Dodgers: Five Early Season Overreactions

The Dodgers Will Not Win the Division

Currently, the Dodgers are sitting at 7-7 and welcoming in the first-place Colorado Rockies (9-5) for a short two-game series. The Dodgers are now 6-5 against NL West opponents and are coming from a disappointing series split against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

What’s alarming about the Dodgers start to the season, is their inconsistency with their offensive run production. In their seven wins, the Dodgers have scored a total of 54 runs, scoring 10 or more in 3 games. In their seven losses this season, the Dodgers have only managed a total of 8 runs including being shut out two times.

The Dodgers are currently ranked 19th in the league when hitting with runners in scoring position with a .213 batting average. That’s too low for a team with this potential.

The slow start by the Dodgers is not unprecedented for the club, as last season Dave Roberts saw the team start out 12-13 during the month of April, but still wound up winning the division by four games.

It’s a bit concerning for some Dodger fans because the team has already been active in using the DL by placing Rich Hill (twice) and Andre Ethier to start the season. But it’s only two weeks into the season, and we saw firsthand last season the team come from eight games back without Kershaw to win the division and advance to the NLCS.

It takes the Boys in Blue a few months to get going, so there’s no reason to give up on the season two weeks in.

The Dodgers will not be able to hit lefties all season

We and all the media continues to drill the narrative home that the Dodgers can not hit left-handed pitching. We’ll it’s true, and it may not be that big of an overreaction. Out of their seven losses, five of them have come against a left-handed starter.

Last season the team owned a league-worst 78 wRC+. The team hit .214/.291/.333 vs. lefties last season and their struggles against southpaws were a big reason why they were eliminated in the NLCS.

This season, it’s not looking any better. The team is hitting .218 with a .302 OBP and .345 Slugging percentage.

The Dodgers aren’t currently the worst team in the league against lefties, but they’re still at the bottom. The team ranks 21st in wRC+ against lefties and sits at 19th in batting average.

Compare that to when they face right-handers; the Dodgers are hitting .266/.367/.449, that translated to a 129 wRC+.

Now, to say why it may be an overreaction. 

This offseason the team brought in a few players (Logan Forsythe and Franklin Gutierrez) to aid this issue. So far Forsythe is leading the Dodgers with a .429 batting average in 21 at-bats against left-handers. Gutierrez is hitting a mere .250 but is on the DL with a hamstring injury, so it’s too early to tell if he can help.

Another positive that shows some promise to the team’s struggles against lefties is that Justin Turner has been his usual self when facing lefties. Turner is hitting .348 with four extra bases hits in 23 at-bats against left-handers.

The Dodgers woes against left-handers are all but solved. Yet, they have improved a bit from last season. Their biggest issue is that their regular starters are predominantly left-handed. Between Corey Seager, Adrian Gonzalez, and Yasmani Grandal the trio is hitting a collective .193 against left-handers. That’s not acceptable.

A lefty that isn’t “struggling” against left-handers is Joc Pederson. Pederson is hitting .429 in limited at-bats against lefties early on. If the Dodgers want to break this narrative, they’re going to need more from Yasiel Puig and possibly start giving Pederson more opportunity to contribute against left-handers.

Rich Hill Should Amputate his Left Middle Finger

Talk about over-reaction, right? Believe it or not, I heard it suggested from Dodger fans that Rich Hill should just get rid of his blistered allying finger through am570’s Dodger Talk. While yes, this is a bit of an overreaction, the Dodgers really need to think about their approach to taking care of Hill’s blister.

I said it was wishful thinking for the Dodgers to put Hill on the DL the first time this season and expect him to be healed after just ten days. The Dodgers need to give Hill the time to let that blister heal on its own. Picking up the ball every five days is only going to continue to aggravate the skin and keep this as an ongoing problem.

It is concerning that this injury popped up after an entire offseason of rest. But, it’s still only April. The Dodgers are better suited giving Hill time early in the season to let this blister fully heal before forcing him to resume throwing again. With time perhaps there will be some medical development that hardens Hill’s skin and keeps this blister under control.

I would be baffled if Hill’s brief career would come to an end because of a blister. Just for the record, David Vassegh has said that this isn’t an ordinary blister, but rather an open gash on his finger. Cause for concern? Perhaps. Cause for amputation? – A bit of an overreaction.

Kenta Maeda Should be Sent Down to Triple-A

After an impressive rookie season, Maeda has struggled out of the gate in the 2017 season. In 3 starts this season, Maeda has a 7.07 ERA with an absurdly high 1.93 Home Run per 9 innings ratio. Maeda has failed to pitch more than five innings in all 3 of his starts and has yet to find his 2016 form.

This early performance is surprising from Maeda as he led the Dodgers in starts last season and was fairly consistent in providing quality innings for the Dodgers. Maeda struggled at the tail end of the 2016 season, only pitching 10 ⅔ innings in 3 starts in the postseason.

The Dodgers challenged Maeda to work on his conditioning over the summer, and he came back this spring looking stronger than ever. What was eye-opening about Maeda’s performance last season was how his numbers continued to get worse as he pitched through the 2nd and 3rd time through the order.

Per Fangraphs, Maeda allowed a .333 batting average and 4 home runs to hitters the third time through the order. Those splits seem to have carried over to 2017 as Maeda’s era balloons to 10.80 with a .429 average during his third time through a lineup.

Although the splits aren’t pretty early in the season, Maeda is a veteran pitcher. At 29-years-old in his second season in the MLB, Maeda may not seem like a veteran, but his experience in Japan accounts for something.

It looks like the league has made adjustments toward facing Maeda. It’s not the time for Maeda to make adjustments against hitters.

Joc Pederson Should be Traded for a Right-Handed Bat

Again, playing back the left-handed pitching narrative. There have been rumors about the Dodgers potentially talking about a trade for Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun. Whether Braun is the answer to the Dodgers left-handed crisis was addressed in this article last week. But trading Pederson is not a solution.
The biggest issue with Pederson is that he’s not an everyday player. Roberts continues to sit him against left-handers, thus minimizing his upside as a young player. On the contrary to Roberts’ methods, Pederson has been one of the few productive left-handed bats against left-handed pitching. In a limited sample size, Pederson is hitting .429. Granted, it is a limited sample size, only 7 at-bats.
Pederson may not be the savior the Dodgers need against lefties, but that doesn’t mean the Dodgers should move on from him. He provides plenty of power upside, and his defense is above average in center field. I’m not saying the team should not continue to look for options to help their left-handed hitting crisis, but Pederson should not be in those talks.

Yasiel Puig Will Win MVP

Why not end on a positive overreaction?

Puig is the only Dodger to start every game this season and has done so in impressive fashion. Puig has a slash line of .304/.414/.630 and leads the team in home runs (4) and RBI (11). Puig is doing a bit of everything for the Dodgers, leading the team in walk percentage (17.2%) and stolen bases (2).

More from Dodgers Way

• Kevin Kiermaier being ‘top target’ to replace Cody Bellinger is bad sign for Dodgers
• Are the Dodgers really prepared to hand Shohei Ohtani a blank check?
• Dodgers fans shouldn’t dismiss interest in Dansby Swanson for this reason
• Giants laughably sign pitcher that Dodgers absolutely own
• Dave Roberts’ quote about Padres in NLDS should motivate Dodgers

The other Dodger who has been as productive as Puig has been Justin Turner. The issue here with Puig is that he too has struggled against lefties. How ironic is it that the biggest solutions to the biggest problem is under producing, yet still having a good start.

Puig is hitting .105 in 19 at-bats against left-handers. In my opinion part of the reason Puig is struggling against lefties is because Roberts continues to move Puig into the 4 or 5 spot in the lineup. Puig seems to tense up in that spot in the order and hasn’t produced like Roberts had hoped. But regardless, it’s still nice to see Puig off to a good start.

Next: A Rich Hill Contingency Plan

Everyone loves to compare Puig to his 2013 breakout season when he hit .436, 7 home runs and 16 RBI in 101 plate appearances. Well, this season Puig is hitting .444, 4 home runs, and 10 RBI in 27 at-bats against right-handed pitching. Suddenly the 2013 hot start Puig started his career with doesn’t seem too farfetched.