Heading into the 2016 season one weakness and question mark for the Los Angeles Dodgers figured to be their starting rotation. Brett Anderson, Mike Bolsinger, Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu were among those who opened the year on the disabled list.
While Bolsinger managed to return, the Dodgers lost Alex Wood to the DL by the end of May. Clayton Kershaw kept a patched-together rotation pushing along, aided by Kenta Maeda exceeding expectations, and at times Scott Kazmir as well.
Of course, now Kershaw is on the 15-day disabled list without a return date in sight. As the Dodgers’ rotation was working to do their part, the same couldn’t be said for the lineup through the first two months of the season.
Adrian Gonzalez, Howie Kendrick and Justin Turner were among those to come out of the gate slowly, rendering the Dodgers with an inconsistent offense.
That prompted a Major League scout to recently question the strength of the Dodgers’ lineup, via Buster Olney of ESPN:
“They’ve got some names, but how many really good hitters do they have? Who are you really afraid of?”
Corey Seager and Trayce Thompson largely combined to carry the Dodgers in the early going, while Turner has since rounded into form, so too has Gonzalez, and Kendrick has shown flashes of regaining his usual form.
In 26 games (25 starts) during the month of June, Turner hit .286/.330/.592 with six doubles, eight home runs and 23 RBIs; five of his homers came during a hot seven-game stretch. Los Angeles combined to hit three home runs.
Although there’s been a recent surge from multiple players throughout the lineup, Los Angeles ranks toward the bottom in major offensive categories. Including, 29th in batting average (.238), 22nd in on-base percentage (.311) and 28th in slugging (.386).
What’s more, the Dodgers’ .303 wOBA is ranked 26th in the Majors, while their 90 wRC+ is good for 22nd.
