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.

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).

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.

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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.