Dodgers’ offense is off to a hot start — and the numbers back it up
A plastic trident sat at Cody Bellinger’s locker in the visiting team’s clubhouse at Coors Field on Sunday night. The five-pronged spear, provided by Justin Turner for a new celebratory tradition, has been given to the team’s player of the game in recent victories — as selected by peers. Bellinger was Sunday’s winner after going three for four with a home run, a double, a single, and a walk, and reaching base on a three-base error. The trident belonged to Alex Verdugo on Saturday after he homered and tripled. Max Muncy claimed it Friday after falling a double short of the cycle.
Three winners in three days, a representative sample for a team featuring an explosive offense off to a historic start through 10 games. The sample size is a sliver, but the numbers are eye-popping as the Dodgers have begun the season 8-2 — the best start in manager Dave Roberts’s tenure — and are riding a five-game winning streak after completing a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. Here’s a look at a few.
84: The number of runs the Dodgers have scored through 10 games. That’s the third-most in major-league history. Only the 1932 New York Yankees (90) and the 1999 Cleveland Indians (87) scored more in their first 10 games of a season.
52: The runs-scored gap between the Dodgers and the Angels, who have scored 32 runs this season. The Arizona Diamondbacks are second in the National League West with 63 runs scored. The Seattle Mariners lead baseball with 85 runs scored, but they’ve played one more game than the Dodgers.
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+36: The run differential between the Dodgers and their three opponents this season. The Dodgers have outscored their foes — all NL West competitors — 84 to 48.
24: The number of home runs the Dodgers have slugged as a team. They didn’t hit their 24th home run last season until their 26th game. The Dodgers have homered in each of their 10 games, a franchise record to start a season. The 2002 Indians set the major-league record with home runs in 14 straight games to begin a season.
10: The number of Dodgers who have hit a home run. Russell Martin was the 10th to join when he homered on Friday. Turner and David Freese are the club’s only position players who haven’t homered yet.
7: The number of home runs Bellinger has hit in 47 plate appearances this season. Bellinger’s league-leading seven homers are more than the Rockies, Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers have slugged as teams. Bellinger didn’t hit his seventh home run last season until May 19. He ranks first in the majors in hits (20), first in runs batted in (18), first in slugging percentage (1.023), second in OPS (1.512), and second in batting average (.455).
“Right now, he’s covering a lot of different pitches and a lot of different zones,” Roberts said. “He’s playing that cat and mouse, and picking his spot to release the barrel. He’s having good at-bats. Obviously, right now, the numbers speak to it, but [he’s] very dangerous.”
Twitter: @jorgecastillo
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