list and engineering some unforgettable October moments. 

Still, the Dodgers undoubtedly want to see a normal, healthy spring from their uber-ace. Kershaw insisted the injury is behind him but did indicate he'd tweaked his offseason conditioning program, per MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.

"It's different and just adding more stuff just to keep healthy," the 28-year-old lefty said, per Gurnick. "I think every player, as you get older, has to do that. Regardless of the back or not, that's what I'd be doing."

How Does Logan Forsythe Look?

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After spending a disturbingly large portion of the offseason with Enrique Hernandez atop their depth chart at second base, the Dodgers acquired Logan Forsythe from the Tampa Bay Rays for prized pitching prospect Jose De Leon.

The 30-year-old slashed .264/.333/.444 and hit a career-high 20 homers in 2016, but he's not as sexy of an addition as the Minnesota Twins' 42-homer man Brian Dozier, who the Dodgers also reportedly pursued.

Forsythe will be the everyday second baseman, no matter what he does in the Cactus League. He'll be a key lineup cog, as well, since Roberts plans to hit him in the leadoff spot, as McCullough reported.

Spring stats are mostly meaningless and are certainly not predictive year to year. For what it's worth, however, Forsythe posted a .916 OPS in last season's exhibition slate. He can make the Dodgers look smart—and erase any lingering Dozier remorse—with a similar showing.

Will the Real Fifth Starter Please Stand Up?

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Left-hander Scott Kazmir.

Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda and sophomore Julio Urias own the top four rotation spots, barring injury or a massively unexpected twist.

That leaves one spot open for a wide variety of candidates: 

• Scott Kazmir (LHP): After signing a three-year, $48 million deal with the Dodgers last winter, Kazmir struggled with injuries and posted a 4.56 ERA. He's owed more than $17 million next season, so he'll be given a long look.

• Brandon McCarthy (RHP): McCarthy also battled injuries in 2016 (a common theme for the Dodgers, who used 15 different starting pitchers) and posted a 4.95 ERA in 40 innings. McCarthy had spurts of effectiveness, posting a 2.39 ERA in five July starts, but he hasn't thrown 100 innings in a season since 2014.

• Hyun-Jin Ryu (LHP): Ryu has pitched 4.2 big league innings over the past two seasons while dealing with shoulder and elbow problems. The Korean southpaw underwent elbow surgery in September and turns 30 in March. On the bright side, he was frequently excellent in his first two seasons with the Dodgers, posting ERAs of 3.00 and 3.38 in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

• Ross Stripling (RHP): Stripling threw exactly 100 innings for the Dodgers in 2016, making 14 starts and posting a 3.96 ERA. Memorably, he put up 7.1 innings of no-hit ball in his MLB debut before Roberts pulled him over pitch-count concerns. Stripling profiles as a long-relief man and spot starter, but he could make a case for the fifth starter job, especially if injuries strike again.

• Alex Wood (LHP): Wood showed flashes in the first two months of 2016, including a six-inning, 13-strikeout performance May 21, but he went down with a balky elbow. He returned to make four appearances in September and October and finished with a 3.73 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 60.1 innings. 

Sorting through this mess is arguably the top item on L.A.'s to-do list. Give the inside track to Kazmir and McCarthy if they're healthy, but don't count out Wood as an interesting dark horse.

The bottom line: There's nothing wrong with depth, but the Dodgers don't want to churn through a dozen-plus starters again in 2017 if they can help it.

All statistics courtesy of MLB.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.