Dodgers Top The Power Rankings After Offensive Outbreak
The Dodgers’ offense ran wild over the past week resulting in an 8-2 start to the season. After scoring a ridiculous 29 runs and sweeping Colorado over the weekend, Major League Baseball gave the Dodgers the top spot in their week two power rankings.
Cody Bellinger and the #Dodgers are No. 1 in this week's MLB Power Rankings.
The #RedSox are, umm, not.
Our full 30 ?? https://t.co/MpCVIxfK2j pic.twitter.com/FjThGNrzSY
— Yahoo Sports MLB (@MLByahoosports) April 8, 2019
The Dodgers were ranked number three in baseball and number one in the National League at the start of the season. Taking the first three series of the year boosted them greatly, but the performances of the other top two teams factored in as well. The Astros are 5-5 and have just a +1 run differential on the year. The Red Sox are falling apart early on, going 3-8 with a -26 run differential.
The Dodgers have crushed 24 homeruns and scored 84 runs through their first ten games of the season. That means this offense is averaging just over eight runs per game in one of their best starts to a season. And don’t forget, they are doing this all without Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill in their starting rotation. The team leads the NL in on-base percentage, slugging, and homeruns, to name a few.
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One of the brightest spots, of course, has been the production of Cody Bellinger. Through the first ten games of the season, the now outfielder is hitting .455 across 44 at-bats and has launched seven homeruns of his own. He has also driven in 18 RBI’s which puts him as the best in baseball in both of those categories. He is also first in slugging percentage, second in OPS, and second in batting average. This certainly looks like the year Bellinger becomes the player the Dodgers need.
The lone question mark for the Dodgers has been their bullpen, and they are already working to fix that. Brock Stewart was optioned back to the minor leagues before Sunday’s game and was replaced by Dennis Santana. Santana allowed one earned runs across 2.2 innings of work in last night’s game, striking out two and walking one. When Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill make their return to the rotation, the bullpen will be replenished by Ross Stripling and Julio Urias.
The best team in baseball could get even better over the next few weeks. Could this finally be their year? DODGERS: RICH HILL WILL TEST OUT HIS INJURED KNEE THIS WEEKEND
