Dodgers Trends: Corey Seager, Chase Utley On The Rise
Corey-seager-chase-utley
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

It was an excellent two-week period for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who tallied a 10-5 record while maintaining second-place in a tight National League West division.

The club outscored their opponents 67-45 through roughly the first two weeks of June and has won three of its past five series, including sweeps over the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds.

Let’s look back at the previous 15 games and analyze how certain Dodgers players fared among each other.

Trending Down

Yasmani Grandal: The switch-hitting catcher has gotten off to a slow start in the month of June after a torrid offensive display in May.

In 45 trips to the plate thus far in the month, Grandal is batting .200/.200/.289 with 18 strikeouts, no walks and two extra-base hits.

Logan Forsythe: It’s been a rough stretch offensively for Forsythe since returning from the disabled list.

He’s hitting a meager .122/.250/.195 with four singles and one home run over his last 48 plate appearances. What’s more, Forsythe recently snapped an 0-for-26 skid and has struck out in more than a third of his at-bats.

Adrian Gonzalez: The first baseman slashed a feeble .256/.289/.308 in his last 45 plate appearances, with two doubles and seven strikeouts to just three walks.

To make matters worse, Gonzalez was removed from Sunday’s contest against the Reds and will undergo an MRI for a herniated disc in his back on Monday.

Trending Up

Chase Utley: Utley has torn the cover off the ball since recovering from a dreadful month of April at the plate.

In his last 15 games (47 plate appearances), the veteran is batting .324/.468/.622 with three doubles, a triple and two home runs. Not surprisingly, Utley leads all positional players on the club with 0.5 WAR, per FanGraphs, during the span.

Yasiel Puig: After a disappointing month of May, Puig appears to have finally kicked out of his offensive slump.

In his last 48 plate appearances in June, the 26-year-old is hitting a superb .293/.375/.463 with four doubles and one home run, while continuing to play elite defense in right field.

Brandon McCarthy: McCarthy continues to put together quality starts. In his last two outings (11 innings), the right-hander has posted an identical 3.27 ERA and FIP with terrific peripherals all-around (8.2 strikeouts per nine innings and 2.5 walks per nine).

Corey Seager: The young shortstop had an eventful series against the Reds, hitting a walk-off double on Saturday and following up with a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning on Sunday.

During the past 15 games, Seager is batting .271/.397/.479 with four doubles and two home runs in 58 plate appearances.

Honorable Mentions

Austin Barnes: Though he serves in a backup role, Barnes has made the most of his opportunities as of late. In 24 plate appearances, he hit .364/.417/.545 with a double and home run.

Clayton Kershaw: The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner has posted a solid 2.95 ERA over his last 18.1 innings, but saw his FIP inflate to 4.45 during the span because of an unsustainably-high 2.5 home runs per nine innings ratio.

Kenley Jansen: In his last 8.1 innings, Jansen hasn’t allowed a run while yielding just four baserunners. During the stretch, he picked up three saves and accumulated the most fWAR on the team (0.4).

Cody Bellinger: While the rookie hit a mere .196 over the two-week course, he managed to club six home runs during the span, increasing his season total to 15 in 44 games.