The first part of this series graded the Los Angeles Dodgers’ performance in the first half of the season, which—admittedly—went far more smoothly than the second half.
In the second and final part of this series, Dodgers Nation takes a dive into the Dodgers’ season and issues them a grade for their performance for each month—including factors like injury and expectations to make a decision.
How Did The Dodgers Perform in the Second Half of the Regular Season?
July 17-31: A
After limping into the All-Star break, the Dodgers came out of the rest period on a mission. They won each of their full series in the second half of July, taking sets off of the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets on the road before returning home to beat the Seattle Mariners in three games.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto logged his first regular-season complete game in the first series following the Midsummer Classic, and the Dodgers soared to an 11-game lead in the NL West by the end of the month despite losing their final game of the period to the Boston Red Sox.
After going 8-5 in the first two weeks of the second half against postseason-level opposition, the Dodgers earn an A for the final two weeks of July.
August: D
After a strong finish to July, the Dodgers entered August ready to secure the division early and have a relaxing month of September. Unfortunately, though, that didn’t happen.
They lost the first six games of the month, suffering sweeps against the Red Sox and Chicago Cubs before losing the first game of a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. They also finally won a game against the Diamondbacks, but eventually lost the series.
The Dodgers had a difficult last few weeks of the month, beating the teams they expected to beat but losing to competitive teams. They lost three of four against the Milwaukee Brewers and got swept by the Atlanta Braves before the end of the month, though they won series against the Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers.
LA had just a 90 wRC+ during the month of August, which is by far their worst mark over the course of the season. They may have finished the month just one game below .500 with a 13-14 record, but their struggles during this period warrant the worst grade on our list.
September: A-
The Dodgers somewhat found their bearings in the final month of the season, though they didn’t face much real competition. Outside of a series against the Padres in the last week of the season, which they lost, they played against the St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, the Cincinnati Reds twice, the Miami Marlins and the San Francisco Giants twice.
They had a great month, losing just the series against the Padres, Marlins and Cardinals, while posting an 18-7 record—their best month of the season. The offense finally woke up, posting the second-highest wRC+ in the league in September as the team secured the NL West with their 100-62 record.
Despite their solid month, the Dodgers still failed to beat a couple of teams they should have while beating on lower teams—and for that reason they don’t earn the full A for September.
Second-Half Grade: B-
The Dodgers had a solid second half, with the beginning and the end of the period being their brightest spots. That being said, their struggles all the way through August and their series loss against the Padres in the final month of the season sour their grade.
They reached the expected result, earning another first-place finish in the NL West, but they’ll have to be far better than they showed in the postseason if they are to win a third consecutive World Series championship this year.
