Dodgers roll through the best of the NL Central

♦ June 5, 2017 ♦ 2 Comments

On May 23rd the Dodgers were 26 – 19 and 2.5 games back of the Rockies. They were about to face the Cardinals/Cubs/Cardinals/Brewers. The best teams the NL Central could throw at them.  This was the time to answer the question. Can this team beat the good teams?

They started the four series set without their best hitter Justin Turner.   They lost their starting CF on May 23rd, the first game of the four series set.  Their second best starter would make his last start in the four series set on May 26th.

With all that, they went 9 – 4 including a sweep over the World Champion Cubs.  For a few moments, they even caught the Rockies and were in first place.

  • They did it with a new starting center fielder in Chris Taylor who put up a .870 in 46 plate appearances as a center fielder. Hard to believe that Taylor had never played center field before and now he’s already a seasoned veteran.
  • They did it with their NL May Rookie Player of the Month having a tough patch as his OPS dropped from .965 to .884.
  • They did it with their 2016 MVP candidate Cory Seager dropping his OPS from .871 to .820
  • They did it without much help from Rich Hill or Kenta Maeda
  • They did it with their cleanup hitter hitting four doubles and one home run and looking more like James Loney than Adrian Gonzalez.
  • They did it with Clayton Kershaw having one of the worst games of his career

Basically, the Dodgers did it without hitting on all cylinders,  which just goes to prove you don’t need all cylinders, you just need the right ones. Ha, probably not true in a mechanical sense. You kind of do need all your cylinders to get the most production but I like the line so it stays.

The NL Central is behind them, but now they face a team who can challenge them for the best team in the NL this year.

The Washington Nationals.

2 Comments

  1. 68elcamino427
    June 5, 2017 – 10:56 am

    The Dodgers in May 19 – 9

    Scoring, Offense

    May
    Number of Games Won Scoring Less Than Four Runs, ONE GAME
    Runs Scored – 2

    Number of Games Won Scoring Four Runs or More , EIGHTEEN GAMES
    Runs Scored – 13, 8, 10, 12, 4, 5, 6, 4, 6, 7, 7, 6, 7, 4, 5, 9, 5, 9

    Number of Games Lost Soring Less Than Four Runs, FIVE GAMES
    Runs Scored – 3, 1, 1, 1, 1

    Number of Games Lost Scoring Four Runs or More, FOUR GAMES
    Runs Scored – 7, 6, 4, 6

    Run Prevention, Defense

    Number of Games Won Allowing Less Than Four Runs, SIXTEEN GAMES
    Runs Allowed – 1,3, 0, 0, 1, 2, 2, 1, 3, 2, 2, 0, 1, 2, 2, 3

    Number of Games Won Allowing Four Runs or More, THREE GAMES
    Runs Allowed – 4, 4, 5

    Number of Games Lost Allowing Less Than Four Runs, TWO GAMES
    Runs Allowed – 2, 2

    Number of Games Lost Allowing Four Runs or More, SEVEN GAMES
    Runs Allowed – 6, 4, 4, 10, 9, 8, 10

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