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In many ways, the are right where we all expected them to be two months into the season. Theyve led the National League West since April 1. , focusing only on hitting while he recovers from elbow surgery, quickly settled in after the gambling scandal and has the fourth-highest OPS (.988) in MLB. ' OPS (.927) ranks seventh and 's (.876) is 15th. The pitching staff, for all its injuries, has the third-best ERA (3.22) in the sport. Why, then, dont the Dodgers (38-23, .623), despite winning five of six, have the best record in baseball? That title recently belonged to the (41-19, .683), the NL East division leader starving for a championship and competing like nothing certainly not the injury-impaired will stop them. Then theres the (42-19, .689), powered by the lethal hitting combination of and and thriving in spite of ace being sidelined since March. Just behind New York is the (39-20, .661) and the (37-20, .649), leaving four major-league teams winning at a higher clip than Los Angeles. 2. Theyre inconsistent with RISP How any given team will perform with runners in scoring position is difficult to forecast. Theres no real way to configure a lineup to be certain it will be effective when there's traffic on the bases. Nonethele s, being succe sful with runners on is one of the most important aspects of the game. As history shows, hitting with RISP is typically the mark of a good team. The last nine champions all ranked in the top eight in OPS with RISP. Five of those eight teams ranked in the top two. The Dodgers havent been outside the top five in OPS with RISP since 2018, but theyre well below that mark one-third into the 2024 season. Los Angeles .729 OPS and .252 batting average with RISP ranks 15th and 16th in the majors, respectively. The Dodgers can only begin capitalizing with runners on second and/or third base when the aforementioned bottom half of the lineup starts producing. Otto Porter Jr. Jersey But their struggles in those clutch situations are scattered and team-wide. Just last weekend, the Dodgers suffered an 0-17 stretch with RISP while being swept by the . Hitting with RISP isnt nece sarily the end-all in determining a teams offensive strength. But we know that it makes a difference, particularly for clubs that wind up going to the World Series. 3. They're average once they fall behind On top of the i sues at the bottom of the lineup, the Dodgers bullpen is only helping to widen the gap. L.A.s relief corps has allowed 25 home runs this season, tied for the third-most in the National League. Having a mercurial bullpen thats vulnerable to the long ball only puts more pre sure on the offense to put up a crooked number, which has proven to be a difficult task with so many below-average bats in the lineup. The Dodgers are 10-20 (.333) when the opponent scores first, which is tied for 14th in MLB. On the flip side, theyre 28-3 (.903) when they score first, which is the majors' best winning percentage. But, again, due in part to that volatile bullpen, the club is 1-12 (.077) when it scores two runs or le s. So far, the Dodgers have struggled even more when falling behind on the road. Theyre 4-10 (.286) when allowing three runs or more away from Chavez Ravine, which ranks 19th. With all of that being said, some of these points can be considered nitpicking. The Dodgers are very good in almost every area, and barring a major collapse, they will make the playoffs for the 12th consecutive year. But how deep they can go into October could largely depend on cleaning up some of these weakne ses. The Dodgers, after recording yet another 100-win season and spending over a billion on offseason additions, are facing immense pre sure to win a championship. When the stakes are that high, lofty expectations often come with scrutiny. The Dodgers must addre s their sore spots before its, again, too late. is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at . [Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? .] Isaac Bonga Jersey |
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