So Far, No Good

It is only April 22nd. The Los Angeles Dodgers have only played 19 games. The 2008 playoffs are a long ways from reality. However, the Arizona Diamondbacks already have a 6 game lead over the Blue Crew.

Over the short period of baseball already played, a glaring defect has revealed itself. The offense stinks. They have scored 82 runs, which is good for second in the weak hitting National League West. However, they fall into 11th place among all of the National League. Not surprisingly, Arizona has scored 120 runs which not only leads the NL, but all of Major League Baseball.

Trying to find the source of the team’s run issues, there are few suspects. The Dodgers’ 15 home runs also puts them as the 11th worst in the NL. They also manage to fall into the second half of the NL in doubles. Before 2008 began it was well known that the team lacked power, and so far they have proven that the be a fact.

So, who are the main culprits for this offensive drought? A very large finger can be pointed at the very fat off-season acquisition, Andruw Jones. In his 63 at bats he’s managed a whopping 10 hits, which is good for a .159 batting average. Meanwhile his lone home run hasn’t been quite what the west coast fans had hoped. He does manage to come in tied for third place in all of MLB for strikeouts with 22.

Jones isn’t alone in the struggles, however. Fan favorite Russell Martin has had a rough going as well. His average stands at .234 with two dingers to boot. Meanwhile third base has been an issue, as expected, with youngster Blake Dewitt holding the spot down until recently when oldster Nomar Garciaparra came off the disabled list. Dewitt impressed with his approach to the game, but his .260 average hasn’t helped the woes. Nomar has struggled since his return, but has at least matched Andruw Jones in home runs.

Matt Kemp and Juan Pierre have been better than Jones in the outfield. Kemp had a really slow start against good pitching which prompted manager Joe Torre to give Juan Pierre more playing time. Neither has been outright awful, but their early issues have been compounded by the rest of the team’s issues.

With all that said, it’s definitely worth noting how well Rafael Furcal has been. He leads the team in batting average (.392), tied for home runs (3), leads in on base percentage (.489), and is second in stolen bases (4). At the same time, he has less than half the amount of strikeouts (10) as Andruw Jones (22, in case you have blocked it from memory three paragraphs later).

The pitching has tried to do it’s part. As a team LA has surrendered a mere 71 runs and posted a 3.51 ERA. They have issued just 56 walks and have held teams to a .264 batting average. If the pitching staff can manage to get twice as good, maybe the Dodgers can make a surge the rest of the year and reach the playoffs. That or buy more gnomes.