Dodgers by the numbers

I haven't done this in awhile, but it's always fun to look at exactly where the boys in blue rank in certain categories.  Today I'll focus on the bullpen, which has been a huge part of turning things around.

ERA: 3.57 (15th best)
Saves: 34 (7th)
Save %: 68 (19th - still feeling the effects of Brandon League)
Walks: 122 (22nd)
BAA: .244 (15th)
OPS: .669 (7th)
Total Bases: 451 (25th)
K/9: 8.29 (12th)

Trust me, these numbers listed above were not pretty back in April, May, and June.  The League experiment as closer was a colossal flop, which mercifully ended after four blown saves and a 6.00 ERA in early June.  Then Kenley Jansen was inserted as closer, and after blowing his first save in Pittsburgh, has gone 14-15 since.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the numbers for the boys in the 'pen right now:

Kenley Jansen: 58 1/3 IP, 4-3, 17 SV, 16 HLD, 2.01 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 84 K
J.P. Howell: 48 1/3 IP, 2-0, 10 HLD, 2.05 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 42 K
Paco Rodriguez: 42 IP, 2-2, 2 SV, 14 HLD, 2.14 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 45 K
Chris Withrow: 18 1/3 IP, 1-0, 3 HLD, 2.45 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 21 K
Ronald Belisario: 51 1/3 IP, 5-6, 1 SV, 13 HLD, 3.33 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 41 K
Carlos Marmol: 7 IP, 0-0, 5.14 ERA, 2.14 WHIP, 4 K
Brandon League: 42 2/3, 6-3, 14 SV, 1 HLD, 5.27 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 22 K

The top four in that list are as good as it gets.  Jansen's success in the closer's role has made everything else fall into place.  Howell and Rodriguez are fantastic from the left side, and Withrow has forced the Dodgers to keep him with the big club.  They get big outs whenever necessary.

Belisario is his typical streaky self, but he's been on a hot one the last couple of months.  He had an 8.31 ERA in June, lowered it all the way to 1.42 in July, and hasn't surrendered a run in August.  When he's on, he's tough to catch up to.  The Dodgers will ride this hot streak as long as they can.

The numbers for Marmol and League obviously aren't pretty, but there is a silver lining for both.  League has put up blanks in nine of last 12 appearances since the beginning of July, lowering his ERA by over a run.  Marmol doesn't have a large sample size, but is scoreless in his last five trips to the mound.

Keep in mind that Brian Wilson will soon be coming, as his rehab is just about done.  Don't be surprised to see him move right into a setup role.  He's been scoreless in three innings of work, and if reports are true that he's more than recovered from Tommy John surgery last year, then look out.  He's another big chip to be added to this great team in the postseason push.

Dodgers by the numbers

In today's installment, I'm going to take a look at the offense and all of the TERRIFIC and RECORD-BREAKING numbers they put up on a consistent basis.

Or at how much they suck.  Here goes.

OBP: .329 (10th)
Slugging %: .365 (2nd to last)
Runs: 140 (2nd to last)
Home Runs: 28 (3rd to last)
K's: 264 (2nd least)

Analysis: It's pretty amazing that the Dodgers have very little strikeouts, get on base in the top third of the league, yet are only ahead of the Marlins in runs scored.  Why is that?  Take a look at the power numbers of homers and slugging %, which are abysmal.  They simply do not have the horses to drive them in, as Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have done a big pile of nothing.

Runs scored vs. Left: 55 (11th)
Runs scored vs. Right: 85 (2nd to last)
Runs scored in 7th inning or later: 42 (4th to last)
Slugging % when behind: .346 (4th to last)
Home Runs in #3 spot: 3 (3rd to last)
RBIs w/ RISP: 99 (4th to last)
Average w/ bases loaded: 4-for-31, .129 (2nd to last)

Analysis: Obviously, when the pressure is on, the offense goes into hibernation.  Like I said before, it's not as if they aren't getting runners on base, it's actually the opposite.  But a stat like 4-for-31 with the bases loaded is absolutely embarrassing.  Those are golden opportunities to have a big inning, and they fail miserably.  Unless a stat like that changes, this team will continue to go further and further in the tank.

Dodgers by the numbers

Let's take a look at how the Dodgers are doing in the batting order, 1-9. (Note, the ranking is based on batting average.)

#1 - .328 AVG, .377 OBP, 1 HR, 2 RBI (7th place)

#2 - .316 AVG, .394 OBP, 0 HR, 4 RBI (7th place)

#3 - .217 AVG, .273 OBP, 0 HR, 4 RBI (24th place)

#4 - .400 AVG, .479 OBP, 2 HR, 12 RBI (1st place)

#5 - .280 AVG, .429 OBP, 1 HR, 5 RBI (11th place)

#6 - .218 AVG, .274 OBP, 1 HR, 4 RBI (23rd place)

#7 - .127 AVG, .186 OBP, 1 HR, 3 RBI (30th place - dead last)

#8 - .220 AVG, .328 OBP, 1 HR, 2 RBI (18th place)

#9 - .222 AVG, .300 OBP, 2 HR, 2 RBI (16th place)

The biggest stat that jumps out is obviously the #3 hole, occupied for all but one start by Matt Kemp.  The 1-2 spots in the order are each in 7th place (Carl Crawford and mostly Mark Ellis), the cleanup hitter is in 1st (Adrian Gonzalez), yet the biggest reason the Dodgers have the second fewest runs scored in the majors at 41 is because the #3 hole is just abysmal. 

Think about this: the top two spots in the order have each reached base 26 times for 52 total.  Out of 52 times on base, Kemp has four RBIs taking nearly every at-bat in the third spot.  Ouch.  That's almost hard to believe, but that's the reality.

Gonzalez has been huge hitting cleanup, yet it's been pretty quiet because Kemp has been so bad.  Gonzalez still has 12 RBIs, which is tied with a few others for 15th place.  That's pretty good, but it could be so much better if Kemp was even decent to start the season.

From #6 on, it ranges from just OK to flat out awful.  That's when you start to see the names of guyls like A.J. Ellis, Luis Cruz, Juan Uribe, and Justin Sellers.  Ellis is hitting .311 on the season, but the next highest is Uribe at .200 in very limited action.  And we can all only hope that limited action soon becomes no action.

The last stat sums everything up:

Team OBP: .339 (7th place)
Team AVG w/RISP: .171 (28th place)

It's no surprise they can barely score a run with a stat like that.

Dodgers by the numbers

Today I am starting a new feature on Inside Dodger Baseball, "Dodgers by the numbers."  Basically, I will take a look at a bunch of different stats from either the team or individual players.  Let's go...

Record: 5-3

Hitting
Batting Right: 31-159 (.195), 3 HR, 11 RBI, 38 K, 2nd to last in baseball
Considering two of the coldest players on the team are Matt Kemp (5-30, .167) and Luis Cruz (2-22, .091), it's no surprise this stat is so low.  Justin Sellers's 4-21 (.190) isn't helping things either.

Batting Left: 34-94 (.362), 3 HR, 10 RBI, 20 K, 2nd place
Carl Crawford (13-28, .464) is red hot, Adrian Gonzalez (11-28, .393) is right behind, and Andre Ethier (8-25, .320) has hit in seven straight.  Long live the lefties.

Batting Third: See Kemp's stats, 3rd to last

Batting First: 13-32 (.406), 1st place
Carl Crawford has started nearly every game, and his production is the best from the leadoff spot.  Talk about the early leader for NL Comeback Player of the Year

Scoring Position: 11-71 (.155), 0 HR, 12 RBI, 23 K, 5th to last
I'm surprised there's teams that are actually worse, to be perfectly honest.  There's been some really bad AB's in these situations.

Scoring Positions w/ 2 outs: 5-33 (.152), 1 HR, 5 RBI, 10 K, 2nd to last
Just to add further insult.  It's been ugly.

Pitching
Starters: 5-2, 1.73 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 52 IP, 8 BB, 44 K, 1st place
When Clayton Kershaw is on your team, there's a good chance your team will rank towards the top.  But Greinke and Billingsley have had strong starts, and Ryu has chipped in as well.  Now they just need Beckett to settle in.

Relievers: 0-1, 3.31 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 19 IP, 10 BB, 17 K, 12th place
These numbers took a hit the last couple of games in San Diego, as they were flawless before then.

2 Outs: 3.22 ERA, 1.25, 5th place
This reflects a good ability to get out of innings.

Scoring Position: 9.90 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 7th place
Keep in mind that the lowest ERA is the Braves at 5.40, so this isn't as bad as it looks.  ERA's should be high with runners in scoring position.

Behind in Count: 2.14 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 1st place
Maybe they should always fall behind, considering they rank 12th when they're ahead.