Santiago Espinal: Everything you need to know

The Dodgers selected Espinal's contract from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Espinal signed a minor-league contract with Los Angeles in mid-February, and after dominating in spring training to the tune of a .389/.432/.639 slash line to go with two homers, 13 RBI and 12 runs scored through 15 contests, he's now officially claimed a spot on the team's Opening Day roster. The 31-year-old's clearest path to playing time early in the year will be in a short-side platoon role at second base, as Tommy Edman is expected to miss the first month of the regular season while recovering from ankle surgery. Once Edman returns, Espinal will likely be relegated to a bench role while Edman and Hyeseong Kim split reps at the keystone.

Espinal went 2-for-2 with a pair of home runs and six RBI in Thursday's Cactus League loss to Cincinnati. Espinal got the scoring started quietly in the first inning with a sacrifice fly, then produced much louder output with a solo homer in the third frame and a three-run blast in the fourth. He finished off his big contest with another sacrifice fly in the fifth. The veteran utility man is now slashing an absurd .625/.636/1.125 over seven games this spring. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts suggested prior to Thursday's contest that Espinal is likely to make the team's Opening Day roster, and if that's indeed the case, he'll likely serve in a super-utility role similar to what Enrique Hernandez -- who will begin the campaign on the 60-day IL due to an elbow injury -- typically logs. With that being said, Espinal is a career .261 hitter with just 20 home runs across 579 regular-season contests, so his power display Thursday shouldn't lead to expectation that he's suddenly going to be a major source of homers.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated Thursday that Espinal is likely to make the Opening Day roster, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports. Espinal was signed to a minor-league deal with a camp invite in February and has fit in "seamlessly" with the team, per Roberts. With Tommy Edman (ankle) and Enrique Hernandez (elbow) slated to open the year on the injured list, Espinal provides the defensive versatility Roberts seeks. The 31-year-old could see some starts at second base while Edman is out.