What Do We Know About The Dodgers Heading Into Revenge Weekend?
- Updated: June 19, 2015
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The last time the Los Angeles Dodgers faced the San Francisco Giants, things went, um. Well… They played three baseball games in a beautiful stadium at AT&T Park, and we’ll just leave it at that.
Now, as the Dodgers wrap up their home-and-home interleague series with the Texas Rangers, the boys in blue are no doubt looking ahead to a little revenge over the weekend at Dodger Stadium. Before they get there, though, here are a few big things we’ve learned more generally about the Dodgers thus far in 2015:
They Can’t Play On The Road
This has got to be one of the more bizarre aspects of the season; the Dodgers have the worst road record in the NL West, and yet, lead the division. Thank their top-five baseball-wide home record, taking full advantage of games they get in L.A., but a 12-18 road record is bad. Extrapolated over a season, it becomes 32-50; for them to have a legitimate shot at winning the division with those road woes, they’d have to win more than sixty (!) home games. Good luck. (They’re currently on pace for 58 home wins, which would create, give or take, a 90-win season.)
You don’t need to be great on the road. But you need to be not-bad. And a .400 winning percentage isn’t not-bad. And it’s not just losing road games to good teams, either; the Dodgers are 7-6 on the road against the Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Rockies this year — three teams they need to do better than .500-ish against to make room for themselves in the NL West.
They (Don’t) Need A Starter
When Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy went down, and as the team awaits Brandon Beachy‘s return, everybody in the world (literally, all seven billion) lamented the Dodgers’ need for a starting pitcher. Cole Hamels! Johnny Cueto! Jordan Zimmermann! David Price!
And then… Mike Bolsinger was all like, hey, guys, I throw 87 mph and I’m here to save the season. Holy crap, amirite?! He’s been way better than I gave him credit for when he first arrived on the scene (Mike, I apologize), and even Carlos Frias has been, like, not-awful for most of his starts this year. That’s something!
All this being said, I still think they will need a starter — and it’s probably worth it to this club, with this money, to go after the biggest and best names they can possibly get — but credit where credit is due, Bolsinger and Frias have done what I flat-out thought they couldn’t do.
The Dodgers have a better 1-2 punch than anybody in baseball, in Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw. But that 3-4-5, which was always going to be a question, is doing better than expected, when you consider injuries (Ryu, McCarthy), and options the Dodgers had been considering (do you guys remember ERIK BEDARD?!?!).
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There are a few other notes for the Dodgers — they can’t hit on the road, for one, Joc Pederson has done much better than I thought he would, and more — but very generally speaking, those two things stand out.
Only one question remains: this weekend, can the Dodgers return the favor given to them by the Giants back in May?
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