Dodgers: Top Three Disappointments of the First Half of the Season
The Dodgers had a great first half of the season overall. That doesn’t mean there weren’t some disappointments in the first half.
With a 55-26 record in the first half of the season, it’s hard to find many disappointments with the blue in the first half of the season. Despite a “slow” 8-8 start, the team turned it around in a hurry putting together a remarkable first half. It tied for the best first half in Los Angeles Dodger history. Still there were some players that could’ve performed better in the first half.
Yesterday, I went over the top three surprises of the first half of the season, and now this article will take a more pessimistic turn and be about the three biggest disappointments in the first half. If these disappointments turn around, then there will be no stopping the Dodgers from making their third consecutive World Series and hopefully winning it this time. Here are the biggest disappointments of the first half.
Joe Kelly’s rough start
The Dodgers saw first hand just how dominant Joe Kelly can be when he is on top of his game. In the World Series, he pitched six shutout innings against LA while striking out ten batters and now allowing a single walk. He was brought in by Andrew Friedman to be the main bridge to Kenley Jansen in the eighth inning and possibly even multiple innings.
So far Joe Kelly has a 6.26 ERA and that is an improvement since Kelly pitched much better in June than he had in previous months. At one point, Joe had an ERA over nine and despite his stuff looking good, he was getting knocked around and uncomfortable to use even with a four-run lead. The Dodgers are going to need Kelly in the postseason and if he comes around he will be a big boost to the pen as he was expected to be.
Austin Barnes’ lack of productivity
The Dodgers came into the first half of the season with hopes that Austin Barnes could provide some kind of offensive production until one of Will Smith or Keibert Ruiz were ready for the big leagues. Barnes had a good month of May posting a .273/.385/.432 slash line but that is sandwiched between a subpar April and June.
Will Smith came up and in under thirty at-bats provided several impact offensive moments including a walk-off home run. The Dodgers continue to start Barnes but he continues to dig himself into a deeper hole at the plate. It won’t be much longer til the Dodgers see that they need to give Will Smith a longer look and he should provide more offensive firepower than Barnes. Austin is one of the big disappointments of the first half.
Strong spring doesn’t parlay into a strong first half for Hernandez
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This was supposed to be the season that the Dodgers’ spark plug and utility superman Enrique Hernandez transformed into a starting second baseman. In the spring he was an offensive juggernaut hitting three home runs before a slight cool off at the end of the spring. Still, Enrique posted an OPS over .800 in the spring.
Despite hitting thirteen home runs so far, Hernandez has struggled to get on base posting an on-base percentage of just .287. His power and defense have been strong but the only reason he continues to start is due to the injury of Corey Seager. Once Seager returns, Hernandez will have to fight for playing time.
One area where Enrique has regressed from 2018 is his performance against right-handed pitching. After being nearly unplayable against righties, Hernandez had a strong 2018 season providing hope for a full breakout in 2019. However, that has not gone according to plan and Enrique has posted a miserable .193/.253/.373 slash line against right-handed pitchers.
With Chris Taylor’s recent hot streak, Enrique’s second base role is in serious jeopardy. Throw in the fact that Max Muncy has proven to be above average at second base, and Hernandez may have to settle for his super-utility role in the second half of the season. Hernandez might be the biggest disappointment of the first half for the Dodgers.