Editorials

What Has Made The Dodger Offense More Successful In 2015?

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

PAGES: 1 | 2

Even with the early struggles from Carl Crawford, Yasmani Grandal, Jimmy Rollins and Juan Uribe, there have been many contributing factors to the offense’s success to this point.



The bench: It would be an understatement to say the bench has been a huge positive for the Dodgers thus far.

After months of trade speculation, Andre Ethier remained in Los Angeles and has been a valuable asset through the first month of the season. He’s filled in nicely at the two corner outfield positions and is showing he still has pop in his bat, posting an OPS of 1.003 in 55 plate appearances.

Scott Van Slyke, another corner outfield option, has continued to show he is capable of being an everyday player if needed. He mashes left-handed pitching but can crush right-handed pitching, too (1.356 OPS in 19 plate appearances).

Two utility infielders, Alex Guerrero and Justin Turner, have also been impressive in the early going. While Turner was more of a “sure thing” entering the season, Guerrero is proving his critics wrong and looks like a player that can start on most nights, despite the defensive concerns.

So far, both players have combined for 0.9 fWAR with six home runs and eleven extra-base hits total.

Joc Pederson: The potential Rookie of the Year candidate has done nothing to lower those expectations through the first three weeks of the season. As a matter of fact, he might be exceeding expectations.

Appearing in all 21 games, he’s slashing .298/.461/.596 while providing elite defense in center field. If he consistently produces at this level for the next five months, he’ll likely make his first All-Star team, and dare I say, be in the MVP conversation at the end of the season. (Ok, maybe that’s a bit too much)

The right side of the infield: The Dodgers paid a premium to acquire Kendrick this offseason, but the early results have been terrific. In addition to playing solid defense at second base, his slash line of .295/.353/.526 indicates that he’s been one of the better offensive players at his position.

Adrian Gonzalez, on the other hand, is producing like he’s back in his prime with the San Diego Padres, slashing .383/.432/.790 with great defense at first base.

The two have combined for 2.2 fWAR, making the right side of the infield one of the biggest strengths on this Dodgers team. Both players, like Pederson, are looking likely for an All-Star selection if their current production remains consistent.

Though April has ended, the Dodgers’ offense is only expected to get better with expected bounce-back months from players such as Grandal and Rollins.

Additionally, Yasiel Puig quietly posted a .845 OPS in limited action due to a lingering hamstring injury and Hector Olivera is still expected to join the team at some point of the season.

The potential is outstanding and this past month was only a preview of what’s still to come.

[divide]

Vin Scully Speaks At Dodgers FanFest


Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Previous page 1 2

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button