Dodgers News: Teams Power Bats Slowly Finding Form

In their game against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers continued their recent trend of hitting for power. In the bottom of the 8th inning, catcher Yasmani Grandal smashed a home run that carried over the center field wall, giving the Dodgers a 3-2 advantage. This would turn out to be just enough of a lead, as Kenley Jansen came in and shut things down in the 9th.

Ending the game in Grand(al) fashion. ?https://t.co/bKDvuuC8Uk

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 22, 2016

Not only did this home run seal the Dodgers fifth consecutive victory, it was the 12th straight game in which the Dodgers have hit at least one home run. This sort of stretch from the team hasn’t been seen in over a decade. The team has hit 19 total homers over this stretch and has a 8-4 record to go along with it.

Dodgers have homered in 12 straight games since June 10, their longest homer streak since 12 games in May 23-June 4, 2002. (via @DodgersPR)

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 22, 2016

In the month of June, the team has 31 total home runs which is good for 4th best in the majors, behind only the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, and Toronto Blue Jays. Not only that, but the Dodgers are the top team this month for home runs in the NL. This has to be an exciting turn of events for fans, as for the season on the whole, the team ranks a very pedestrian 17th in the majors with 82 home runs.

The team currently owns a record of 40-33, which would be good for the first National League Wild Card spot, but they still sit 5.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants for first place in the NL West. Despite the recent success, the teams offense has been largely inconsistent this season and many players who the Dodgers thought would be lynchpins of the offense have been MIA.

However, it appears that things are finally turning around for the team as key cogs have seemingly found their footing at the plate. Howie Kendrick, after a painfully slow start to the season due to a stint on the DL, has slashed .350/.409/.550 over the last week while becoming increasingly comfortable in his adopted home of left field.

Speaking of nice plays…

How about this catch from Howie in the seventh?! ? pic.twitter.com/mW4yh4BQud

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 22, 2016

But, the real revelation has been Justin Turner. Over the last week, Turner has four home runs, nine RBI’s and owns a slash line of .400/.429/.880. In addition to this, he has an absurd OPS of 1.309, which is incredibly encouraging for fans who expected big things from the Dodgers three hole hitter.

While no one would mistake this current team for the ’27 Yankees, this recent uptick in power is hopefully a sign of good things to come. If players such as Turner and Kendrick can continue this kind of production, with Yasiel Puig returning to go along with the youngsters brigade of Joc Pederson, Trayce Thompson and Corey Seager, the team will be in very good shape.

The Dodgers finish up their series with the Nationals Wednesday night, with first pitch set for 7:10 PM PST. Julio Urias (0-2, 4.50 ERA) is set to take the mound against Joe Ross (6-4 3.13 ERA).