2018 Remarkable! Season Preview – Los Angeles Dodgers

by | Feb 28, 2018 | Baseball

 

2017 Record: 104-58 (1st in NL West – Lost in World Series)

The Los Angeles Dodgers were one game away from winning the World Series last season. They hope to rebound with much of the same cast that propelled them to the playoffs. Clayton Kershaw leads a stellar starting staff while Corey Seager and Justin Turner lead their impressive offense. NL Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger hopes to add power to an already devastating lineup. Here’s our Remarkable! 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers season preview.

 

Starting Pitchers

 

Clayton Kershaw
  • He allowed an OPS of .458 (118 PAs) with RISP in the 2017 season — best among qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .740.

  • He had a strike rate of 80.3% (327/407) when he’s behind in the count in the 2017 season — highest among qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 69.1%.
  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .357(229 Total Bases / 641 ABs)  in the 2017 season — 8th best among qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .414.

 

Rich Hill
  • He struck out 32.2% (138/428) of right-handed batters he faced in the 2017 season — best among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 20.9%.

  • He threw his curve/slider down for a strike 70.0% (313/447) of the time in the 2017 season — highest among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 55.7%.
  • He threw at least two strikes in his first three pitches to 70.1% (312/445) of opposing batters in the 2017 season — highest among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 60.9%.

 

Alex Wood
  • Opponents had a groundball rate of 61.6% (138/224) against Alex Wood on non-fastballs in the 2017 season — highest among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 48.3%.

  • Hitters chased 316 of his 693 off-speed pitches out of the zone (chase rate of 45.6%) in the 2017 season — highest among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 33.2%.
  • He allowed a barreled ball in 3.2% of ABs in the 2017 season (17/528) — Rank: tied for 5th of 135 starters in MLB; League Avg: 5.1%.

 

Hyun-Jin Ryu
  • He threw off-speed pitches 64.5% of the time (1,022/1,585) vs right-handed batters in the 2017 season — highest among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 41.2%.

  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .609 (103 Total Bases / 169 ABs) against the heart of the order in the 2017 season — 2nd worst among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .488.
  • Right-handed hitters had a miss rate of 27.8% (199/717) against Hyun-Jin Ryu in the 2017 season — 7th best among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 23.6%.

 

Kenta Maeda
  • He allowed an OBP of .195 (302 PAs) with two strikes in the 2017 season — 3rd best among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .257.
  • He walked 34 of 557 batters (6.1%) in the 2017 season — 3rd best among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 8.6%.

  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .538 (57 Total Bases / 106 ABs) with RISP in the 2017 season — 7th worst among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .433.

 

Relief Pitchers

 

2017 Bullpen Ranks

Stat # Rank
AVG .222 2nd
OBP .287 1st
SLG .373 6th
OPS .660 4th
BB% 8.0% T-4th
K% 27.7% 3rd
GB% 41.8% T-28th

 

Kenley Jansen
  • He threw at least two strikes in his first three pitches to 80.8% (173/214) of opposing batters in the 2017 season — highest among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 63.1%.
  • He allowed an OPS of .476 (258 PAs)  in the 2017 season — 6th best among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .685.
  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .168 (21 Total Bases / 125 ABs) vs right-handed batters in the 2017 season — best among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .376.

 

Josh Fields
  • Hitters chased 114 of Josh Fields‘ 296 fastballs out of the zone (chase rate of 38.5%) in the 2017 season — 3rd highest among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 25.4%.

  • He threw off-speed pitches just 21.1% of the time (188/892) in the 2017 season — 17th lowest among 195 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 38.9%.
  • Opponents batted .219 (33-for-151) against Josh Fields on pitches in the strike zone in the 2017 season — 11th best among 118 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .274.

 

Pedro Baez
  • Hitters swung at 79.9% of Pedro Baez‘s pitches in the zone (461/577) in the 2017 season — highest among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 67.4%.

  • He allowed a BABIP of .143 with RISP in the 2017 season — 2nd best among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .288.
  • He recorded 50 of his 64 strikeouts (78.1%) with his fastball in the 2017 season — 15th highest among 196 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 48.1%.

 

Scott Alexander
  • Opponents had a groundball rate of 74.0% (145/196) against Scott Alexander in the 2017 season — highest among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 45.9%.

  • He threw off-speed pitches just 6.0% of the time (64/1,061) in the 2017 season — lowest among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 38.9%.
  • He induced opposing hitters to ground into 13 double plays in 58 opportunities (22.4%)  in the 2017 season — 5th best among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 10.6%.

 

Tony Cingrani
  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .488 (79 Total Bases / 162 ABs)  in the 2017 season — 9th worst among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .377.
  • Opponents had a Well-Hit Avg of .065 (4/62) against Tony Cingrani elevated fastball in the 2017 season — 11th best among 109 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .138.

 

Hitters

 

2017 Offense Ranks

Stat # Rank
AVG .249 T-21st
OBP .334 T-6th
SLG .437 T-7th
OPS .771 8th
BB% 10.5% 1st
K% 22.3% T-19th
QAB 2627 11th
wOBA .336 T-7th

 

Corey Seager
  • He had a Well-Hit Avg of .385 (40/104) on the first pitch of at-bats in the 2017 season — 4th best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .250.
  • 17.1% of his plate appearances lasted only one pitch (105/613 PAs) in the 2017 season — 3rd highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 10.8%.

  • He batted .330 (60-for-182) on inside pitches in the 2017 season — 5th best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .264.

 

Justin Turner
  • He had an OBP of .477 (172 PAs) against LHP in the 2017 season — best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .347.

  • He had an OPS of .753 (233 PAs) with two strikes in the 2017 season — 6th best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .578.
  • He struck out 56 times in 543 PAs (10.3%) in the 2017 season — 2nd best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 19.3%.

 

Cody Bellinger
  • He slugged .615 (120 total bases in 195 ABs) on non-fastballs in the 2017 season — 2nd best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .410.

  • He had 69 Extra-Base hits out of 128 total hits (53.9%) in the 2017 season — 4th best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 37.4%.
  • He grounded into 5 double plays in 111 opportunities (4.5%) in the 2017 season — 6th best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 11.2%.

 

Austin Barnes
  • He had an OBP of .389 (131 PAs) with two strikes in the 2017 season — best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .253.

  • He chased 15.5% of pitches out of the zone (83/534)  in the 2017 season — 3rd lowest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 28.4%.
  • He drew 22 walks in 133 PAs (16.5%) against RHP in the 2017 season — 4th best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 8.3%.

 

Yasiel Puig
  • He made 19 non-routine plays out of 40 chances (47.5%) in the 2017 season — 4th best in MLB; League Avg: 22.2%.

  • He had a line drive rate of just 9.7% (10/103) against LHP in the 2017 season — lowest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 21.7%.
  • He grounded into 21 double plays in 109 opportunities (19.3%) in the 2017 season — 4th worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 11.2%.

 

Yasmani Grandal
  • He had an OBP of just .244 (132 PAs) with RISP in the 2017 season — 7th worst among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .338.
  • He struck out 56 times in 160 PAs (35.0%) in close and late situations in the 2017 season — 16th worst among 176 part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 24.2%.
  • He had a groundball rate of 61.3% (38/62) against LHP in the 2017 season — 17th highest among 169 part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 46.5%.

 

Chris Taylor
  • He chased 14.2% of pitches out of the zone (31/219) on pitches 94 mph or greater in the 2017 season — 6th lowest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 25.1%.
  • He struck out 41 times in 151 PAs (27.2%) against LHP in the 2017 season — 14th worst among 145 qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 18.8%.
  • He had a line drive rate of 25.5% (70/275) against RHP in the 2017 season — 14th highest among 145 qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 22.3%.

 

Logan Forsythe
  • He had a swing rate of just 32.4%(624/1,923) in the 2017 season — lowest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 46.6%.

  • He drew 29 walks in 117 PAs (24.8%) with RISP in the 2017 season — 2nd best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 10.8%.
  • He slugged just .262 (62 total bases in 237 ABs) against RHP in the 2017 season — 4th worst among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .428.

 

Joc Pederson
  • He batted just .181 (27-for-149) on fastballs in the 2017 season — 2nd worst among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .281.
  • He had an OPS of just .501 (135 PAs) versus relief pitchers in the 2017 season — 5th worst among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .727.
  • He had 31 Extra-Base hits out of 58 total hits (53.4%) in the 2017 season — 8th best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 36.3%.

 

 

Thanks for visiting!  For more information on Remarkable, click here: inside-edge.com/remarkable

And, you may also enjoy what we’re posting over on Twitter: @InsideEdgeScout

 

photo credits Icon Sportswire
http://www.iconsportswire.com/home