The 30 Team/30 Day Report Cards: Day 12- Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers

Record: 80-82 (Fourth place in NL West, 12 games behind San Francisco)

Batting Leaders

Batting Average: Andre Ethier (.292)

Home Runs: Matt Kemp (28)

RBIs: Matt Kemp (89)

On-base Percentage: Andre Ethier (.364)

Pitching Leaders

Wins: Clayton Kershaw (13)

Strikeouts: Clayton Kershaw (212)

Innings Pitched: Clayton Kershaw (204.1)

ERA: Clayton Kershaw (2.91). Bullpen- Hong-Chih Kuo (1.20)

WHIP: Hiroki Kuroda (1.16). Bullpen- Hong-Chih Kuo (0.78)

Saves: Jonathan Broxton (22)

Highlight of the Season: On May 6, right fielder Andre Ethier continued his torrid start by drilling a game-winning grand slam over the center field fence to defeat the Brewers 7-3, at Dodger Stadium. Also worthy of consideration was Joe Torre’s touching retirement ceremony held on the final day of the season.

Lowlight of the Season: While not a singular defining moment, the divorce between team owners Frank and Jamie McCourt cast a pall over the entire season.

The Lowdown:

The quest for a third consecutive division title would unfortunately fall by the wayside for the Dodgers this year, as the team struggled with a wildly inconsistent offense. Not only that, the Dodgers were also hampered by the messy divorce proceedings between owners Frank and Jamie McCourt, which put a temporary financial restraint on the team, along with damaging the team’s image. In spite of the chaos that surrounded the team, the Dodgers played well out of the gate, as they were tied for the division lead as late as June 17. After that day however, the rug was pulled out from underneath the boys in blue, as the team would fall to ten games back by mid-August.

Offense:

The team suffered from a bit of a power outage in 2010, finishing 27^th in home runs (120) and 21^st in runs scored (667), along with finishing 19^th in batting average and 24^th in slugging. Their power outage was exemplified in the decline of left fielder Manny Ramirez, who hit only eight home runs and drove in 40 in just 66 games with the club, before being traded to the White Sox in August. His decline took the wind out of the sails of the Dodger offense, as he was supposed to be one of the centerpieces of the lineup, along with Andre Ethier.

Either, however, had no trouble pulling his weight in the lineup, hitting .292, with 23 home runs and 82 RBIs in 139 games. His numbers look even more impressive when you consider that he missed half of May due to an injury. At the time Ethier went down on May 15, he was already hitting .392, with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs. It’s safe to assume that if Ethier played at least 150-155 games, he would have garnered some MVP consideration, had the Dodgers remained in contention.

Also, while Matt Kemp led the team in home runs with 28, his average dropped considerably this year, falling to .249 from .297 in 2009. Casey Blake and James Loney did not fare much better, as Blake hit only .248, while Loney hit just .267. Other players that received significant playing time but did not do well at the plate include Garret Anderson, Reed Johnson, Russell Martin and Ronnie Belliard.

While it is a bit unfair to single out the Dodgers’ lack of hitting while their division rival won a title with a similar lineup, it is safe to be a little critical of their lack of timely hitting, something the Giants did have this year.

Final Grade: C

Pitching:

The Dodgers featured some solid starting pitching this year, as the staff was led by the 22-year-old lefty Clayton Kershaw. In his third big league season, Kershaw demonstrated the capability of becoming a star pitcher in the National League, as he would toss over 200 innings for the first time in his career, along with striking out 212 hitters. Kershaw was complimented in the rotation by two other solid starters in Hiroki Kuroda and Chad Billingsley, who would go on to record ERAs of 3.39 and 3.57 respectively. Behind those three was a bit of a black hole in the rotation, as the team used a myriad of starters, including John Ely, Vicente Padilla, Carlos Monasterios and Charlie Haegar. However, the club did establish a bit of stability once they acquired left-handed starter Ted Lilly from the Cubs, who went on to sport a 7-4 record with a 3.52 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in 12 starts.

The bullpen was a tad subpar this year, finishing with a 4.07 ERA, 20^th in the majors. Closer Jonathan Broxton struggled a bit closing out games, as he would record a 4.04 ERA this year, while lefty specialist George Sherill was even worse, finishing with a 6.69 ERA in 65 appearances. The top reliever out of the Dodgers’ bullpen was All-Star lefty Hong-Chih Kuo, who recorded a 1.20 ERA along with a 0.78 WHIP in 56 games. The hard throwing lefty also spent time as a set-up man and closer, recording 21 holds and 12 saves.

When compared with their MLB peers, the Dodgers finished 13^th in ERA (4.01), third in “batting average against” (.244), 10^th in quality starts (92) and 26^th in home runs allowed (134). Even though their bullpen was a bit shaky, their starting pitching easily made up for their bullpen deficiencies.

Final Grade: B

Wild Card: Frank and Jamie McCourt

While it appears that Jamie McCourt has won ownership of the team, one can only hope that she either sells the team, or has a plan in mind of creating some stability in the organization once again. The divorce proceedings she went through with her husband left a usually strong franchise in a state of disarray.

Final Grade: F

Overall:

This year was marked with a considerable amount of underachievement for this club, but they look like they are ready to move forward into 2011 with their signings of Juan Uribe, Ted Lilly, and Jon Garland. Now with new leadership on the field with Don Mattingly taking over the reins as manager, it will be interesting to see if the Dodgers can make up for 2010 by winning their third division title in four years in 2011.

Final Grade: C

Check back soon for the report card on the Los Angeles Angels!

The 30 Day/30 Team Report Cards: Day 28- Los Angeles Dodgers

Well, I am well past 30 days on completing this, and it isn't even 2009 anymore, but, whatever. Here is the report card on the Los Angeles Dodgers!

Los Angeles Dodgers:

Record: 95-67 (National League West Champions).

Batting Leaders:

Batting Average: Matt Kemp (.297)

Home Runs: Andre Ethier (31)

RBIs: Andre Either (106)

On-base Percentage: Casey Blake (.363)

Pitching Leaders:

Wins: Chad Billingsley (12)

ERA: Clayton Kershaw (2.79). Bullpen- Ronald Belisario (2.04).

Strikeouts: Clayton Kershaw (185)

Innings Pitched: Randy Wolf (214.1)

WHIP: Jonathan Broxton (0.96). Starters- Randy Wolf (1.10).

Saves: Jonathan Broxton (36)

Highlight of the Season: Slamming the door on a three-game-sweep of the Cardinals in the playoffs by defeating them 5-1 at Busch Stadium on October 10. The sweep was something that even 69-year-old manager Joe Torre enjoyed relishing in, as seen above.

Lowlight of the Season: Getting clobbered by the Phillies for the second year in a row in the NLCS, losing the series 4-1. They were outscored 26-8 in their final three games, which were all played in Philadelphia.

The Lowdown:

As many people expected, the Dodgers were much stronger in 2009, as they rolled to 95 victories and the NL West championship. They also took home the best record in the National League, something they haven't done since since 1983. They also just missed the century-mark in wins, which was something they haven't accomplished since 1974. This was truly a team in which the whole was greater than the sum of its parts, as there was no real standout pitcher in their rotation, and no real standout performer in their lineup, save for Andre Ethier. This was just a strong team from top to bottom, and they were also able to weather the storm of losing Manny Ramirez for 50 games due to a positive steroid test in May. It was no problem for them though, because once they took over first place for good on April 19, they never looked back.

Offense:

The Dodgers' lineup in 2009 featured a little more pop in it, but the man providing the power was the person you would expect. Andre Ethier was the big man in the middle of the order for the Dodgers in '09, as he hit .272, with 31 home runs and 106 RBIs. This has to be a very promising sign for Ethier's progression, as this was the fourth year in a row that he has increased his home run and RBI totals. The lanky right-fielder out of Arizona State is starting to blossom into a bonafide power hitter, and since he's in L.A., that means he will definitely become a star that everyone will take notice of in the years to come.

Behind him were a slew of effective bats, which featured Matt Kemp (.297 average, 26 home runs, 101 RBIs), Manny Ramirez (.290/19/71), Casey Blake (.280/18/63) and James Loney (.281/13/90). It is also worth noting that left fielder Juan Pierre did an admirable job in filling in for the suspended Ramirez, as he came through with timely hits, and provided extra speed at the top of the order. He would finish the season with a .308 average, a .365 on-base percentage and 30 steals, which was second on the team to Kemp's surprising 34. Perhaps the only thing that was disappointing about their lineup was catcher Russell Martin, who watched his batting average fall 30 points from .280 in '08 to .250 last year. However, their well-rounded lineup was more than able to make up for Martin's absence.

The Dodgers would go on to finish 11th in runs scored (780), fifth in overall hits (1,511), fourth in on-base percentage (.346) and tied for fourth in batting average (.270). Even though their 145 home runs was only good for 23rd in MLB, this was a team that did not need to rely on the home run to beat you. They had a whole litany of hitters who knew how to come through with timely hits, time and time again.

Final Grade: A-

Pitching:

The Dodgers' starting rotation was pretty good as a whole in 2009, but who takes the cake as the best starter on the team? Well, my vote would go to Randy Wolf, who had a renaissance year in L.A. Wolf made a career-high 34 starts in 2009, and he proved to be very effective, going 11-7 with a 3.23 ERA, while putting together a WHIP of 1.10, which was the seventh-best in MLB. He wasn't the only top performer in their rotation though, as 21-year-old Clayton Kershaw put together a fantastic season of his own. Even though his 8-8 record seems unimpressive, his 2.79 ERA and his 185 strikeouts in 171.1 innings are something to be impressed by though. Chad Billingsley had a solid season of his own in 2009, as he led the staff with 12 victories, but he was possibly the receiver of good run support though, as his ERA rose to 4.03 from 3.14 in 2008. Hiroki Kuroda's performance is also worth mentioning, as he made 20 starts in '09, and went 8-7 in that time span, with a 3.76 ERA and an impressive WHIP of 1.14.

The Dodgers also had a bullpen that was pretty rock-solid, as they were led by the trio of Jonathan Broxton, Ramon Troncoso and Ronald Belisario. All three featured ERAs under three, and Belisario was especially impressive, as he sported a sparkling 2.04 ERA in 73 appearances. Fireballer Jonathan Broxton was also very effective in the closer's role, as he featured an impressive WHIP of 0.96, to go along with a 2.61 ERA, and a ridiculous 114 strikeouts in just 76 innings. The only downside to his great season was that he blew six saves, which is suspiciously high, but in any event, 36 saves is still pretty good.

Overall, the Dodgers featured the best team ERA in the majors at 3.41, tied for the least amount of runs surrendered with 611, and held opponents to the lowest batting average in MLB at .233. Even though division-rival San Francisco had an outstanding pitching staff in 2009, the Dodgers proved to be a perfect foe, as always. L.A.'s pitching staff is right up there with the Giants for the best in baseball.

Final Grade: A+

Wild Card: Joe Torre

Torre has proven to everybody during the last two seasons that he is not a push-button manager, as he has guided the Dodgers to back-to-back division titles. This year was especially impressive, as he kept a steady ship, despite the tumultuous waves of the Manny Ramirez suspension attempting to blow the ship over. The team did not flounder too much during the season either, despite a furious charge by the Rockies toward the end of the season. Most young teams would not have been able to withstand that kind of pressure, but Torre was able to keep everybody even-keel.

Final Grade: A+

Overall:

The Dodgers are a fantastic team that is capable of winning the NL Pennant, however, their only problem is an inability to "close" when the time counts in the playoffs. They simply need to find out a way to beat Philly in October.

Final Grade: A

Check back soon for the report card on the Los Angeles Angels!