May 23rd, 2019 at 10:00 am 
by 0799291000348 “Thanks for the insight, Captain Obvious,” or “Duh” might be appropriate retorts to this title; after all, the Dodgers are leading the National League with a win-loss record of 32-18, a full nine games better than their 2018 record after 50 games.
The Dodgers offense leads the NL in runs (257), runs batted in (248), walks (205); and is second in slugging percentage (.446), home runs (77), and on-base plus slugging (OPS .787).
The pitching staff leads the NL with a combined earned run average of 3.47, lowest batting average against (.224), and fewest walks issued (114).
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
But what makes the 2019 Dodgers scary good to the rest of the National League is that they can actually play better than their current record reflects. How so, you ask? When you consider that the Dodgers bullpen has blown eight saves – eight – through their first 50 games, they could be 40-10, which would be very scary good.
Now granted, no team is ever perfect in the “saves” category, but had the Dodgers even half of those blown-save opportunities, their record would be 36-14 and they would be leading the NL West by 10 games instead of only six.
Dodgers All-Star closer Kenley Jansen (2-1 / 3.80 ERA / 14 Saves) has looked much better of late, as has Joe Kelly (1-2 / 7.79 ERA / 0 Saves), and Caleb Ferguson (0-1 / 4.60 ERA / 0 Saves) just returned from the Injured List. Tony Cingrani, who has yet to pitch in a major league game this season, is rehabbing with the Triple-A OKC Dodgers and is nearly ready to return from the IL. And then, of course, there is Julio Urias (2-2 / 3.18 ERA / 2 Saves), who was just reinstated from administrative leave for his domestic batter incident.
It is unlikely that Cody Bellinger will maintain his current torrid offensive-pace for the rest of the season (but we can hope), but Justin Turner appears to have found his offensive grove and Corey Seager is just starting to get his swing back. As for rookie Alex Verdugo, he is the real deal, and veteran AJ Pollock is slated to return from the IL after the 2019 All Star break. Joc Pederson continues to hammer right-handed pitching (1.047 OPS).
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
And Heaven forbid, should they need it, there is help available at OKC, where Gold Glove-caliber catcher Will Smith is slashing .281 / .400 / .555 / .955, and recently-called-up Matt Beaty demonstrated that he can flat-out hit.
Yeah, the Dodgers are good.
Scary good.
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Posted in 
Dodgers this season are clearly a better team than they were two years ago and if they finally get their bullpen straightened out in terms of specific roles outside of Jansen’s closer spot, they JUST might get it done this time. Gonna be interesting what the front office focus will be on when the non-waiver deadline finally rolls around…
On a sidenote, might be time for Gavin Lux to make his way to AAA OKC right now. Had one of those career-defining games at the plate yesterday where he almost went 5-for-5 and is currently posting a very telling .314/.372/.575/.947 slash line so far for AA Tulsa (including a .379 avg against lefties to boot) with 10 HR and 26 RBI.
I am confident that Dodgers will upgrade the bull pen sooner than later. Coincidence that Andrew Friedman is on the trip with the team? I don’t think so. Reds Iglesias; Rays Stanek; or either Liriano, or Vasquez of the Pirates? I have hoped that Dodgers would find a way to acquire Stanek for a couple of years; I think he would be a terrific guy to put at the back end of the bull pen. I agree with Lux moving up; perhaps Mann, Downs, or even Vargas moving to AA Tulsa.
I’ve coveted Vasquez ever since he came into his own back in 2017 and if there’s ONE candidate that could possibly take over for Jansen when the time comes, it’s him. Not sure what the Pirates would be asking for in a deal, but I know he won’t come “cheap” now that his profile has risen considerably since then. Stanek’s a nice option to ponder as well and Tampa Bay’s been one of the Dodgers’ main trading partners, anyway.
And of those three you mentioned possibly stepping in to fill the void left by Lux should he finally get promoted to AAA OKC REAL soon, Mann’s the one I’d roll with. His bat was never in question and has already begun to drive the ball out of the yard with more regularity of late. Downs still needs a bit more time to put all his tools together and Vargas should probably be in Rancho by now, but might have to wait until after the Draft is taken care of for that to happen. Vargas is truly legit and if he finally starts tapping into his raw power anytime soon, he’s gonna be Top 10 material on the Dodger prospect list by season’s end.
I often get asked if the Dodgers have a REAL second baseman at Triple-A OKC. My answer is always “Not yet, but they will soon,” meaning, of course, Gavin Lux.
Kiké, Taylor, and Muncy are NOT second baseman – period.
It’s been said a few times – even by Dave Roberts – that Lux could very well be playing with the big league club THIS season … along with Dustin May.
Fingers crossed.
It will take some innovative roster shuffling to add Lux, and not effect Verdugo’s playing time when Pollock returns; but I am all for it.
Ron, you are certainly correct that Muncy, CT3 and Kike are not true 2B but Kike is doing well defensively there. But compared to what Lux may ultimately be, it’s not even close. Now the only problem with Lux, as I see it is if Roberts and his puppet master upstairs make him into a marginal platoon player or force him to play everywhere on the diamond on a daily basis.
No offense, but I don’t understand your angst toward the Dodgers front office and Dave Roberts. Players who have demonstrated that they can hit effectively against all pitching play regularly, those that don’t are platooned which gives the team the best opportunity to win — and isn’t winning the bottom line results Dodgers fans desire? For me, I hope Friedman and Roberts complete their respective careers as Dodgers.
Jesse, many others have voiced similar concerns and for one thing, yes ya be correct with saying those who can hit both sides will play regularly but that’s still few and far between right now. I would love to see more players RH or LH who CAN be consistent against both hands, but many occasions we have seen Dodgers not allow players to do as such. Last year in the WS we were no match for Boston, and a huge reason, besides the 8 HR’s the pitching served up in 5 games, Dodgers were basically filling a lineup full of platoon players as opposed to what Boston was able to put out there for the series…guys who WERE good against both sides of a pitcher. Well in that series, Dodgers did struggle against their LHP. If you can also recall in those first 2 games, many fans I read on here and other blogs commented on how in the world would Roberts sit some big bats due to a LHP going. If I recall between Joc, Muncy and Bellinger there were 85 HR’s sitting on the bench in those games and fans were commenting about that. I just don’t believe Dodgers or any team can expect to win that grand prize by having a lineup full of marginally made platoon players is what I am saying.
Relief pitchers