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Dodgers: Three Ways the Offense Can be Even Better in 2018
The Dodgers are the defending National League champions and finished one game short of winning the World Series.
Despite getting so close to a World Series title, there are still ways the Dodgers can improve. The Dodgers can kick their team into a higher gear and finish winning the World Series in 2018 with a little improvement in a few areas like starting pitching in the post-season. While we are all tired of hearing about Yu Darvish, they need to overcome last season’s game seven collapse and use it as motivation for the 2018 season.
One area that the Dodgers can improve on this season is offense. It seems a little weird to say that with the emergence of Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor last season, but the offense as a whole can produce better in 2018. While they probably aren’t going to get another breakout season like they did from CT3 and Bellinger, they can improve collectively in 2018 and be an even more dangerous lineup. Here are the ways that the Dodgers offense can be even better in 2018.
More games from Justin Turner and Logan Forsythe
In 2017, Justin Turner was hampered by his chronic knee ailments that ended up minimizing his offensive production in the World Series. He also missed a few weeks of the regular season with an injured hamstring. While Turner is never going to lead the team in games played, he was able to play in 151 games in 2016. That is a sign that JT is capable of playing in more games than he did last season.
Turner played in 130 games last year and if he can stay healthy the potent Dodger lineup will be less likely to slump with the captain of the team in the lineup. Turner had fewer home runs in 2017 than he did in 2016, but his .945 OPS last year was over one hundred points higher than 2016. If Turner had appeared in more games last season, he would have likely hit thirty home runs.
Logan Forsythe was another Dodger who dealt with the injury bug last season. Logan appeared in only 119 games last season due to a broken toe. The injury not only threw off Forysthe’s offensive numbers, but it also appeared to slow him down when he came back. While Forsythe only hit .224 last season, he is primed for a strong bounce-back season in 2018. He also mashed lefties to a .870 OPS last season so his bat was missed against southpaw pitching. If Forsythe and Turner can stay healthy in 2018 and play in more games, the Dodger offense will be better than last season.
A more dangerous team on the basepaths
One of the few disappointments under Dave Roberts has been the lack of more stolen bases. With the guy who stole one of the most important bases in playoff history at the helm, I think every Dodger fan expected the Dodgers to steal more bases. The Dodgers ranked 18th in baseball last season in stolen bases and have more players capable of stealing bases than some of the teams that finished ahead of them like the Arizona Diamondbacks.
While Yasiel Puig stole 15 bases last season, he was caught stealing six times and he is very capable of being a 20-20 player if Dave Roberts and the coaching staff can get the wild horse in better base stealing form. The Dodgers could also benefit from Andrew Toles getting more playing time in left field. Toles stole as many as 62 bases in one season while in the minor leagues, but as a Dodger, he has only one stolen base in 79 games. If Toles can prove his knee is healthy, he can steal twenty-plus bases in 2018.
Chris Taylor is another Dodger player who is capable of being a 20-20 player. CT3 stole 17 bases last season and stole as many as 38 bags during one of his minor league seasons. If Puig and Taylor live up to their potential then the Dodgers could have two 20-20 players in 2018. The Dodgers also have some smart base runners who steal bases with their smarts rather than their speed like Logan Forsythe, Corey Seager, and Justin Turner. Hopefully, Dave Roberts rubs off on the Dodgers more in 2018 and they steal more bases. That would take the Dodgers offense to the next level.
More clutch hits with runners in scoring position
For as good of power numbers as the Dodgers posted in 2017, their offense was not very good with runners in scoring position. The offense was middle of the pack when it came to cashing runners in and the stats prove it:
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2017 Regular Season Stats
Runners in scoring position: .247 AVG (25th in MLB)
Runners in scoring position with 2 outs: .237 AVG (14th in MLB)
Runner on 3rd with less than two outs: .311 AVG (23rd in MLB)
It’s easy to see that the Dodger offense was not very good when it mattered most in the 2017 regular season. The offense needs to do a better job of coming through in the clutch in 2018. If the Dodgers can cash in more scoring opportunities their offense will be even better in 2018 and they should win more games than they did in 2017, despite setting an LA franchise record for wins last season.
Next: Is a rotation revolution coming for the Dodgers?
The most glaring stat to me is that the Dodgers ranked 24th in the league last year in runs knocked in with a runner on third and less than two outs. Those situations should be easy money for a loaded lineup like the Dodgers. If the team can be better in 2018 at situational hitting, then the Dodgers offense will be even more dangerous in 2018.