Dodgers five best hitting pitchers in team history

5) Rick Rhoden

Rick Rhoden, who would go on to win three Silver Slugger awards as a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, got his hacks in for the Dodgers, too. In 1976, the same season he went 12-3 and made his first All-Star appearance, the right-hander batted .308/.318/.400 at the plate. He hit one home run and drove in nine runs to help his cause that season.

Rhoden batted .213 over his Dodgers pitching career, his OPS+ ranking 10th all-time among Dodgers pitchers. He wasn’t only efficient at finding the outfield grass, he also had 20 sacrifice bunts during his three plus years in LA.

Rhoden’s ability to hit continued past his time with the Dodgers. He once went on an 11-game hitting streak with the Pirates, the second longest streak by a pitcher since 1966. And playing for the Yankees, Billy Martin once made him the designated hitter, the first time a pitcher was used in that role since the DH was instituted into the game.

P.S. You would think Getty Images would give me one picture of Rick Rhoden with the Dodgers, but the only snap I could find of him swinging the bat was with Houston (sorry about that).