Life without Manny: One step at a time for Dodgers

In every corner of the Dodgers’ clubhouse over the last few days, variations of the same idea were repeated over and over.

Sure, we’re a better team with Manny, but . . .

”. . . We still have a good team,” James Loney said.

”. . . We still have eight good hitters out there,” Matt Kemp said.

”. . . I think we could do something special even without him,” Eric Stults said.

But can the Dodgers win without Manny Ramirez?

That’s the question facing the team over the length of Ramirez’s 50-game suspension, which started Thursday and ends July 3.

The Dodgers lost their first two games of the season’s No Manny Period, but Game No. 3 offered signs of promise.

They defeated the San Francisco Giants, 8-0, at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, as Eric Stults threw their first shutout of the season, which was preserved by a spectacular diving catch by Kemp in the ninth inning. The announced crowd of 41,425 fans stood to applaud the grab, temporarily forgetting that You-Know-Who wasn’t in the ballpark.

“It’s nice to get to normal,” General Manager Ned Colletti said.

But “normal” with Ramirez in the lineup was anything but normal.

The Dodgers had a major league-best record of 21-8.

Ramirez, who signed a two-year, $45-million deal in the spring, was a major reason why.

As the Dodgers’ No. 3 hitter, he was leading the National League with 26 walks, eight of them intentional, and an on-base percentage of .492.

He was hitting .348 with six home runs and 20 runs batted in.

By one statistical measure, Ramirez was the fourth-best run producer among players with at least 100 plate appearances through Friday’s games.

Ramirez had a Marginal Lineup Value rate (MLVr) of .632, according to Baseball Prospectus. The figure calculates the additional number of runs per game a player would contribute to a lineup that otherwise consisted of average offensive performers.

Ramirez had a PMLVr -- runs per game contributed by a batter beyond what an average player at the same position would hit on a team of otherwise league-average hitters -- of .539.

Ramirez’s replacement in the starting lineup, Juan Pierre, had a PMLVr of .243 -- and that was with Pierre batting .378 through Friday.

Over 50 games, Ramirez would be expected to contribute 15 more runs than Pierre, assuming Pierre maintains his current level of production.

What does this mean?

Depends on the perspective.

Until the Dodgers acquired Ramirez last season, they were essentially a .500 team that had trouble scoring runs.

But the inexperience that was blamed for the lack of offensive production is no longer an issue, according to players and coaches. A large part of that is because of the chance they got to play with Ramirez.

“We had him and had a chance to learn and regain some of that confidence that led us to where we’re at right now,” said Andre Ethier, who was moved into the No. 3 spot in the lineup that was previously Ramirez’s.

Without Ramirez, the Dodgers will have less power.

“Of course, we don’t have the big dog in the lineup,” Orlando Hudson said. “But we have guys capable of hitting 25 or 30” home runs.

Third base coach Larry Bowa said that a problem the team had in its pre-Manny days last season was that when it struggled offensively, everyone slumped together.

“They didn’t pick each other up,” Bowa said. “Everybody tried too hard. They now know what they’re more capable of.”

That’s what it looks like.

The Dodgers lost to Washington in their first game without Ramirez but they scored nine runs, including six in the first inning. They scored four runs in the first two innings of Saturday’s game.

And it’s not as if the Dodgers are devoid of veteran leadership.

Playing third base is 35-year-old Casey Blake, who was acquired shortly before Ramirez.

Manager Joe Torre has often cited the addition of Blake as last season’s turning point and said his presence would be particularly valuable at this time.

“Very important,” Torre said of Blake. “It’s all about coming to the ballpark and going to work. This game, if you allow it, is filled with highs and lows. You have to really save that stuff for postseason. The season is a long season. You can’t have one game affect another game in a negative way. He’s about as right on that line as anyone I’ve ever been around.”

Then there is Hudson, the Gold Glove second baseman the Dodgers signed this spring. Bowa contends that Hudson’s glove will be crucial, particularly if the Dodgers find themselves in more low-scoring games as he predicts.

Are these Dodgers a better defensive team than they were last year?

“No question,” said Bowa, a former shortstop who won two Gold Glove awards as a player.

It’s not only because of Hudson.

Kemp is developing into a highlight-producing center fielder. Russell Martin is improving as a catcher.

And with respect to defense, the Dodgers might benefit from Ramirez’s absence.

“Manny’s very serviceable out there,” Bowa said. “But if anything, Juan can cover more ground.”

The better the Dodgers defend, the better they should pitch.

“The main thing for us is that we have to keep pitching,” said Martin, who handles a staff that has posted a 2.86 earned-run average in 16 home games.

Pitching remains an area of concern for Colletti, who figures to add an arm or two, if anything, in coming months.

Hiroki Kuroda will probably remain sidelined for at least a few more weeks because of a strained side muscle, but replacements such as Stults and Jeff Weaver have pitched surprisingly well. Staff ace Chad Billinglsey didn’t suffer his first loss this season until Friday; he’s 5-1 with a 2.45 earned-run average.

More surprising than the emergence of Stults and Weaver, however, has been the performance of the bullpen.

Jonathan Broxton has had no problems so far in his first season as the Dodgers’ frontline closer, as he has posted a 3-0 record, 0.64 ERA and eight saves in nine chances.

That must continue, Bowa said.

“The bottom line is pitching,” he said. “I don’t care if you have nine Mannys. If you don’t pitch, you don’t win.”

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Staff writer Kevin Baxter contributed to this report.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Way above average

Average statistics for left fielders of the 15 other National League teams and how they compare with Manny Ramirez’s numbers:

*--* AVG. LEFT FIELDER

AT BATS 108

RUNS 16

HITS 27

DOUBLES 5

TRIPLES 1

HOME RUNS 4

RBI 15

WALKS 14

STRIKEOUTS 24

BATTING AVG. .250

ON-BASE% .347

SLUGGING% .426 *--*

*--* RAMIREZ

AT BATS 92

RUNS 22

HITS 32

DOUBLES 9

TRIPLES 0

HOME RUNS 6

RBI 20

WALKS 26

STRIKEOUTS 17

BATTING AVG. .348

ON-BASE% .492

SLUGGING% .641 *--*

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VORP factor

Invented by Keith Woolner, an author for Baseball Prospectus. Baseball Prospectus defines VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) as the following: The number of runs contributed beyond what a replacement-level player at the same position would contribute if given the same percentage of team plate appearances. VORP scores do not consider the quality of a player’s defense. Statistics through Thursday:

*--* -- NAME TEAM POS PA PA% AVG OBP SLG SB MLV PMLV VORP 1. Evan TBA 3B 129 10.7% 362 411 741 2 20.5 20.7 25.1 Long oria 2. Vict CLE C 138 11.4% 390 464 644 0 19.0 17.9 21.8 or Mart inez 3. Kevi BOS 1B 109 9.1% 393 505 719 1 18.9 16.1 20.7 n Youk ilis 4. Albe SLN 1B 130 11.2% 343 446 705 4 19.5 15.0 20.6 rt Pujo ls 5. Jaso BOS LP 130 10.8% 323 477 677 4 17.0 15.3 20.4 n Bay 6. Carl NYN CF 125 11.4% 377 472 585 3 16.6 16.1 19.9 os Belt ran 7. Ian TEX 2B 137 12.1% 325 375 634 8 12.7 12.8 18.6 Kins ler 8. Mann LAD LF 120 9.8% 348 492 641 0 17.2 14.7 18.1 y Rami rez 9. Aaro TOR 2B 155 11.7% 357 400 566 2 13.2 13.3 17.6 n Hill 10. Migu DET 1B 117 11.1% 385 453 615 1 15.6 12.5 16.4 el Cabr era 11. Jaso TBA SS 115 9.6% 355 395 523 6 8.7 11.7 16.1 n Bart lett 12. Orla LAD 2B 143 11.6% 333 427 520 4 12.0 10.9 16.0 ndo Huds on 13. Raul PHI LF 120 11.2% 340 400 660 3 14.2 11.7 16.0 Iban ez 14. Adam BAL CF 125 11.0% 342 408 586 3 11.7 12.3 15.7 Jone s 15. Chas PHI 2B 111 10.4% 315 450 629 2 12.7 11.9 15.5 e Utle y 16. Adam TOR DH 139 10.5% 333 410 569 0 11.5 11.3 15.2 Lind 17. Hanl FLO SS 119 10.0% 327 407 587 4 11.3 13.3 15.2 ey Rami rez 18. Nick BAL RF 134 11.8% 342 425 561 1 12.1 11.2 15.0 Mark akis 19. Mich TEX 3B 130 11.5% 328 369 598 2 10.4 10.6 14.4 ael Youn g 20. Joey CIN 1B 118 10.7% 370 466 560 2 13.9 9.7 14.3 Vott o 21. Ryan MIL LF 124 10.7% 337 444 587 2 13.8 11.1 14.2 Brau n 22. Tori LAA CF 116 10.7% 311 371 612 2 9.5 10.1 13.5 i Hunt er 23. Andr LAD RF 137 11.2% 310 423 531 1 11.0 9.0 13.2 e Ethi er 24. Ryan WAS 3B 133 11.6% 339 391 554 0 10.5 9.5 13.1 Zimm erma n 25. Scot SDN CF 77 6.8% 343 403 643 3 10.2 9.7 12.7 t Hair ston *--*

KEY FOR NON-TRADITIONAL STATISTICS:

PA%: Percentage of total team plate appearances accumulated by one player.

MLV: Marginal Lineup Value, a measure of offensive production created by David Tate and further developed by Keith Woolner. MLV is an estimate of the additional number of runs a given player will contribute to a lineup that otherwise consists of average offensive performers.

PMLV: Positional MLV. Runs per game contributed by a batter beyond what an average player at the same position would hit on a team of otherwise league-average hitters.

Source: Baseball Prospectus