LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves within striking distance of baseball’s best team at the All-Star break despite themselves.
Injuries forced the Dodgers to put 19 players on the disabled list, more than any other team. That number includes such critical elements as outfielders Andre Ethier, Yasiel Puig and Joc Pederson; infielders Howie Kendrick and Enrique Hernandez, catcher Yasmani Grandal and an entire rotation of starting pitchers.
Among those pitchers is left-hander Clayton Kershaw, the three-time winner of the National League’s Cy Young Award who joined the disabled June 30 with a herniated disc.
The Dodgers offense also struggled. Production from Grandal and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez declined greatly from last year, when both made the National League’s All-Star team. Grandal, who hit .282 with a .526 slugging percentage at last year’s All-Star break, is now batting .212 and slugging .434. Gonzalez’s power numbers have fallen from 18 home runs and 55 RBIs at last year’s break to seven homers and 44 RBIs. Kendrick, a career .292 hitter entering the season, is batting a career-low .254.
Nevertheless, the Dodgers trail the San Francisco Giants by 6 1/2 games in the National League West. The bullpen owns the best earned-run average among major league relievers, 2.83. Right-hander Kenley Jansen made the National League’s All-Star team by compiling 27 saves, and left-hander Adam Liberatore has not conceded a run in 24 consecutive relief appearances.
Kendrick, the starting second baseman last year, has played errorless defense after becoming the de facto left fielder. Rookie outfielder Trayce Thompson, acquired from the Chicago White Sox, earned another starting spot by hitting 13 home runs and displaying superior defensive range. Third baseman Justin Turner, hitting .220 on June 8, is batting .330 with nine homers and 24 RBIs since that date.
But rookie shortstop Corey Seager has become the team’s most powerful force. Seager leads the Dodgers with a .297 average, 105 hits, 17 home runs, 22 doubles, 60 runs and a .571 slugging percentage. The 22-year old also fashioned a 19-game hitting streak, the second longest by a rookie since the team moved from Brooklyn in 1958.
“There’s really nothing he can’t do on a baseball field, and he’s really continued to get better,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s scary to think how much he’s grown and become a very, very good major league player at this stage of his career, and he’s only 22.”
Even on a team featuring Kershaw, Seager received perhaps the ultimate compliment from Roberts.
“Not to take away from anybody else on the club,” Roberts said, “but with what he does on the offensive and defensive side, yeah, he’s our best player.”
Despite Seager’s excellence, the Dodgers need their starting pitchers to last consistently beyond the sixth inning to prevent the bullpen from getting exhausted and to have any hope of overtaking the Giants.
“It’s on us, all of us, to get deeper into games,” right-hander Brandon McCarthy said. “The bullpen has been outstanding in picking us up. But in the second half, we need to do our share to take some of the load off.”