3 Things To Improve All 30 Teams — The Los Angeles Dodgers
Normally a 106–56 record would easily win your division and give you the best record in baseball. For the 2021 Dodgers, however, it was good enough for second place in the division and in baseball. They won their Wild Card game against the Cardinals and moved on to face the NL West winning Giants in the Divisional series that they won 3 games to 2. To their dismay, their reward was facing the red hot Braves in an NL Championship series matchup that they eventually lost 4 games to 2.
With what, on paper, looks to be the best roster in baseball after adding the best 1B in the game, Freddie Freeman, through free agency and bringing Clayton Kershaw back, this entry may seem a little nit picky. But there are a few nits to pick, especially one glaringly obvious one…
1. Fix Cody Bellinger
Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 4th round of the 2013 draft, Cody Bellinger has been one of the bright young stars of the game since his debut in 2017. Being named an All Star in his RotY campaign as well as in 2019 when he also won a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove award, Bellinger has had plenty of accolades in his Major League career. He currently carries a career line of .257/.346/.511 with 133 homeruns and an OPS+ of 126 over 2,434 plate appearances.
Take away 2020 and 2021 and that slash line is even higher. If you really dive deep into the numbers, he has been on a downward spiral since the middle of his 2019 MVP campaign. Since the beginning of June 2019, Cody Bellinger has hit to the tune of .222/.317/.443, which includes last year’s atrocious line of .165/.240/.302. Cody Bellinger has a problem and it needs to be fixed.
With a projected Opening Day lineup of, C Will Smith, 1B Freddie Freeman, 2B Max Muncy, SS Trea Turner, 3B Justin Turner, LF AJ Pollock, CF Chris Taylor, RF Mookie Betts, DH Cody Bellinger, this could potentially fix Bellinger’s problem. If you can get him off the field and have him only worried about hitting baseballs very far, it might clear up his hitting yips and get him back to his pre-mid-2019 production. We’ve seen what Bellinger can do. He could be a perennial MVP candidate. He just has to get back on track at the plate. Should he do that this yeat, expect another 5 wins for the Dodgers.
2. Stop Moving Gonsolin Back And Forth From Rotation To Pen
The 2022 LA Dodgers have a projected starting rotation of Walker Beuhler, Julio Urias, and Clayton Kershaw. They have brought in Andrew Heaney, Tyler Anderson, Daniel Hudson, and Danny Duffy to see which of those guys, if any, will slot in to their rotation. Dustin May was just moved to the 60-day IL yesterday as he is still recovering from TJ surgery. This leaves swing man Tony Gonsolin.
Debuting on June 26, 2019, Gonsolin has pitched in 35 games, 27 of those as a starting pitcher, in which he has performed much better. When throwing the first pitch of the game, Gonsolin has a career line of a 2.55 ERA with 126 strikeouts over 120 innings and a 1.058 WHIP. Compare that to his line as a reliever of a 4.43 ERA with 22 strikeouts over 22.1 innings and a 1.254 WHIP over 8 relief appearances. Both are still small sample sizes, but more than enough to guarantee Gonsolin a spot in the rotation. Should he strictly be used as a starter this year, expect another win.
3. Do The Opposite Of Point 2 With Tyler Anderson
The Dodgers signed free agent lefty pitcher Tyler Anderson to a 1 year deal worth $8 million. The 32 year old has a career line of a 4.62 ERA and a 100 ERA+ over 623.2 innings and 117 appearance, 113 of them being starts. However, it’s those 4 relief appearances that will really catch your eye. Have I mentioned that this entry will get nit picky yet?
As a starter, Anderson holds a career ERA of 4.68 with 531 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.320 over 613 innings. When coming out of the pen in an extremely small sample size, he holds a career ERA of 0.84 with 11 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.031 over 10.2 innings. Assuming that Gonsolin gets solidified in the rotation, and that Danny Duffy gets the 5th and final spot in the rotation, the Dodgers would be well served to try Anderson as a long man or even a late inning reliever. With how small of a sample size it is, there will be no expected wins added for this point, but, should he perform as well as his previous 4 relief appearances, the Dodgers will not miss Kenley Jansen that much.
Should Bellinger figure it out at the plate again and Tony Gonsolin only be used as a starting pitcher, the Dodgers can look to add 6 wins to their 2021 total giving them a record of 112–50. This would easily win them the NL West and give them homefield advantage throughout the playoffs as it would also be the best record in baseball.
This has been the 14th entry in our series in which we take a look at all 30 teams indivdually and see what 3 things we can find to help them improve upon their 2021 seasons. Previous entries include the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Atlanta Braves, the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox, the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Guardians, the Colorado Rockies, the Detroit Tigers, the Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Follow me on Twitter @TroyBrock1993 for updates and other sports musings. Next up is the Miami Marlins!
