Dodgers Trends: Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig Struggle During Homestand

Adrian-gonzalez-yasiel-puig-dave-roberts

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

PAGES: 1 | 2

Coming off an impressive road trip, the Los Angeles Dodgers returned home to take on the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres for a seven-game homestand.

With the offense and pitching staff simultaneously struggling, the team lost six of seven games, but only sit one-half game behind the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West entering play on Tuesday.

Let’s review which players struggled and those who found success over the previous week of play.

Trending Down

Yasiel Puig: Making 30 plate appearances last week, Puig slashed a rather weak .103/.133/.241 with seven strikeouts to one walk. As a result, manager Dave Roberts essentially benched him on Saturday, though he returned to the starting lineup on Sunday.

Roberts attempted to light a spark under Puig by batting him leadoff in the series finale with the Padres, but there was nothing to show for it.

Adrian Gonzalez: Totaling 29 plate appearances, Gonzalez recorded just one hit in 23 at-bats. He did manage to draw six walks, but also struck out eight times during the span.

Howie Kendrick: Kendrick’s season-long struggles continued as he batted .095/.136/.095 with zero extra-base hits in 22 plate appearances.

Chris Hatcher: Recording just eight outs over four appearances, Hatcher posted an ugly 20.25 ERA in 2.2 innings pitched. On Friday, he allowed a go-ahead home run to Padres outfielder Matt Kemp and overall saw his pitch command decline.

CONTINUE READING: Players trending up, and honorable mentions

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

PAGES: 1 | 2

Trending Up

Clayton Kershaw: After an uncharacteristic performance against the Marlins, Kershaw rebounded with another dominant start against the Padres.

In a complete-game shutout effort, Kershaw struck out 14 batters while allowing just three hits and drove in the lone run of the game — single-handedly putting an end to the Dodgers’ six-game losing streak.

Kershaw lost a perfect game on a two-out Alexei Ramirez single in the fifth inning.

Joc Pederson: One of the few bright spots for the offense last week, Pederson slashed .273/.556/.636 with one home run in 18 plate appearances.

Honorable Mentions

Chase Utley: Despite batting just .190 during the week, Utley belted his first home run of the season and maintained a high on-base percentage of .370.

Scott Kazmir: Making one start last week, Kazmir yielded just two earned runs with six strikeouts in six innings pitched — amounting to a 3.00 ERA and 2.05 FIP.

Exit mobile version