The Los Angeles Dodgers set a franchise record with 235 home runs this season, which paced the National League and was good for second in the Majors. The New York Yankees led the Majors with 267 homers.
The Dodgers’ power display come one season after they’d previously broke the franchise mark and had six players slug at least 20 home runs. That record was rewritten this year as well, as seven Dodgers reached the threshold.
Of course, for all the home runs came criticism the club was inept at situational hitting. It led to some developing an opinion that the Dodgers would not succeed in the postseason because of their reliance on home runs.
“I never heard of that notion, but yeah, the postseason you’re facing some of the best pitchers, and good pitchers usually don’t give up home runs,” answered Joc Pederson when asked about the longstanding belief.
“So you gotta grind out at-bats and I think we do a great job of that and hit with runners on base, get the guy over, situational hitting all plays a part of it. But I mean, sometimes a home run does the job. So I don’t know what to tell you.”
All the Dodgers did against the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the NL Division Series was launch three homers en route to a 6-0 victory. David Freese’s sacrifice fly drove in the only run that did not come on a long ball.
Pederson, who set a new franchise record with eight leadoff home runs during the regular season, hit another Thursday night. Max Muncy’s three-run homer extended the Dodgers’ lead to 4-0 in the second inning.
Muncy led the club with 35 home runs. “I don’t really feel like there’s anyone on this team that’s going up there trying to hit a home run,” he said. “It’s just a result of us having a good approach and good at-bats.
“I feel like a lot of the home runs we’ve had have come off of long at-bats, working the counts and wearing the pitcher down. Again, I don’t feel like we’re trying to hit a home run. It’s just the result of a good approach.”
