Los Angeles Dodgers Using Home Run Ball To Get Early Season W’s
By Jamaal Artis
Don’t look now, but the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers have used a new weapon in their arsenal to get to the top of the NL West.
As of this writing, after 25 games, the Dodgers penchant for the long ball has become more apparent than last season when they hit 134 home runs.
Though that number was good enough for sixth in the National League last year at an average of 0.83.
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This year the Dodgers are slugging them out at almost twice that figure at an average of 1.56, at that pace the Dodgers will finish with 255 home runs on the year, easily surpassing their year 2000 team record of 211.
At the beginning of the season it was questionable that the Dodgers would be able to create enough offense to balance out their pitching 1-2 punch of Clayton KershawTools and Zack Greinke.
This was especially true in the off-season after they let 30 percent of their total home runs go in a trade that sent Matt Kemp to San Diego and Hanley Ramirez to Boston via free agency.
But as the season started the Dodgers have proven more than capable of dealing with the loss of Kemp and Ramirez, while also losing Yasiel Puig to the disabled list for the first time in his career.
The person most responsible for the Dodgers power surge has been first-baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who was named National League Player of the Month as he ended April with a league leading eight home runs and 19 runs batted in.
May 3, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (23) hits a single in the fourth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Unexpectedly the Dodgers have also gotten contributions from a pair of rookies in the form of Joc Pederson, whose second on the team with seven home runs and Alex Guerrero whose five home runs have come in only 26 at-bats earning him the National League Rookie of the Month Award.
The Dodgers power numbers may also prove to be a mirage, for most of April their hitters have been feasting on mostly bad pitching going up against the likes of the Colorado Rockies and their staff earned run average of 5.08.
But even when the Dodgers are having a hard time scoring runs like on Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks they find a way to win with a bottom of the thirteenth walk off home run by newcomer Yasmani Grandal.
Baseball has such a long season where there are ebbs and flows to players performances, chance are the Dodgers will come down from their torrid pace. After playing only 11 games will Yasiel Puig be able to join in on the home run parade? Will pitchers be able to neutralize Adrian Gonzalez by pitching around him? Will the rookies begin to have trouble when pitchers start seeing them again?
These questions will be answered by the end of the season, but in the mean time if you’re going to Dodger Stadium get a seat in the Pavillion and bring your glove, because the Boys in Blue might slug one your way.