Swinging For The Fences

The Dodgers set an embarrassing franchise record recently by going 42 innings on the road without scoring a single run. Thankfully that streak was broken and the Dodgers have returned to their scoring ways on the road and at home. However, this streak has raised some serious concerns regarding the ways the Dodgers have been scoring runs all season. The Dodgers have been leaders in the Home Run category all year, which has been a major surprise to fans and experts. The concern fans should have, is what if the Dodgers cannot keep up the pace of home runs?

If the Dodgers’ scoring trends are examined for the past two weeks, going back to the beginning of the 42 inning, road, scoreless streak up in San Francisco, a troubling trend is noticeable. If the Dodgers don’t hit home runs, they struggle to score. Consequently, when the Dodgers play teams with good pitching (Giants, Cardinals) they struggle to score. The Dodgers failed to score a single run in three games in San Francisco, a ballpark that is difficult to hit home runs in. When they returned home, they brought the runs with them. However, like the trend that they have developed all year, with the exception of the game on May 26, against the Atlanta Braves, 60% of their runs scored in the other 5 games on the home stand came from the long ball. This out pour of offense came against the 19thand 21st ranked pitching staffs in the MLB.

When the Dodgers went on the road again, they traveled to St. Louis, the number one ranked pitching staff in MLB, the team that eliminated the Dodgers in the last two playoffs, and more importantly a team that the Dodgers will probably face in the playoffs this season. In the first game of the series, the Dodgers were again shut out, failing to score a single run. They did however manage to score six runs in the final two games of the series, five coming in their victory on May 30, three from home runs, and one more in their loss on May 31, again coming from a home run, meaning over 66% of their runs came from only two long balls. One might think that it’s a good sign the Dodgers were able to hit home runs against the top ranked pitching staff in baseball, however it is more prudent to be concerned that the Dodgers were unable to manufacture runs, which resulted in losing two out of three games.

After St. Louis, the Dodgers traveled to Coors Field in Colorado, a stadium where balls seem to fly for miles, to face the last ranked pitching staff in all of the MLB. In the first game, the Dodgers did what they have done best all year; they hit four home runs that accounted for eight of the eleven runs they scored, a whopping 73%. I would imagine this trend will continue throughout the remainder of the series. As evident by the examination of the last two weeks, the Dodgers rely too much on the home run.

Home runs are one of the most exciting parts of baseball; nothing gets the crowd on their feet quite like a long ball. Everyone that goes to a game hopes to see his or her favorite player hit a ball out of the park. All season I have watched the Dodger hit home run after home run with reserved excitement. This Dodger lineup was not built to hit home runs, they were built to manufacture runs, yet they have failed to really do so. I continue to think that the home runs will dry up and it concerns me that if that happens, the Dodger runs will dry up and with them, the Dodger victories. However, while it lasts, all fans should sit back and enjoy the show.