Dodgers Nation Poll Results: Roberts’ Approval Rating Up, Bullpen Down
The Dodgers are off to a solid start to the season, boasting a 12-8 record. The offense is singing, the starting pitching looks solid, Dave Roberts continues to mix and match, and the bullpen is okay, albeit struggling at times.
This is a returning series at Dodgers Nation and will be a recurring, weekly thread. To see what you thought, we took to Twitter to post polls about all four facets of our club.
First, let’s break down the performance of manager Dave Roberts with the club:
#DNApprovalRatings: Dave Roberts
Do you approve of Dave Roberts’ job so far this season? And why?
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) April 15, 2019
Close to half of those polled stated that they approve, while approximately one-third claimed that the jury was still out on Dave Roberts’ performance early in the 2019 campaign. The Dodgers are above .500, so there should not be much to complain about quite yet. The club looks great, although Dave Roberts’ mixing and matching of the lineup construction along with what could be said to be poor bullpen management are potential issues. These are all things to keep a close eye on.
He sits Alex Verdugo. How about giving Pollack a rest. Let him get the experience of hitting against good pictures. As I've said before, he's a good motivator except when he crushes the spirit of young players
— Jim Tierney (@JimTierney6) April 15, 2019
I would have to agree here. Alex Verdugo has proven he deserves everyday at-bats (.375/.390/.725, 187 wRC+) and AJ Pollock continues to struggle (.239/.291/.324, 65 wRC+) near the top of the order. Verdugo is not a platoon player and perhaps the Dodger struggling the most, Chris Taylor (.182/.294/.295, 65 wRC+), continues to play more. The Dodgers should get even more creative to get Verdugo even more at-bats and our own Brian Robitaille wrote about that here. (Keep in mind, these stats are prior to Wednesday afternoon’s game).
Next up, let’s take a look at the offense:
#DNApprovalRatings: Offense
Do you approve of the Dodgers’ offense so far this season? And why?
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) April 15, 2019
Plenty of voters believe the offense is great this season and it is because it has been. The Dodgers lead the majors in batting WAR with 6.4, 1.9 higher than the second-best club. They lead the league across the board in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, and wOBA. They rank second in wRC+, K%, ISO, and home runs. Wow.
Next, let’s examine the pen:
#DNApprovalRatings: Bullpen
Do you approve of the Dodgers’ bullpen performance so far this season? And why?
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) April 15, 2019
So far – no but it’s a small sample size – ask me at game 40 – 1/4 of way through season
— Daniel Foley – Go Utes! VGK Dodgers (@dfoleyusa) April 16, 2019
Yes, yes, and yes. The bullpen has been dreadful and those polled exemplified that. An 86 percent “no” is a huge number of people, but they are all correct. There have been a few bright spots out of the Dodger pen like Dylan Floro, Caleb Ferguson, and Kenley Jansen, but it has mostly been rough. The Dodgers’ relief corps has pitched to the tune of a 4.95 ERA this season and has the second lowest strand rate in all of Major League Baseball. This means two things: the bullpen has been rather unlucky and has had trouble keeping runners stranded. However, it is still too early.
Now, on to the starting pitching:
#DNApprovalRatings: Starting Pitching
Do you approve of the Dodgers’ starting pitching performance so far this season? And why?
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) April 15, 2019
I will be honest here and say that the results are shocking. I just had to check the comments to see what everyone’s reasoning behind it was.
Sort of – would like to see starters go deeper
— Daniel Foley – Go Utes! VGK Dodgers (@dfoleyusa) April 16, 2019
This is a fair assessment, but it at the same time, the Dodgers have dealt with injuries from more than half of their starting pitching staff. Nursing guys back to health typically entails shorter outings to work them back into full workloads.
https://twitter.com/EWOKinLA/status/1117887355199737856
Even with the club facing tons of injuries, they have performed well enough to win 11 of 19. The Dodgers’ rotation has been pretty middle-of-the-road so far but that is scheduled to change with Kershaw, Hill, and Ryu returns. A 4.12 ERA for the staff is not indicative of their true talent and we know that.
Thoughts
Is Roberts doing his job correctly? Will the offense keep it up? Will the pitching staff improve?
Let us know in the comments what you think!
DODGERS POSTGAME: ALEX VERDUGO TALKS WITH ALANNA RIZZO
Frankly, this is about as useful to baseball as the fantasy leauges.
Lets stop tooting our own horns here!!!! We just swept one of the weakest teams in baseball, The Reds!!!! As far as these statistical findings go, they mean little : Roberts is a good manager as far as inter-personal skills are concerned, but he tends to platoon excessively. Verdugo should be starting on a regular basis; Gale should not be with the team. When the shift is on, no one bunts!!!! Why? The BP is a day-to-day happening : some days good, other days disastrous. Roberts situation reminds me of the teams of Stengel, or in basketball, Auerbach or Pat Riley : the talent is there, and anyone should be able to manage it by avoiding a battle of the egos. That is why Puig and Kemp are no longer with the team. Lets take these surveys again at ASG time and see what the responses will be. Go Blue!!!
BLUE LOU! Great post here and pretty much says it all for the most part. Now if anyone wants to ask me if I approve of the way Roberts is handling the lineups with this platooning, putting players in different spots in the lineup daily and sitting the hot bats MY ANSWER IS A BIG FAT NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I echo your sentiments, AZUL!!!!!! The platooning has bothered me for a long time, as has playing men out of their normal position. Then, this morning, I read where Urias will now be used in relief rather than as a starter. With Hill, Kersh, and Ryu already experiencing stints on the DL, I would let Urias start and just restrict his innings; or, let me start very six days. We need PD Jr. to speak to the Dodgers front office. Have a restful weekend, AZUL!!!! Go Blue!!!