Last year, there were only two qualified hitters in Major League Baseball who had a .300 batting average and .500 slugging percentage.
Through the 14 games this season, the Dodgers are just about doing it as an entire team.
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After a 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, it’s becoming hard to keep track of all the statistical superlatives the club’s superstar lineup is setting.
Just to name a few, here are the categories in which they currently lead the majors:
–– Batting average: .297. Next closest: The Houston Astros at .281.
–– Slugging percentage: .507. Next closest: The Astros at .462.
–– Home runs: 27. Next closest: The Atlanta Braves with 20.
–– OPS: .879. Next closest: The Astros at .839.
–– Runs per game: 6.4. Next closest: The Astros at 6.1.
Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff home run. AP
All that, despite the Dodgers producing just one run over their final five trips to the plate Saturday.
Teoscar Hernández bumped his average up to .306 with his 2-for-4 showing. Getty Images
Behind a solid six-inning, three-run start from Emmet Sheehan, and three scoreless from the bullpen (which turned to Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia to close out the game, after Edwin Díaz threw 23 pitches in a three-run blown save Friday), the Dodgers prevailed on the strength of their early scoring, tagging Rangers starter Jack Leiter with five runs in a laborious first three innings.
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Rangers leadoff man Brandon Nimmo went deep two pitches into the game, blasting a solo home run to center.
But the Dodgers (11-3) answered right back in the bottom of the first, when Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff home run of his own –– his fourth long ball this season and first at Dodger Stadium –– and Teoscar Hernández uncorked a three-run blast later in the inning.
The lead would eventually grow to 5-1 after another run in the third –– this one set up by walks from Will Smith and Max Muncy (the latter in a marathon 11-pitch, seven-foul-ball at-bat).
Emmet Sheehan had a solid six-inning, three-run start. AP
Then, despite some missed opportunities the rest of the night, and another home run from Nimmo that got the Rangers (7-7) back within two, the Dodgers put the game on ice in the eighth, when Hernández doubled and scored on a single from Andy Pages; his MLB-leading 17th RBI of the season.
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What it means
The scariest part of the Dodgers’ early offensive outburst?
They still don’t even have all of their best hitters clicking.
Instead, the team is relying on quality at-bats throughout the order to generate consistent scoring. On Saturday, they forced Leiter to throw 93 pitches in his 3 ⅔ inning start.
“We’re really taking good at-bats. And even some of the guys that haven’t gotten going, they will,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s nice when everyone’s not firing on all cylinders, but one through nine, I see a good team offensive approach.”
Who’s hot
Indeed, for all the team-wide success at the plate, there are only two Dodgers regulars currently batting better than .300.
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One of them is Pages, whose .442 average remains the best in MLB after a 1-for-3 performance with a walk Saturday.
The other, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, is Hernández, who bumped his average up to .306 with his 2-for-4 showing in the victory.
The slugger’s first-inning homer came on a vintage Hernández swing, staying inside an inner-half changeup from Leiter and launching it 393 feet to left field. His double in the eighth inning also went to the left-field gap, a sign he is starting to dial in his swing.
“I think it’s getting a good pitch to hit,” Hernández said. “The timing has been there. The pitch selection has been there. Just missing a couple pitches that I should have hit. But definitely it’s been great so far.”
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Who’s not
All offseason, the Dodgers said they didn’t need Kyle Tucker, believing that –– even if they didn’t ultimately sign him, as they did to a $240 million deal in January –– their offense would be fine.
Lately, that theory has been put to the test.
While Tucker is not the only big bat still grinding through some early struggles, his recent slump has become the most pronounced. With a 0-for-4 performance Saturday, he now has just four hits in his last 20 at-bats. For the season, his average is down to .250 while his OPS is below .700.
Up next
The Dodgers and Rangers conclude their weekend series Sunday afternoon. Roki Sasaki will start for the Dodgers, looking to bounce back from his five-inning, six-run clunker against the Nationals last week. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom will go for the Rangers, entering with a 3.72 ERA in his first two outings.
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