Dodgers five best hitting pitchers in team history

The National League has always been unique in allowing pitchers to hit. Who are the best hitting pitchers in Dodgers history?

While debates continue in bars (or nowadays via FaceTime) about whether the National League should adopt the designated hitter, history has kept pitchers in batting lineups in the Senior Circuit throughout the history of the Dodgers franchise.

Call me old fashioned, but I like when the pitcher hits. I suppose your opinion on the subject is largely based on whether you grew up rooting for a National League team, or not.

For Dodgers fans, they have seen plenty of pitchers take their hacks at the plate, striking out, looking foolish, failing to land a bunt, killing countless rallies, wasting at-bat, after at-bat, after at-bat, carrying lumber to the plate to timidly complete their batting order duty before returning to the mound.

While the ninth spot in the order has proven to be a dead-end on most occasions, there are also the times when the pitcher gets a hit, one of those special moments that only happens in baseball, where an event usually lost in the mundane details of the game is suddenly an oddity worthy of attention.

You might text your friends when Cody Bellinger hits a home run. You DEFINITELY text your friends if the pitcher knocks one out of the park.

Who is the best hitting pitcher in Dodgers history? Let’s count down the five best.

4) Fernando Valenzuela

The instant sensation from Mexico who spurred Fernandomania in the early eighties proved he could do more than just strike opposing hitters out.

In 1981, his first full season in the majors, Fernando Valenzuela did something truly unique: he won the Rookie of the Year award, the Cy Young award, pitched in the World Series, and also won the Silver Slugger award as the league’s best hitting pitcher. He batted .250/.262/.281 that season, driving in seven runs from the plate.

Two years later, in 1983, he won the Silver Slugger award again. He picked up some power from his rookie season, connecting on his first major league home run. Valenzuela would hit five home runs between 1983-1985, the most of any pitcher during that time. His eight home runs as a Dodger pitcher are the third most in franchise history.

The left-hander had his best hitting season during his last season with the Boys in Blue in 1990. He was an amazing 21-69 at the plate that year. His slashline looked like a real major league hitter at .304/.310/.420. He hit one home run, five doubles, and drove in eleven runs.

More Articles About Fernando Valenzuela:

3) Zack Greinke

A consistent hitter his entire career, Zack Greinke batted .249/.300/.357 over three seasons in Los Angeles. He won the National League Silver Slugger award in 2013 after absolutely killing it at the plate. The cerebral right-hander hit .328 that season, including an eye-popping .409 on-base percentage.

The key to Greinke was his reputation as a pitcher who could handle the bat. It changed how opposing teams approached the Dodgers lineup when he was in it. You couldn’t count on the ninth slot as an automatic out. That helped batters hitting in front of him near the bottom of the order.

Greinke also came up big as a hitter in the postseason, extending the Dodgers 1-0 lead with a RBI base hit early in their Game 5 victory over the Cardinals in the 2013 NCLS. He collected two hits in his Game 2 start of the 2014 NLDS, the only game the Dodgers would win in that series.

Greinke won the Silver Slugger award again in 2019, several seasons after leaving the Dodgers. Over his 16-year career, he is batting .225/.263/.337 with 9 home runs and 34 RBIs.

2) Don Drysdale

No Dodgers pitcher hit for power like Don Drysdale. The Hall-of-Fame starter hit a jaw-dropping 29 home runs during his time with the Dodgers. He had two seasons when he hit seven home runs (1958 and 1965). To put that in perspective, Juan Pierre and Dee Gordon hit five home runs over a combined 755 games with the Boys in Blue.

Drysdale didn’t just hit for power. He also had two seven-game hitting streaks in 1958 and 1965. They are tied for the fifth longest hitting streaks by a pitcher in Dodgers history. Drysdale’s 218 hits are the most for a pitcher in team history.

Over 547 games, the nine-time All-Star scored 96 runs and accumulated 113 RBIs. He even hit seven triples, on top of 26 doubles. His best season at the dish coming in 1965 when he batted .300/.331/.508, hit seven home runs, drove in 19 runs, and ended with a slugger’s 140 OPS+.

1) Don Newcombe

The best hitting pitcher in Dodgers history is Don Newcombe. Having played most of his Dodger days in Brooklyn, the Cy Young award winning pitcher, raked the ball like nobody else. His career numbers as a Dodger looking like an everyday player at .265/.326/.367 over 734 plate appearances.

Newcombe’s most impressive seasons coming in 1954 and 1955 when he hit over .300 in both seasons. In that two years stretch, Newcombe hit .348 with a .549 slugging percentage; he clobbered seven long balls and drove in 27 runs. He was a real threat at the plate, giving the Dodgers an extra hitter in every game that he started.

The 1955 World Series champion finished his career with a .271 career batting average, good for fourth all-time among pitchers with at least 400 plate appearances.