The Dodgers entered the break with a 4.5 game lead in the National League West. The boys in blue have a 51-39 record which is good enough for fourth best in the majors. They’ve been in first place for every day of the first half except for one. Things haven’t been easy for the Dodgers though. Mounting injuries, inconsistent offense, and mediocre play have made things difficult at times for the Dodgers throughout the first half of the season.
Despite all of this, the Dodgers have persevered. They’ve overcome a lot of problems to have a comfortable lead in the NL West. So how have they done it? What are the top five reasons the Dodgers are in first place? Let’s take a look….
Next: Solid Pitching
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Solid pitching
Clayton Kershaw hasn’t been as dominating as he was last season, and the back end of the rotation has been riddled with injuries but the Dodgers still have had one of the top pitching staffs in all of Baseball. As a matter of fact the club’s staff ranks fourth in the majors with a 3.30 ERA. Dodger pitchers have limited opposing hitters to a .242 batting average against. They rank fourth in WHIP (1.19), and have issued the fifth least amount of walks (226) in the majors.
The Dodgers have pitched well with runners in scoring position too. They rank seventh in the Majors with a .243 batting average against. The Dodgers also have the second most strikeouts (783) in Baseball. Power pitching, limiting walks, and stranding runners have been a huge reason for the club’s overall success this year.
With Kershaw having a human year, Greinke has been otherworldly. The bird like right hander is putting up a CY Young award season. Currently he has a 35.2 innings scoreless streak. That means he’s tossed five consecutive scoreless starts.
He’s 8-2 with a 1.39 ERA in 18 starts. He leads the majors in ERA, and ERA +. He’s whiffed 106 and walked just 20 in 123.1 innings pitched. He’s allowed just 6.1 hits per nine, and struck out 7.7 per nine. His strikeout to walk ratio is nearly 5.5-1.
Out of Greinke’s 18 starts he’s allowed two runs or less in 15 of them. He’s been amazing and is now starting the all-star game for the National League on Tuesday night. Greinke has already won one Cy Young award, and now it looks like he’s on pace to win another. Greinke is a big reason why the Dodgers are still in first place at the all-star break.
Gonzo is still the best hitter the Dodgers have in their lineup every day. He’s a consummate professional. Even though he’s been slumping a bit, he always figures out a way to come through in the clutch when the Dodgers need him most. For example on Sunday afternoon, it was his line drive two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning that lifted the Dodgers to a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. That saved them from losing a game in the standings to the Giants.
Gonzo got off to a very hot starts this season by hitting five home runs in his first three games. Overall Gonzo is batting .283/.355/.520 with 18 home runs and 5runs batted in. He is 92 for 325 in 364 plate appearances. He’s played in 89 games, and has posted an .875 OPS. He’s having a well deserved all-star season. Gonzalez is the Dodger’s rock.
Next: Power
David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Home Run power
The Dodgers might be one-dimensional at times, their incredible power this year has been a huge help. Obviously home runs are awesome, and teams that hit a lot of home runs can score runs in bunches fast. Enter the 2015 Dodgers. So far the Dodgers are on pace to break their all time Los Angeles single season team record of 211 home runs in 2000. The Dodgers have hit 113 home runs in 2015 ranking them fourth in the majors.
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The boys in blue also rank fourth in slugging (.428), third in OPS (.757), and third in extra-base hits with 282. The Dodgers could even have four players with 30 or more home runs for just the second time in franchise history. Nearly half of their runs have come from the long ball. Here are the Dodgers top five leaders in home runs in 2015.
If the Dodgers keep slugging the ball at the pace that they’ve been slugging they could end up breaking a few all-time franchise records for power.
Next: Team Defense
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Team Defense
For the first time in many years, the Dodgers have the best ranked defensive club in the Major Leagues. One of the big goals for the brain trust this past offseason was to improve a lackluster Dodger defense. So they made room for super boy Joc Pederson. They added the solid Howie Kendrick and Jimmy Rollins up the middle, and Yasmani Grandal has been pretty stingy behind the plate.
Overall the Dodgers have made the least amount of errors in the Majors. The club has only committed 35 errors, and leads MLB with a .990 fielding percentage. Dodger catchers have gunned down the fourth most base runners trying to steal in all of Baseball as well. The Dodgers have done a very good job controlling the opposing running game this year. The Dodgers are sixth with 933 total assists. Run prevention is important too, and the Dodgers have fielded an air tight defensive squad.
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