Dodgers: The Top of the Lineup is Proving to be a Lethal Force

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The Dodgers’ offense this year has been one of the most productive in all of baseball. The first half of the lineup has been particularly good, setting the team up for long-term success.

The Dodgers’ offense has been good; there has never been a doubt about that in the 2017 season. And for the most part, they have been solid from the top to the bottom of the lineup. Overall, Los Angeles’ offense ranks in the top two in the National League in almost every major offensive category. This includes on base percentage, slugging percentage, ops, and base on balls. This sort of dominance has led to a lead of 14 games over Arizona entering Friday night. The team has been excellent as a whole, but the top of the batting order has been producing in a huge way thus far.

Coming into the season, there were questions as to who would hit leadoff for this team. Logan Forsythe and Andrew Toles were the initial answer, but injuries pushed them out of that role. There were also concerns over Adrian Gonzalez’s power as the Dodgers’ cleanup hitter. Well as injuries took over those two question, two new players emerged. Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger.

With a lineup that is started by the very surprising Chris Taylor and features the massive Cody Bellinger hitting cleanup, the first four hitters in their lineup are some of the best in baseball. The core of Chris Taylor, Corey Seager, Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger have been one of the main reasons the offense has been firing on all cylinders. Let’s take a look at what has made them so good in 2017.

1. Chris Taylor

I don’t think anyone in all of baseball could have predicted that by August, Chris Taylor would be the every day lead off hitter for the best team in baseball. In fact, most may not have predicted him to be playing at the major league level consistently at all. But Taylor has done more than just play, and he has dominated in an area completely unfamiliar to him.

Taylor has had over 100 at bats a the lead off man for the Dodgers. Before the 2017 season, Taylor had essentially never hit more than five times at the lead off spot in a season. Taylor has also played 54 games in the outfield this year, due to the injuries of Andrew Toles, Andre Ethier and Adrian Gonzalez. Again, an area where Taylor has not been accustomed to at all.

And yet despite all of this, Taylor is absolutely dominating. Taylor is hitting .313 with 13 home runs and 51 runs batted in, all career highs for him. More importantly than that, though, is his stat line against left-handed pitching. The Dodgers are well-known from last season for their struggles against southpaws. But Taylor has been a big reason they’ve turned that around, as he is hitting .344 with a .402 on-base percentage. Just watching his hustle on the field is enough to see just how valuable he really is to the team.

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 29: Corey Seager /

2. Corey Seager

Unlike Chris Taylor, everyone knew that the number two guy in the lineup was going to produce, the only question was at what level. After a phenomenal rookie campaign that saw him take home the Rookie of the Year award, some wondered whether Seager would burn out in his sophomore season. But Seager has silenced those worries, at least for the time being. He is hitting over .300 with 18 home runs, and his OPS is an outstanding .913 for the year.

Not only that, but Seager is getting on base at a mark of .393 for 2017. Both his OPS and OBP rank higher than his rookie campaign, which shows no signs of fatigue. Like Taylor, Seager has been a huge reason that the Dodgers have turned it around versus left-handed pitching. As of Friday, he is hitting at a mark of .336 against lefties, and eight of his home runs have come off of them.

That sort of turnaround is incredible, considering he hit just .250 against southpaws in 2016. Seager also only hit five of his 26 home runs off of them last year as well. Those are pretty good numbers considering lefties are supposed to struggle against southpaws. Batting in the number two spot, Seager has done more than well to set the table for Turner and Bellinger.

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 26: Justin Turner /

3. Justin Turner

It seems as though Dodgers’ fans have been thanking the New York Mets every single season since they released Justin Turner. Since coming to the team in 2014, Turner has hit an incredible .306 and crushed 61 home runs. It is really incredible when you consider the previous five seasons with Baltimore and New York; he hit .260 with only eight total home runs, eventually leading to him being cut by the Mets. So yeah, Los Angeles has at least one thing to thank New York for.

In 2017, Turner has been one of the best offensive weapons in all of baseball. He currently leads the National League in batting average, with a .350 mark on the year. His on base percentage of .448 ranks first in all of baseball for the year. And while his power numbers may have lacked early on, Turner has hit 11 home runs thus far, most of them coming since his return from the DL.

On top of all that, Turner is also crushing left-handed pitching, something he struggled with last season. He owns a .394 batting average with nine of his 11 home runs against southpaws. The first three hitters in the lineup own a combined .358 average versus lefties and a combined .321 in general. These top three guys are the biggest reasons for the offensive success.

ATLANTA, GA – AUGUST 02: Cody Bellinger /

4. Cody Bellinger

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The final of the top four includes another player that no one expected o contribute at the level he has, at least this early in the season. The rough timeline for Cody Bellinger was for him to make his debut late in 2017, possibly when the rosters expand in September. Imagine this team without Cody Bellinger for at least another month. Wow.

But fate has a way of finding it’s way, and it did so by sidelining Andrew Toles for the season. Toles’ injury gave way for Bellinger to break in the outfield, and then eventually take over at first base full-time for the injured Adrian Gonzalez.

Since his promotion in April, the kid has absolutely raked. He now ranks 2nd in the major league in home runs with thirty over the course of just 88 games. He is on pace to break Mike Piazza’s rookie record for home runs. And to top it all off, the way the team is playing he just may get a shot at a World Series title in his first year in the big leagues.

Bellinger is hitting .268, with essentially no difference between facing left-handed pitching or right-handed. It seems as if no matter who they throw out there, Bellinger finds a way to figure them out and take advantage. Bellinger is very poised for a young hitter. His ability to make adjustments on a daily basis is incredible. His raw power is the missing piece the Dodgers have been missing for coming up on five years now, and I look for him to be the powerhouse in the Dodgers’ lineup for many years to come.

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This season the Dodgers’ lineup has been a combination of star power and unlikely heroes. The club will continue to embrace the “next man up” mentaility. But moving forward one this is certain. These four hitters have solidified their spot in the lineup and Dave Roberts will continue to use these four to anchor the lineup heading into the post season.

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