The Dodgers have completely turned it around against lefties

After last season’s demise against left-handed pitching, the Dodgers have turned it around to become one of the most prolific offenses against southpaws in 2017.

If you’ve been paying any sort of attention to the 2017 Dodgers you already know that this team is lacking any glaring weaknesses. Last year’s most concerning weakness has become one of this year’s greatest strengths: the ability to hit left-handed pitching.

According to FanGraphs, Los Angeles placed last in wRC+ AND OPS in 2016. The Dodgers’ ability to mix and match different lineups with their Mariana Trench-like depth has led to an outstanding turnaround that has them third in wRC+ and fifth in OPS in 2017.

The front office made some moves to shore this up with guys like Franklin Gutierrez and Logan Forsythe. Gutierrez has spent a lot of time on the DL and Forsythe has been effective. Returners like Corey Seager and Justin Turner flipped the switch and have completely dominated left-handers, compared to their odd struggles the year before.

Let’s take a look at the five players that have helped turn it around against left-handed pitching.

Justin Turner

Turner has completely changed the game for the Dodgers when it comes to hitting left-handers this year. He is second in the entire league in wRC+ at an astonishing 222 (league average is 100). His slash line of .398/.489/.759 is a complete 180 from last year’s slash line of .209/.303/.337. 10 of his 13 home runs have come against south paws and he walks more than he strikes out.

Turner ranks sixth in all of baseball in batting average against lefties, third in OBP, third in wOBA, fourth in slugging and fourth in OPS.

Last year Turner had a reverse split, he hit righties better than lefties, and no one really knew why. Now he is hitting everything he sees while providing protection for Seager, who also happens to be raking against lefties.

Corey Seager

Is there anything nicer than having a stud 23-year-old, 6′ 4″, left-handed hitting shortstop that can hit lefties as well or better than righties? If there is I don’t want to know, but this is what the Dodgers have in Corey Seager.

Coming up through the minors we knew Seager could hit to all parts of the field and he didn’t care if you were right or left-handed. Last year he did share some struggles against lefties like Turner did with a slash line of .250/.308/.413 and a 96 wRC+. Now those numbers aren’t completely awful coming from a left-handed hitter, but it was safe to assume better production from the MVP candidate.

This season Seager has hit lefties even better than he hits righties with a slash line of .341/.411/.597 and a 166 wRC+. Seager ranks in the top-30 in the majors in wOBA, wRC+, and OPS.

Cody Bellinger

Surprisingly, Bellinger hits lefties almost as well as he hits right-handers at a line of .261/.320/.550 and a 126 wRC+. This is compared to .265/.355/.637 and a 150 wRC+ against righties. Yeah, he gets on base and hits for extra bases more often against right-handers to no one’s surprise, but at first-base, he has surely been an upgrade over Adrian Gonzalez and his measly season against lefties in 2016.

Gonzalez had a slash line of .243/.293/.301 over the last two seasons. He had virtually no power and wasn’t getting on base at the usual high clip we had become accustomed to. His wRC+ of 65 is well below league average. If Gonzalez comes back look for him to hit against righties only where he is above average. When that happens expect Bellinger to move to left field, Chris Taylor to second base and Forsythe to the bench.

The combination of Bellinger’s ability to hit lefties, and essentially substituting that production for Gonzalez is a major upgrade.

Logan Forsythe

So maybe Forsythe hasn’t been as good as the guy who hit 20 home runs last season for the Tampa Bay Rays. He has been dismal all season against right-handers, but has quietly hit lefties hard all year (.325/.462/.494) in just over 100 plate appearances. His batting average is certainly higher here, but what stands out the most is his on-base percentage.

Forsythe is nearly getting on base half the time when he comes to the plate against southpaws, mostly thanks to an outstanding walk rate of 18.9%. Forsythe’s ability to hit left-handers and his outstanding defense up the middle has been a welcomed addition.

Surprisingly, Forsythe ranks eighth in all of baseball in OBP against left-handers, and is in the top-50 in OPS, wOBA and wRC+.

Chris Taylor

Taylor has been the greatest surprise as a Dodger this season and is actually threatening to earn some MVP consideration this year. Tell anyone that before the season started and they would probably give you a weird look, but here we are.

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Taylor’s slash line is nothing short of elite (.312/.378/.550) and he is threatening to become the first Dodger since Matt Kemp with 15 HR and 15 SB (along with Yasiel Puig). His slash line against lefties is even better (.330/.387/.557) and has a wRC+ of 150, good for top-50 in the league.

With starts at five different positions, versatility has been one of Taylor’s greatest assets. His ability to come in and hit against lefties has been a nice addition as well.

While these five stand out as the leaders against left-handers, let us not forget guys like Kike Hernandez and Austin Barnes, who have absolutely mashed left-handed pitching in the opportunities given to them this season. Hernandez has an OPS of .962 and a wRC+ of 146 and Barnes has an OPS of .916 with a wRC+ of 142.

Next: Let's not forget about the Dodgers bullpen

The Dodgers’ ability to mix and match different lineups with their Mariana Trench-like depth has led to an outstanding turnaround that has them third in wRC+ and fifth in OPS. Compare those to last years numbers where Los Angeles placed last in wRC+ AND OPS, and you can see how they have torched the playing field this year.

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