MINNEAPOLIS — On Tuesday night at Target Field, Alex Call had what the Dodgers right fielder himself dubbed “an Alex Call-branded game” as the visitors took down the Minnesota Twins, 12-3.
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What does an Alex Call-branded game look like? Let’s hear it from the man himself:
“It just means you’re going to have long at-bats, quality contact, and be a pest at the plate, someone who is going to be a pain for the pitcher to deal with,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in that. I know there’s value in that, whether it’s having a long at-bat, maybe getting the pitcher a little more tired, and maybe my teammate gets a mistake.”
A review of his plate appearances Tuesday shows what that approach looks like.
• In his first at-bat leading off the second inning, Call saw seven pitches from Twins starter Kendrys Rojas, including four fastballs, a changeup, a sinker and a slider. When the seventh pitch ran high and wide for ball four, Call froze, dropped his bat in place and trotted to first with just a touch of showmanship that demonstrated a guy having fun playing a kid’s game for a living.
• Call saw six more pitches from reliever Austin Voth in his second at-bat leading off the fourth. He finally hit a full-count sinker on the ground and beat out an infield single. He eventually came around to score on a Shohei Ohtani sacrifice fly.
• With one out in the fifth, Call put Voth’s third pitch in play, a routine fly ball to right.
• Leading off the seventh, Call fell behind Voth 0-and-2, then took four straight pitches for another walk. He scampered to third on Alex Freeland’s single and scored on a safety squeeze bunt by Chuckie Robinson.
• In the top of the ninth, leading off once again, Call changed it up and swung at lefty Taylor Rogers’ first pitch. He drilled it high and deep to left field for his first home run of the season.
• The Dodgers ended up batting around and Call ended the inning with a ground out to first base after a five-pitch at-bat.
So that’s what an Alex Call-branded game looks like. Two walks, two hits, three runs scored, and reaching base four times leading off an inning. All while handling five chances in the field flawlessly.
Call was in the lineup because Kyle Tucker, the Dodgers’ big-ticket free agent signing in the offseason, suffered back spasms early in Monday night’s game. Call replaced him and went 2 for 3 that night, setting the stage for Tuesday’s outburst.
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And while the Dodgers would love to see Tucker stay healthy and start hitting up to the expectations that accompany his $240 million contract, Manager Dave Roberts appreciates having Call … well … on-call when he’s needed.
“It’s been great. Alex is such a good guy to have on the team,” Roberts said. “He knows his role. He’s dependable. He prepares. When you lose a guy like Kyle for whatever period of time, to fill in with Alex, you don’t lose much. You really don’t. I love his energy.”
The Dodgers acquired the 31-year-old Call from the Washington Nationals for two Class-A minor leaguers at last year’s trade deadline. He had bounced around between three organizations, playing 277 major-league games between 2022 and 2025. But the Dodgers saw something they liked in the scrappy outfielder, who rewarded them by reaching base in eight of 15 plate appearances during the postseason last fall.
“They felt like I could maybe come in and just give the pitcher a little extra headache and just take the quality team at-bats that are really valuable in baseball,” he recalled. “They said, ‘We don’t need you to be Shohei, we don’t need to be anybody else. Just do exactly what you do.’ That made it easy to be comfortable in my own skin.”
Call’s team-first approach isn’t lost on his teammates, nor is his potential to expand his role given the opportunity.
“He loves to walk, and he’s got that little flair to when he walks, which is kind of my favorite part about him,” cracked starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski, the beneficiary of Call’s productive Tuesday evening. “But I think a little out of his brand was that homer. If he starts adding a little bit of slug, which I know he can do, and he knows he can do, he’s going to become a real problem to game plan against, because there’s so much contact there and you know he’s going to control the zone.”
The fact that Call was playing against his favorite childhood team merely added to the moment. Growing up in nearby River Falls, Wisconsin, Call was a huge fan of former Gold Glove center fielder Torii Hunter. On Tuesday, he had a crew of friends and family in the stands, and he spent part of his time before Wednesday’s game on the field meeting with his high school coach and a number of current River Falls High players.
Obviously there’s no guarantee any of those youngsters will follow in Call’s footsteps. But if they want to try, they’ve got a great role model to follow in a player who grew up in their own back yard.
“The bottom line is, I love baseball. I love to play and to be out here for the guys,” Call said. “I love to compete for championships. And I certainly love being in the major leagues. That’s every kid’s dream.”
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Dodgers (RHP Roki Sasaki, 3-4, 4.76 ERA) at Padres (RHP Walker Buehler, 4-3, 3.96 ERA), Friday, 6:45 p.m., Apple TV, 570 AM
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