Dodgers: Fine-Tuning Small Ball Should Help the Offense

After the Dodgers momentous victory over the Rockies and a collective sigh of relief, the NL West title was secured. Yes, we should take pride in all of our victories, however, I doubt that any Dodgers fan, player, coach, or front office exec, will be content with the NL West title alone.

Therefore, it’s prudent to determine what needs to be improved upon going forward.  The Dodgers’ offense has been the team’s strongest and most constant weapon throughout the 2018 season. Because it’s the Dodgers’ number one weapon, fine-tuning is essential.

To put it bluntly, the Dodgers’ must improve their situational hitting and especially at home. This includes small-ball situations;  moving runners over with no outs, raising pitch-counts, hitting with runners in scoring position, and sacrifice flies.

In the first game of the NLDS against Atlanta last night, the Dodgers went just 1-7 with runners in scoring position.  The Dodgers also left seven runners on base including leaving the bases loaded in the first inning when Yasiel Puig swung at ball four.  If it wasn’t for Max Muncy’s three run bomb, the game could have gone a lot differently.

If the Dodgers are successful in addressing these issues, their offense can only grow more potent. For example, the Dodgers powers numbers this year are off the charts. If it weren’t for the record-setting Yankees this season, the Dodgers would have the MLB lead in home runs.  It’s also worth noting the Yankees play in what Yasiel Puig would call a “baby stadium”.

However, of the NL-leading 235 HR’s hit this season by the Dodgers, only 43 were hit with runners in scoring position. Even more staggering, the Dodgers’ hit 157 solo home runs this season.  Though the Dodgers’ power is a prevalent tool, they’re relying on it far too much and worse still, they’re unable to consistently hit for power with runners in scoring position.

They need to stop hurting themselves and especially in the playoffs. Hitting more sacrifice flies and moving runners in the situations that present themselves will only help their chances of scoring runs. Otherwise, they’re losing valuable opportunities.

How many times have we seen the Dodgers start an inning with no outs, runners on, only to not conclude the inning with a run scored? These seemingly small problems can add-up exponentially and especially in the playoffs.

Fortunately, the Dodgers have put themselves in a position to have home-field advantage. This is vastly important because our fans are the best in the world. However, the Dodgers struggle mightily in key moments, with runners on, at home.  For example, the Dodgers rank dead-last (30th in MLB), with exactly 3 sacrifice flies on the season, at home, with runners in scoring position, through a 0-1 count.

What does this mean?  It means that there is a problem with the Dodgers’ philosophy when runners are on. Instead of approaching the at-bat with a willingness to simply hit a sacrifice fly, they’re instead playing “hero-ball.” It’s easy to get caught up in the moment when playing at home.

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It’s obvious they’re pressing because it’s in their stats.  In practically every stat throughout baseball with the bases empty they’re ranked 1st (OPS, wOBA, home runs, runs, etc.) on the season.  Yet in the same situation, with runners in scoring position they’re hitting just .214 on the season. Only six MLB teams hit the ball worse.

The result of the first pitch can tell a lot about a team’s philosophy because if they were looking to simply sacrifice, by all means, they should be able to stroke a first-pitch fastball into deep center, and bring the run home. Brian Dozier seems to hit the ball there exclusively.

Thankfully however, It’s not all gloom-and-doom. From September 1st, until the end of the regular season, the Dodgers have turned a major corner with runners in scoring position, this is a great start.

From September 1st, they ranked #1 in average (.367), wOBA (.452), BABIP (.519), OPS (1.068), and #2 in HR throughout all of baseball.  All of these stats came at home, through an 0-1 count, and with runners in scoring position. Better late than never right?

It’s a smaller-sized sample than optimal (53 plate appearances) but optimism is warranted. If nothing else, it’s a great sign of things to come.  Here’s to hoping that they keep it up all October long. Go Blue!