Dodgers Dugout: Grading the pitchers, plus Justin Turner praises Yasiel Puig

Hi, my name is Houston Mitchell, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. How did we go from having no NFL teams to having too many?

Grading the pitchers

A couple of weeks ago I graded the hitters, so let’s turn our attention to the pitchers. The stats listed will be W-L/ERA/FIP/WHIP. As Fangraphs.com explains, Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) measures what a player’s ERA would look like over a given period of time if the pitcher were to have experienced league average results on balls in play. It takes out the role of defense and luck, making it a more stable indicator of how a pitcher actually performed over a given period of time than a runs-allowed-based statistic that would be highly dependent on the quality of defense played behind him, for example. If a pitcher’s FIP is much different from his ERA, then you can say he was either lucky or unlucky and will probably pitch closer to his FIP this season.

I’m not going to grade every Dodgers pitcher, because they used about 3,000 pitchers last season. Besides, I’ve picked on Chris Hatcher enough the last two years.

A

Clayton Kershaw (12-4/1.69/1.80/0.725): He’s the best pitcher on the planet, but if he wants to be the best pitcher in Dodgers history, he’s going to have to win a couple of World Series.

Kenley Jansen (3-2/1.83/1.44/0.670): I am amazed at the number of emails from fans who don’t like him. One person said he just doesn’t “look like a closer.” What he does look like is the best closer in Dodgers history.

Rich Hill (3-2/1.83/2.07/0.786): He was great between blisters.

B+

Joe Blanton (7-2/2.48/3.33/1.013): I questioned his signing before last season. Now I hope the Dodgers re-sign him.

B

Kenta Maeda (16-11/3.48/3.58/1.139): Maeda had a solid first half of the season before tiring at the end of the season. He averaged five to six innings a start, and the Dodgers hope he can last a little longer in starts this season. He had a brutal 6.75 ERA in the playoffs.

Julio Urias (5-2/3.39/3.17/1.455): In his first eight games, Urias was 1-2 with a 4.95 ERA. After that, he went 4-0 with a 1.99 ERA.

Grant Dayton (0-1/2.05/2.96/0.759): The left-hander became a key member of the bullpen down the stretch.

B-

Adam Liberatore (2-2/3.38/2.89/1.195): He pitched in 58 games last season. Can you remember any of them?

C

Ross Stripling (5-9/3.96/3.90/1.260): Stripling made 14 starts and was very effective at plugging holes in the rotation when other pitchers were injured.

Pedro Baez (3-2/3.04/3.81/1.000): I am not a huge fan as he seems to give up key hits too frequently and takes about a year between pitches. Right now, he is the favorite to be the set-up man for Jansen.

Alex Wood (1-4/3.73/3.18/1.260): He’s only 26 and if he can shake off the injuries, could be an effective third or fourth starter if given the chance.

C-

Scott Kazmir (10-6/4.56/4.48/1.357): A very disappointing first season with the team.

J.P. Howell (1-1/4.09/3.50/1.401): His first below average season with the Dodgers, and probably his last.

D

Brandon McCarthy (2-3/4.95/3.70/1.375): For their $24 million spent on McCarthy so far, the Dodgers have gotten a 5-3 record with a 5.29 ERA.

Justin Turner praises Puig

Justin Turner was a guest on the Mason and Ireland show on ESPN radio on Thursday. They asked him about Yasiel Puig and if there was any change in him after he came back from the minors last season. Turner said that Puig seemed to have a new outlook and was a great teammate after coming back from the minors. That’s a good sign. Puig will probably never be the player he was his first season, but if he can focus and just be 80% of that player, then that will be a huge bonus for the Dodgers this season. It would be great to see him turn things around and be a key part of the Dodgers for years to come.

Next time

In the next newsletter, we’ll take a look at the Dodgers’ top 10 prospects heading into the season.

And finally

Longtime Dodgers pitching coach Red Adams passed away recently. I was going to write about him, but Jon Weisman summed up everything perfectly here.

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

Houston.mitchell@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimeshouston