Editorials

Dodgers Nation Poll Results: Starting Pitching Solidifies, Bullpen Remains Weak

This is the second installment of the #DNApprovalRatings series on Twitter where we are analyzing your opinions on Dave Roberts’ managerial decision-making, the strength of the bullpen and starting pitching corps, and the offensive firepower of the Dodgers.

At the time the polls were run, the club was fresh off of a 6-game win streak and are winners of 7 of their last 8 games. They swept the lowly Cincinnati Reds and won a series against the solid Milwaukee Brewers to achieve it.



Considering the recent success, it would be expected that the poll results would reflect it, especially when being compared to last week’s results.

So, let’s see what you thought!

First off, the approval ratings of Dave Roberts expectedly improved as the club improved.

Last week, the poll results showed a 51% yes vote, 16% no vote, and a 33% undecided vote. This represents a pretty dramatic shift from the last results. Plenty more fans have decided on a verdict and it tended to be a yes. With the club performing as well as anyone could hope for, this makes perfect sense. Only a 9% no vote is very solid and considering that maybe half of the undecided votes would be of the yes variety, an 80% approval rating for manager Dave Roberts is plausible.

https://twitter.com/PureLASports/status/1120790062872969216

I whole-heartedly agree. Roberts tends to have some issues with pitching management and that is one of the core areas where improvement can possibly be found in his managerial tendencies. Only time will tell.

Now, we check in on the offense:

Not surprisingly, the offense was rated highly by those polled. Last week, there was a 70% yes vote and that has risen to a very solid mark of 88%. There really has not been anything to complain about with the offense as they rank amongst the league leaders in team stats across the board. Combine that with a solid record so far this season and the results are very much indicative of how the club has performed.

Well said.

Now, let’s see the starting pitching:

This is the area of focus where the results changed most dramatically. The yes vote moved up a whopping 44% with the no vote dropping 41% and the undecided vote dropping 3%. That is a dramatic shift which is best explained by how the starting pitching corps has led the club to victory on numerous occasions in the last week.

https://twitter.com/Tonyk2054/status/1120433842198908928

Injuries kill, but multiple starting pitchers have returned to health and the mound, strengthening the rotation and the depth.

Lastly, let’s take a look at the bullpen:

The Dodgers wouldn’t be the Dodgers without a subpar bullpen right? There was no real shift in results outside of the fact that the 86% no vote moved to 60% with more fans being undecided this week with the vote moving from 9% to 26%. All in all, the yes vote only improved by a measly 9%.

Yikes. Ron is not exactly wrong, though.

Thoughts

The club has looked great! Winning seven of nine is quite a feat and fans are starting to become more comfortable with the pitching corps as whole. Let’s hope we can keep rolling against the Cubs and soon, the Pirates and Giants.

If you did not get a chance to participate in the poll, let us know what you think in the comments!

This Week In Dodgers Nation: Verdugo’s Playing Time, Kenley’s Backup Plan, And More

Daniel Preciado

My name is Daniel Preciado and I am 19 years old. I am a sophomore Sport Analytics major and Cognitive Science and Economics dual minor at Syracuse University. When I am not in New York, I live in Whittier, California --- not too far from Chavez Ravine. I am pretty old-school for being an analytics guy and I will always embrace debate. Also, Chase Utley did absolutely nothing wrong.

6 Comments

  1. If the line-up in the next two-games against the Cubs(Hamels,Lester), LHPs is the same that was used against Quintana, the Dodgers Will be swept by the Cubs. The blueprint to defeat the Dodgers was used the past two seasons and Especially in the World Series, start a LHP, keep Pederson,Muncy, and this year Verdugo on the bench. Dodgers/Roberts/Friedman will the utilize the JV squad and will be defeated!!

    1. It’s incredible how stupid Friedman is. How does he not realize this by now? And Roberts is a pussy for not saying F U to these clowns and doing what I know he would do if he was left alone. Roberts knows better but his job title is to be a puppet and to be a PR guy and keep the players United during all of this BS.

  2. Well, nobody should be surprised about last night’s pittyful performance against a LHP. and EVERY team knows that Dodgers are way LH heavy and it was easy for Cubs to match up in the later innings because all Roberts had left on his bench were LHB and a very weak hitting rocky Gale. Get used to it folks, because as long as Freidman and puppet boy Roberts are running things (allegedly) this team WILL NOT SEE ANOTHER WS If I was a betting person I would have won $$$ big time in predicting yesterday’s lineup against a LHP would FAIL

  3. What type of analytics puts in Taylor? I give up. There is no logic to this. Then, you take Taylor out and bring in a lefty??? Why not start a hot hitting lefty to begin with such as Peterson or Verdugo? If lefty-righty is your plan, why not take out Seager and Bellinger? I truly do not get what I am seeing. We are winning solely on the talent of our players. With our talent we should be winning like mad. The FO is hindering our talent.

  4. If Dodger fans think our lineup is solid, look again. We are winning only because of Bellinger. Verdigp , Perterson when he plays and on occasion Turner and Seager hit. The rest of the lineup is struggling, With Roberts platooning every game, your in then out of the lineup and that makes it difficult to hone in your timing at the plate. As of the last nights game in Chicago, that line up sucks. Taylor, Barnes, Pollock, Freese, Muncy and Rodguize are all having issues against left and right handed pitching and their batting averages having been going down now for 2 weeks. Why would you put the top player in the game batting 6th when he needs more at bats. Chalk up another loss to the bull pen and Kelly hasn’t made an appearance since he”s been called on without giving up a run. That run last night cost us the game again. Maybe in time these guys will work it out but in the mean time we look weak against left handed pitching and Friedman is responsible for this mess. He could have improved the bench or made some moves to get more right handed hitting especially when he sent it all to Cincinatti. Get used to it fans, we may win it all in the end but how far are we going to go against playoff teams or in the WS if we get there with this weak hitting team against left handed pitching and a bull pen that everyone including the Dodger brass is weak.

  5. Great needed win today. Yes it’s a long season, yes early slumps happen and trusting your players is needed. But… we need help. Roberts is a good manager- I’ll give him credit for what he’s accomplished but I do question the front offices reasons for not spending. It’s really this- SAVE GAMES OR SAVE MONEY? WHILE Iv’e been wrong on Verdugo and Floro, I’m thrilled to see Bellinger blossom big time- Managers have to play the hot hand. The last two years with some exceptions early this season, I agree with the comments above. It doesn’t matter whether we have 7 righties against lefthanded pitching we barely score anyways. I too was shocked that Bellinger the other night was not hitting cleanup. WE had first and second and Seager and Pollock did not come through. WE all love Jansen but he’s not near to being who he was. For the third time please sign Kimbrel.

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