Dodgers: Baseball’s Comeback Team of the Year

The Bullpen Has Been Unstoppable

The Dodgers’ bullpen has been somewhat of a concern over the last ten years or so, but Andrew Friedman and GM Farhan Zaidi have completely flipped the script. By targeting key components to bring into the organization, they have created one of the most dominant and cost efficient bullpens in all of baseball.

Even following the bullpen’s two hiccups during the first two games against the Cleveland Indians, the unit is still ranked 1st in the National League in walks allowed (65), as well as first in the league in ERA (2.85) and strikeouts (260).

Almost every time the ball is handed off from one of the starters, it has been with great confidence. A combination of right-handed power arms and left-handed finesse has produced some of the best results possible.

The Dodgers’ bullpen ranks first in opposing batting average and first in WHIP thus far. With that sort of dominance, it’s no wonder they’ve been able to pull off so many come from behind wins. They hardly let a deficit get out-of-hand.

The Starters are Elite

Not to be overshadowed by their late inning coworkers, the Dodgers’ starting rotation has held its own. So far, the Dodgers have had seven different pitchers start a game in 2017. This list includes Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Julio Urias, Alex Wood, and Brandon McCarthy.

While Maeda and Ryu have both made trips to the bullpen to work out some mechanical issues, the rotation has been extremely productive. Of course, that’s not as impressive when you have one of the greatest pitchers of this generation on the roster, but regardless they are all pitching great. Especially the surprising Alex Wood, who remains undefeated with an ERA that mirrors Kershaw’s.

Brandon McCarthy has also been a pleasant surprise, after grinding his way to a few scattered starts between injuries in the first years of his Dodger tenure. McCarthy has 3.14 ERA and is striking out a solid 7.3 batters per nine innings, all while walking one less batter than Kershaw (albeit in fewer innings).

One of the keys to a comeback win is making sure you’re not completely out of it from the get-go, and the starting rotation has made that happen.

Power, Power, and More Power

Over the past few seasons, fans head to Chavez Ravine expecting balls to be consistently launched in the left field pavilion. But after ranking 2nd and 1st in the National League for home runs during 2014 and 2015, respectively, there has been a bit of a power dip.

The team dropped down to eighth in home runs during 2016 and now sit in 10th so far this season. But help is on the way! Joc “Dingerson” Pederson is back from his concussion, and Cody Bellinger is out to continually prove he deserved the big league promotion. So far, he has done just that. Bellinger became the first player ever to have four multi-homer games in the first 50 games of a career…and he only needed 45 games to do so.

His 17 round trippers since his arrival on April 25th is the most in the majors, and in that time span, the Dodgers have the best record at 32-14. This sort of power is bound to fuel any team, and his late inning home runs have certainly provided the jolt needed to come back when trailing. The Dodgers’ power has helped in making deficits disappear quickly and win games.

Comeback Kids of the MLB

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• Former Astro seemingly takes uncalled for shot at Cody Bellinger after Cubs deal

The team is good; there is no doubt about that. Adding these late inning comebacks to an already aggressive lineup should make for a fascinating second half. Looking back here are some of the most eye-popping comebacks thus far:

April 29th– Down 5-2 going into the 9th, defeat the Phillies 6-5 in nine innings

May 5th– Down 2-1 going into the 7th, defeat Padres 8-2 in nine innings

May 9th– Down 3-2 in the 9th, defeat Pirates 4-3 in ten innings

June 2nd– Down 1-0 in the ninth, defeat Brewers 2-1 in 12 innings

June 3rd– Down 8-4 in 8th, defeat Brewers 10-8 in nine innings

June 7th– Down 1-0 in 6th, defeat Nationals 2-1 in nine innings

June 11th– Down 7-3 in the 8th, defeat Reds 9-7 in nine innings

Next: The Rockies are for Real