The Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching woes have been well-chronicled this season, but that is not the sole reason the team is lagging behind in National League West standings. Despite an occasional big game, such as Sunday’s 12-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves, the Dodgers are not hitting consistently and regularly struggle to score.
Their subpar offensive statistics are magnified when compared to those of the team they are chasing, the San Francisco Giants. While the Giants have scored just six more runs than the Dodgers — 263 to 257 — entering Friday’s series opener, they are superior in other categories as well.
As a team, San Francisco is batting .254/.328/.393, compared to the Dodgers’ .234/.309/.378 slash line. What’s more, the Giants have 519 hits and own a .312 wOBA and 100 wRC+, while the Dodgers’ marks are 473 hits, .300 wOBA and 89 wRC+.
It should be noted Hunter Pence, who leads the Giants in batting average (.298), RBIs (36) and is tied for second in home runs (seven), was lost this week due to a torn hamstring. Where the Dodgers have managed to outperform the Giants is in home runs: 63 to 50.
That is thanks in large part to the Dodgers’ young trio of Joc Pederson, Corey Seager and Trayce Thompson. Seager leads the team with 14 home runs, and is followed by Thompson (10) and Pederson (eight). No other player on the Dodgers roster has more than five home runs.
Adrian Gonzalez has seen an uptick in production since returning from a back injury, but has yet to fully find his hitting stroke. Seager leads the team with a .283 batting average, Gonzalez is second (.280), Thompson third (.271) and Chase Utley is near the top (.263) before a notable drop off.
CONTINUE READING: Hitting must improve in order to catch Giants
