Dodgers Dugout: League offense at historic lows

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and hey, the Dodgers swept a series!

So, have the Dodgers turned things around now that they looked like their old selves in sweeping the Seattle Mariners? Who knows.

Only time, and this upcoming stretch of 10 games (three at home against Miami, four at home against Arizona and three at San Francisco) will tell the tale. After that, the Dodgers play the Astros, the Giants again and the Cardinals. It’s a tough stretch of games with only one day off.

So in the meantime, let’s take a look at something else: The league-wide trend of poor hitting.

We’ll focus on the NL. All these numbers are through Wednesday’s games.

Worst National League batting averages since 1901:

2021, .234
1908, .239
1907, .243
1968, .243
1906, .244
1909, .244
1963, .245
1989, .246
2020, .246
1916, .247

Wow, talk about being historically bad. Worse than the dead-ball era. Worse than 1968, after which they lowered the mound to make hitting easier. Let’s look at strikeouts per game:

2021: 9.06
2019: 8.81
2018: 8.64
2020: 8.55
2017: 8.36
2016: 8.19
2014: 7.90
2015: 7.89
2012: 7.64
2013: 7.56

The last 10 seasons have produced the 10 highest strikeout totals.

Runs per game:

1930, 5.68
1929: 5.36
1925: 5.06
2000: 5.00
1999: 5.00
1922: 5.00
1923: 4.85
2019: 4.78
1903: 4.77
2006: 4.76

The 2021 season is in 64th place at 4.29 runs per game.

Home runs per game:

2019: 1.36
2020: 1.29
2017: 1.21
2000: 1.16
2001: 1.14
1999: 1.12
2021: 1.10

OK. Last one, I promise. Fewest bunts per game:

2020: 0.07
2021: 0.18
2019: 0.22
2018: 0.23
2017: 0.27

I threw in bunts per game because so many fans criticize Dave Roberts for never bunting. Guess what? He is in line with the other 29 managers who never bunt. All front offices are heavily analytics-driven, which tells us that bunts aren’t worth it. The 27 outs you are given per game are precious and not even one should be given away. With a man on first and none out, there is a 42.4% chance of scoring a run. With a runner on second and one out, there is a 40.5% chance of scoring a run. So, bunting a runner over in that situation actually decreases your chance of scoring. And then you factor in that many players are pretty inept at bunting nowadays, and we see why the bunt is rarely called for. I’m not saying I agree with that, so don’t yell at me, I’m just pointing out the current thought process.

As far as offense overall, we usually want to find one thing to blame for things, but there are usually several factors that play into why something is happening. Relievers who all throw 95+. Seeing multiple pitchers a game. Batters who are concerned with launch angle and swinging as hard as they can. Plate umpires with wide strike zones.

It’s amazing to go back and watch a game from the 1970s or 1980s and see some of these rail-thin guys come up, choke up on the bat and try to just chop the ball into the ground. That doesn’t happen now. Which is better? Personal preference.

But, there are long stretches of the game nowadays where nothing happens. Often you’ll see an inning like this: Strikeout, strikeout, walk, walk, strikeout. That’s about 10-15 minutes of “action” where the ball isn’t even put into play. Add in the break between innings, and sometimes you can go 20 minutes in a game (or longer) where nothing happens.

Which brings us back to the Dodgers. All the focus this season has been on their bad offense, when actually, compared to the rest of the league, they have been pretty good. Third in batting average, first in on-base percentage, fourth in slugging.

But with such long stretches of inactivity in today’s game, it sure seems like they are struggling.

Edwin Ríos done for the season

Edwin Ríos will have surgery next week to repair a partially torn labrum in his right shoulder. The surgery will sideline him for the remainder of the season and he should be good to go by spring training. Ríos was in an 0 for 32 skid when he went on the IL.

“I think that, as I talked to Edwin and kind of got more color on it, I think [the shoulder] had a big part to it,” Roberts said last week. “He’s not an excuse maker, so he’ll never use it as an excuse. But I certainly believe that the shoulder affected performance largely.”

The last two seasons, Ríos was a slugging machine and hopefully he returns healthy again in 2022.

These names look familiar

A look at how players from the 2020 Dodgers who are no longer on the team are faring this season (through Thursday):

Pedro Báez, Houston, On the 60-day IL with shoulder soreness

Dylan Floro, Miami: 2-1, 1.02 ERA (17.2 IP, 12 hits, 4 walks, 16 strikeouts)

Kiké Hernández, Boston: .239/.298/.425 (7 doubles, 1 triple, 4 HRs, 10 RBIs, 100 OPS+, on IL with strained hamstring)

Adam Kolarek, Oakland: 5.63 ERA (8 IP, 12 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts)

Jake McGee, San Francisco: 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 10 saves (16 IP, 14 hits, 4 walks, 23 strikeouts)

Joc Pederson, Chicago Cubs: .244/.327/.341 (1 double, 1 triple, 1 homer, 9 RBIs, 88 OPS+)

Josh Sborz, Texas: 3-2, 3.38 ERA, 1 save (16 IP, 11 hits, 6 walks, 19 strikeouts)

Ross Stripling, Toronto: 0-2, 5.91 ERA (21.1 IP, 28 hits, 8 walks, 26 strikeouts)

Alex Wood, San Francisco: 4-0, 1.80 ERA (30 IP, 17 hits, 8 walks, 29 strikeouts)

Up next

Tonight, Miami (Sandy Alcantara, 1-2, 2.72 ERA) at Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 5-3, 2.62 ERA), 7 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570

Saturday, Miami (TBA) at Dodgers (Trevor Bauer, 3-2, 2.50 ERA), 6 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570

Sunday, Miami (Pablo Lopez) at Dodgers (Walker Buehler, 1-0, 3.45 ERA), 1 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570

*-left-handed

And finally

Vin Scully shares a story about Jackie Robinson and ice skating. Watch and listen here.