Dodgers News: Don Mattingly Hopeful For More Offensive Consistency
After starting the 2015 season packing plenty of offensive punch, the Los Angeles Dodgers offense has slowly withered away and become a shadow of itself. During the first two months of the season, the team slashed .268/.345/.486 with an offense driven by home runs.
As teams usually do over the duration of a 162-game season, the Dodgers went through a prolonged period where runs were difficult to come by. Coming out of the All-Star break manager Don Mattingly acknowledged the drought while complimenting his pitching staff, via Steve Bourbon of MLB.com:
It’s pretty easy to see we haven’t been able to score consistently.” he said. “We’ve actually pitched a little better, but we haven’t scored consistently.”
Entering play Saturday, the Dodgers ranked 12th in the Majors with 378 runs scored over 91 games; the four runs pushed across in a win over the Nationals still leaves Los Angeles behind San Francisco in total runs scored.
Despite somewhat of a downward trend team-wise, the Dodgers rank in the top five in home runs hit. Adrian Gonzalez in particular has been on a tear, clubbing three home runs in the last two games. Meanwhile the Dodgers’ 113 wRC+ is tied for first in the Majors and their .330 wOBA ranks third overall.
On multiple occasions this season Mattingly has expressed a happiness with his club’s ability to put together strong at-bats, which has paid off in come-from-behind wins. While Mattingly has opted against directly comparing this year’s team to the 2014 roster, his comments suggest he much more prefers this season’s offensive approach.
Considering the Dodgers are closing in on full health, plus with Hector Olivera’s expected arrival at some point, it’s not beyond reason to believe some of the inconsistency at the plate should be laid to rest.
Don Mattingly Says Hector Olivera Needs More Seasoning
