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
It is unrealistic to expect a team with not one player batting over .300 to compete for a division title. Moreover, even the top hitters have not been consistent.
The pattern so far is they get hot and bring their average up to .290 then they cool off and their average declines 10 or 20 points. Further, with the exception of Gonzalez, Seager and Thompson, no one else on the team has hit well at all.
The Dodgers hoped that Yasiel Puig would finally have a bounce-back season, but it hasn’t materialized and he’s now on the disabled list because of another hamstring injury.
Prior to going down, Puig was hitting .237/.283/.360 over 53 games. Pederson is hitting only .226, though his .323 on-base percentage and .445 slugging are encouraging. Everyone remembers the Pederson who had monster start last season but trailed off so dramatically leading into and after the All-Star break.
Yasmani Grandal is another player the Dodgers were counting on to return to form this season, but so far he has been close to a disaster. He’s batting an abysmal .190 and despite assertions he’s improving health-wise, very much appears limited by injuries.
Grandal does rank seventh on the team with a .310 on-base percentage. His backup and former starter A.J. Ellis has played sparingly and primarily when Clayton Kershaw is on the hill. Ellis has never been much of an offensive threat, but this year he is hitting a lowly .205/.309/.277.
Justin Turner has also been a disappointment thus far. He bats in the middle of the lineup and was counted on to hit for average and for power. However, he owns a .335 slugging percentage and has hit just eight doubles and four home runs in 57 games.
Utley is another cause for concern as he’s regressed since an impressive start as the Dodgers’ leadoff batter. Pitching or no pitching, the Dodgers cannot compete for a division title, or a World Series, without improved hitting across the board.
Puig may not be a safe bet considering his chronic hamstring problems persist, but Turner, Pederson, Grandal, Utley and Howie Kendrick have to raise their averages dramatically for the Dodgers to remain competitive with the Giants.
The Dodgers also need to see Gonzalez, Seager and Thompson remain consistent and continue to serve as the driving force.