Dodgers Dugout: The offense has some catching up to do

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I went to Wednesday's game and scored just as many runs as the Dodgers did. 

The offense

The Dodgers have struggled on offense this season, with almost every player hitting below their career norms. How bad has it been? First, let's look at where the team ranks in the NL in various categories:

Batting average: .232 (12th)

OB%: .308 (10th)

SLG%: .374 (13th)

Runs per game: 4.21 (9th)

Home runs: 63 (tied for 8th)

Walks: 209 (5th)

Strikeouts: 471 (9th most)

OPS+: 87 (12th)

batting average with runners in scoring position: .244 (10th)

batting average with two out and runners in scoring position: .183 (14th)

So, the offense is clearly below average in relation to the rest of the NL. But what about individual players? Let's look at the main starters and where they rank in relation to others at their position in Offensive WAR and OPS+, with a minimum of 125 plate appearances needed to make the list:

Catcher (11 qualifiers)

Yasmani Grandal

OWAR: 0.5 (9^th, leader: Jonathan Lucroy, 2.0)

OPS+: 88 (7^th, leader: Wilson Ramos, 149)

First base (15 qualifiers)

Adrian Gonzalez

OWAR: 0.8 (9^th, leader: Paul Goldschmidt, 1.7)

OPS+: 109 (11^th, leader: Matt Adams, 157)

Second base (12 qualifiers)

Chase Utley

OWAR: 1.4 (4^th, leader: Daniel Murphy, 2.8)

OPS+: 106 (6th, leader: Daniel Murphy, 169)

Third base (14 qualifiers)

Justin Turner

OWAR: 0.5 (11^th, leader: Matt Carpenter, 2.3)

OPS+: 81 (13^th, leader: Matt Carpenter, 149)

Shortstop (13 qualifiers)

Corey Seager

OWAR: 2.3 (1st)

OPS+: 135 (1st)

Left field (18 qualifiers)

Trayce Thompson

OWAR: 1.3 (6th, leader: Christian Yelich, 1.8)

OPS+: 146 (2nd, leader: Ryan Braun, 147)

Kiké Hernandez

OWAR: 0.1 (17^th)

OPS+: 79 (17^th)

Howie Kendrick

OWAR: -0.3 (18^th)

OPS+: 53 (18^th)

Center field (14 qualifiers)

Joc Pederson

OWAR: 0.8 (10th, leader: Dexter Fowler, 2.3)

OPS+: 104 (7^th, leader: Dexter Fowler, 148)

Right field (16 qualifiers)

Yasiel Puig

OWAR: -0.3 (15^th, leader: Gregory Polanco, 1.9)

OPS+: 76 (14^th, leader: Gregory Polanco, 153)

It’s not a pretty picture. Only three batters rank in the top half in offense at their position: Utley, Seager and Thompson. Puig, Hernandez and Kendrick have been particularly bad (this is the part where you Puig apologists email or tweet me that his defense more than makes up for his offense. I wonder if there were a bunch of Ellis Valentine apologists back in the days before social media).

What can happen to help the offense? Well, Andre Ethier will be back around the All-Star break, hopefully. He should take at bats away from Hernandez and Kendrick and hopefully hit better than they are. Other than that, what the team really needs is for Gonzalez to rediscover his power stroke and Turner to start hitting like he did the last two seasons. If Gonzalez and Turner rebound, the offense will look a lot better, but there is really no one in the lineup at all that really scares an opposing pitcher.

Seager and Thompson have been the stars, and Seager looks like a future superstar. Utley has given them more than anyone could have expected. Pederson is what he is: a low-average, high-strikeout hitter who has some power and a good glove in center. I would not be surprised to see him get traded at some point if the Dodgers can get something good for him, especially at the trade deadline.

Say what?

I went to Wednesday’s game, a thrilling 1-0 loss to Colorado. The Dodgers erupted for four hits in the game. Since there was nothing much happening on the field, I started paying attention to the people sitting around me, and noticed that there are some things you almost never hear said at Dodger Stadium.

Seldom-heard phrases at Dodger Stadium

Kershaw is pitching tonight? That’s too bad, I was hoping for Scott Kazmir.

I think $20 for parking is quite reasonable.

I’m amazed it only took me five minutes to park and make my way into the Stadium.

I bumped into Vin Scully a few minutes ago. Boy, what an ego.

That can’t be Magic Johnson, he usually avoids being seen by the public.

I hope that’s Chris Hatcher warming up in the bullpen.

I sure miss the days when Frank McCourt owned the team.

I think I will make out the lineup today no matter what Andrew Friedman says (Dave Roberts only)

I hear Vin’s voice all through the ballpark. When can we listen to Charley Steiner?

Two Dodger Dogs and two drinks for $30? What a bargain!

Ask Ross Porter

Former Dodgers announcer Ross Porter will be answering select reader questions for the rest of the season. Email me a question for Ross,ers, Ross, were there players that were tough interviews?

Ross: Among my thousands of conversations on pre-and-post  game shows, you could count on one hand the number of difficult ones.

The most painful interview I conducted in my 28 years with the Dodgers occurred on Sept. 20, 1983.

A 20-year-old left-handed pitcher from Hawaii named Sid Fernandez was called up by the Dodgers from the double-A Texas League toward the close of the season. In his major league debut against the Astros, he pitched three innings in relief, gave up one run, but had five strikeouts. It was an awful game. Houston led, 12-1 after three innings with Nolan Ryan on the mound.

I decided to put the new kid who had done pretty well in his first big league outing on the radio postgame show since there weren't many logical options among the Dodgers that night. I went to the clubhouse after the eighth inning when Fernandez left the game to do the three-minute interview on my portable tape recorder.  Sid was a nice guy, but obviously was not  a seasoned radio interviewee. I gave him a $50 gift certificate, probably to Sears, which we gave all guests in those days.

Throughout the interview, Fernandez gave me the shortest answers imaginable. The longest might have been five words. When it was over, I left for the broadcast booth with the tape to get it on the air.  Within seconds, it dawned on me how bad the interview had been so quickly it was back to the clubhouse, found Sid, said we had to do another interview and urged him to give me longer answers. He may have lengthened his replies to eight words the second time.

Sid Fernandez pitched three innings in one more game for the Dodgers before being traded to the Mets where he spent 10 seasons, made two All-Star teams and was on the 1986 world champions. He won 114 games in 15 years, retired, and returned to Hawaii. Sid is now 53 and active in charity work.

What Vin Scully means to me

I asked you to tell me your best Vin Scully memories, and I got a lot of responses. I will publish selected ones in each newsletter. And keep emailing them to me.

Frank W. Knell: I am an old-timer, started following the Dodgers and Vin’s voice in 1947, when Jackie Robinson came up.  I have lived in several places since then, and Vin’s voice was not always available.  Sometimes I could barely hear it as it faded in and out through the static. While stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash. in the early 60s, I found that by removing the back of my small portable radio and attaching a copper wire to the antenna, and then stringing it out of an upper story window of the barracks and attaching it to the top of the chimney, I could hear his voice quite clearly.  I installed it at night and the roof was quite steep, so I had to be very careful.  I listened to him in the latrine to keep from bothering the non-Dodger fans.  The sound of his voice was wonderful, and still is.

The TV situation

If you would like to complain about the Dodgers’ TV situation, you have three options: The Dodgers, Time Warner Cable and whatever local cable or satellite provider you have that doesn’t carry the Dodgers. Here’s who to contact:

For the Dodgers, click here or call (866) DODGERS ([866] 363-4377). (I hope you like form letters).

For Time Warner, click here.

For DirecTV, call (800) 531-5000 or click here.

For your local cable or satellite provider, consult your bill for the customer service number and for the website.

And finally

Dylan Hernandez explains how the TV situation could hurt Corey Seager’s All-Star chances. Read all about it here.

Have a comment or something you'd like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter: @latimeshouston