Right now, the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ focus is aimed intently at Clayton Kershaw‘s lower back.
Until the three-time Cy Young Award-winner and 2014 National League MVP returns from the disabled list, little else matters for the Dodgers.
The left-handed ace said he felt better after receiving an epidural on June 30, per MLB.com’s Jack Baer, but there’s no timetable for his return.
“I’m going to be very impatient and try to pitch tomorrow,” Kershaw said prior to Saturday’s game, per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. “The DL [stinks]. There’s no getting around it; it’s awful. You come to the field every day and feel like you let the team down by not pitching. It’s just the way it is, and you have to get through it.”
Let’s get real, though. Even if Kershaw comes back immediately after the All-Star break when he’s eligible and resumes his dominant ways, Los Angeles’ frequently anemic offense could still doom the team to an also-ran finish.
Before we delve into that, let’s remember what Kershaw was doing before his balky back put him on the shelf. There’s a grab bag of ludicrous stats to choose from, but Joon Lee of the Washington Post summed it up neatly after Kershaw‘s most recent start:
As it stands, Kershaw’s WHIP ranks as the best all-time for a single season among all pitchers with more than 120 innings pitched. Earlier this season, the Dodgers lefty passed Cliff Lee for the best K/BB ratio at the 100-strikeout mark. Lee had walked seven batters when he reached 100 strikeouts; Kershaw had walked only five. At the moment, Kershaw is on pace to strike out 305 batters and walk 19.
Kershaw has been so great for so long, it’s easy to take him for granted. But even if you step back and fully appreciate his transcendence, it’s impossible to ignore what a drag the Dodgers’ bats have been.
It may seem an odd moment to lodge this particular complaint, considering the Dodgers just hit their way to a 7-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.
Overall, however, Los Angeles ranks 17th in runs scored, 25th in OPS and 28th in team batting average in MLB.
Shortstop Corey Seager is the National League Rookie of the Year front-runner with a .305/.363/.540 slash line and 17 home runs.
Fellow rookie Trayce Thompson has chipped in 13 home runs and 32 RBI, and sophomore Joc Pederson has 13 home runs and 33 RBI of his own.
But first baseman and key lineup cog Adrian Gonzalez owns a pedestrian .384 slugging percentage, the second-lowest mark of his career. Catchers Yasmani Grandal and A.J. Ellis are hitting .188 and .196, respectively.
And despite raising his average 25 points since the start of June, Cuban slugger Yasiel Puig remains a mercurial enigma whose up-and-down performance could soon make him an ex-Dodger, as Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer outlined.
When things click, this Dodgers offense can look competent bordering on dangerous, with veterans such as Justin Turner, Howie Kendrick and Chase Utley chipping in.
But it hasn’t been enough, particularly with the archrival San Francisco Giants rolling to a 53-32 record and a five-game lead over L.A. at the close of Independence Day.
The Dodgers haven’t consistently raked anywhere, but their offensive woes have been more pronounced at Chavez Ravine, where they sport a .233 average, as opposed to .244 on the road.
“Obviously, the numbers don’t lie, and where we are on the calendar, it’s enough of a sample size,” manager Dave Roberts said in June of his team’s home futility, per ESPN’s Doug Padilla.
On June 30, Los Angeles acquired right-hander Bud Norris from the Atlanta Braves, a move ostensibly aimed at plugging the leak caused by Kershaw‘s injury. You could argue that’s like replacing a bazooka with a Super Soaker, but Norris did win his first start in Dodger blue.
Now, however, the Dodgers and Andrew Friedman, the team’s president of baseball operations, need to add a hitter or two.
They’ve been linked to Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce. And they could likely land other sluggers—including the Milwaukee Brewers‘ Ryan Braun—without sacrificing any blue-chip prospects, provided they’re willing to eat some salary.
Or Los Angeles could dip into its deep farm system and go for a top trade target like Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who boasts a .296/.355/.484 slash line and an attractive $5.25 million team option for 2017.
Regardless of the route they take, the Dodgers need to do something. They’ve got baseball’s gaudiest payroll. And they employ the game’s best pitcher.
The Kershaw window won’t stay open forever, as this recent injury has made clear. And while the Dodgers have won three straight division titles, they haven’t advanced past the National League Championship Series in that span and haven’t won a title since 1988.
Recent results like Monday’s seven-run showing shouldn’t cloud Friedman’s judgement or lull him into complacency. This team needs offensive reinforcements—period—or it runs the very real risk of coming up short yet again.
The Dodgers’ first objective is to get Kershaw back on the bump. Once he’s there, however, he’ll need some backup in the batter’s box.
All statistics current as of July 4 and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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