Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I guess Shohei Ohtani is human after all.<\/p>\n
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By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n I\u2019m writing this on Tuesday evening because my youngest daughter, Hannah, whom I\u2019ve mentioned numerous times in this newsletter, is getting married this weekend. I won\u2019t be able to do a newsletter for next Monday, and I didn\u2019t want everyone to wait a week and a half for the next newsletter. <\/p>\n So, hopefully nothing huge happened on Wednesday. But if it did, and it\u2019s not mentioned here, now you know why.<\/p>\n Heading into Wednesday\u2019s game, Shohei Ohtani was hitless since April 27. That\u2019s a long time without a hit. So what happened?<\/p>\n Our Dodgers beat reporter, Maddie Lee, wrote about this after Monday\u2019s game<\/a>. Some takeaways from that story, which you can read here<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u2014At one point, Ohtani was going to hit and pitch Tuesday, but the Dodgers changed their mind Monday and had him only pitch.<\/p>\n \u2014\u201cDefinitely not results,\u201d Dave Roberts said of how he made that decision. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit more body language and just watching the player. \u2026 We\u2019ve certainly enjoyed the fruits of him doing [both], which he will continue to, at times. But I think for me, it\u2019s a start by start kind of read-and-react situation.\u201d <\/p>\n \u2014Ohtani: \u201cI do feel like over the course of my career it\u2019s just a reality that I\u2019m not exactly hitting at the best of my ability at this time of year,\u201d Ohtani said last week through interpreter Will Ireton. \u201cAt the same time, as a player, I do want to be better and get to that position where I\u2019m feeling really good. It\u2019s a balancing act of the two.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014Ohtani has become pull-happy. He was hitting the ball to the right side 53.4% of the time entering Monday, compared to 43.2% last season, according to Statcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014\u201cIt\u2019s more about timing and feel for him, backing up the baseball,\u201d hitting coach Aaron Bates said. \u201cWhen he gathers correctly and hits through the baseball, obviously we\u2019ve seen what he\u2019s capable of doing. But just kind of managing his at-bats right now, trying to get to the big part of the park.\u201d<\/p>\n As of right now, this is Ohtani\u2019s worst offensive season since 2020, when he hit .197. Let\u2019s take a look at his OPS+ numbers since he began playing:<\/p>\n 2018: 151 Even in the midst of this slump, Ohtani is 31% better than league average this season. Pretty amazing.<\/p>\n Does Ohtani slump early in the season? Let\u2019s look at his numbers per month in his career:<\/p>\n March\/April: .293\/.369\/.559 He usually hits fine this time of year. Of course, this season he is also trying to pitch full time. But he hit fine when he was a full-time pitcher with the Angels. Sometimes, players just go through slumps. There\u2019s no reason to believe Ohtani won\u2019t break out of this slump. And if Ohtani went four for four with three homers Wednesday, then I reverse jinxed him.<\/p>\n Stats explained<\/p>\n Every year I get emails from readers who only follow the Dodgers and not baseball in general. They want to know how to calculate various stats and wondered if I could put together a glossary of terms. This seems as good a time as any to do so. Some of you, maybe most of you, probably already know these things, but there are different levels of baseball knowledge among the subscribers, so let\u2019s put us all on the same page. And if you want, you can save this newsletter to refer back to. These definitions come from mlb.com.<\/p>\n Pitching<\/p>\n GF: Games Finished. The number of times the pitcher was on the mound during the final out. <\/p>\n ERA: Earned Run Average. The number of earned runs times nine then divided by the number of Innings Pitched.<\/p>\n CG: Complete Games. When the pitcher throws the entire game without any relief.<\/p>\n SHO: Shutouts. A complete game thrown by the pitcher where the losing team did not score.<\/p>\n Saves. Earned by a pitcher when a. He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team. b. he is not the pitcher who earned the win (W). c. he meets one of the following criteria: 1. He came to the mound with a lead of three runs or fewer and pitches at least one inning. 2. He came to the mound with the tying run on base, at bat, or on deck. 3. He pitches effectively for at least three innings.<\/p>\n IP: Innings Pitched. A pitcher with 4.2 innings pitched had four full innings then retired two batters in his fifth inning of work.<\/p>\n ER: Earned Runs. Earned runs are those which scored without the aid of an error, a catcher\u2019s interference call, or a passed ball.<\/p>\n R: Runs Allowed. A total number of runs, earned or not earned, that scored.<\/p>\n K: A strikeout by the pitcher.<\/p>\n Balks. A call against the pitcher for making an illegal motion that the umpire views as an attempt to deceive a baserunner.<\/p>\n Hold. Awarded to a relief pitcher who enters with the lead, retires at least one batter, and does not relinquish the lead.<\/p>\n K\/BB: Strikeouts to Base on Balls Ratio. Strikeouts divided by base on balls.<\/p>\n K\/9: Strikeouts per nine innings. The number of strikeouts averaged during every nine innings of work. Strikeouts times nine divided by innings pitched.<\/p>\n BB\/9: Walks per nine innings. The number of walks averaged during every nine innings of work. Calculated as walks times nine divided by innings pitched.<\/p>\n ERA+: A pitcher\u2019s ERA adjusted to reflect home ballpark and league average. A pitcher with an ERA+ of 100 is a league average pitcher. An ERA+ of 110 means the pitcher\u2019s ERA is 10% better than the league average. An ERA+ of 90 means that the pitcher\u2019s ERA is 10% worse than the league mean. <\/p>\n FIP: Fielding Independent Pitching. FIP is similar to ERA, but it focuses solely on the events a pitcher has the most control over: Strikeouts, walks, hit-by-pitches and home runs. <\/p>\n For example: If a pitcher has surrendered a high average on balls in play, his FIP will likely be lower than his ERA. Balls in play are not part of the FIP equation because a pitcher is believed to have limited control over their outcome.<\/p>\n The formula: The \u201cFIP constant\u201d puts FIP onto the same scale as the entire league\u2019s ERA: ((HR x 13) + (3 x (BB + HBP)) – (2 x K)) \/ IP + FIP constant.<\/p>\n Hitting<\/p>\n AB: At-bats. Number of times a player batted, excluding walks, sacrifices, catcher interference, or being hit by a pitch.<\/p>\n Plate appearances: The number of times a player batted.<\/p>\n Runs Batted In. Given to a a batter when a runner scores due to a base hit, a sacrifice, being hit by a pitch, during an infield out (but not during a double play), or a fielder\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n Sacrifice Fly. A fly ball hit with less than two outs, fair or foul, that is caught but allows one or more baserunners to tag up and score.<\/p>\n Batting Average. The player\u2019s total number of hits divided by their total number of at-bats.<\/p>\n OB%: On Base Percentage. Determines what percentage of a player\u2019s plate appearances resulted in him reaching base safely. Calculated by adding hits, walks and hit by pitch then dividing that by the player\u2019s at-bats, walks, sacrifice flies and hit by pitch.<\/p>\n SLG%: Slugging Percentage. Calculated by taking the total bases (singles + 2 x doubles + 3 x triples + 4 x home runs) then dividing it by the number of at-bats.<\/p>\n AB\/HR: At-Bats per Home Runs. Calculated by dividing the number of at-bats by home runs.<\/p>\n AB\/K: At-Bats per Strikeouts. Calculated by dividing the number of at-bats by strikeouts.<\/p>\n OPS: On-Base Plus Slugging. On-base percentage added to slugging percentage. <\/p>\n OPS+: OPS adjusted to reflect league and ballpark conditions, like ERA+ for pitchers. OPS+ is scaled so that 100 is a league average player. Formula: 100 x (OBP\/lgOBP + SLG\/lgSLG – 1)<\/p>\n BABIP: Batting Average on Balls in Play. BABIP measures a player\u2019s batting average exclusively on balls hit into the field of play, removing outcomes not affected by the opposing defense (namely home runs and strikeouts).<\/p>\n For example, a hitter who goes two for five with a home run and a strikeout would have a .333 BABIP. He\u2019s one for three on the balls he put in play.<\/p>\n The formula: (H – HR)\/(AB – K – HR + SF)<\/p>\n BABIP can be used to provide some context when evaluating both pitchers and hitters. The league average BABIP is typically around .300. Pitchers who have allowed a high BABIP is considered to be pitching with \u201cbad luck.\u201d Over time, they\u2019ll see fewer balls in play fall for hits, and therefore experience better results in terms of run prevention. The same applies for batters who have seen a high or low percentage of their balls in play drop in for hits.<\/p>\n Up next<\/p>\n Friday: Atlanta (*-Chris Sale, 6-1, 2.14 ERA) at Dodgers (Emmet Sheehan, 2-1, 5.23 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020<\/p>\n Saturday: Atlanta (Spencer Strider, 0-0, 8.10 ERA) at Dodgers (Roki Sasaki, 1-3, 5.97), 6:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020<\/p>\n Sunday: Atlanta (JR Ritchie, 1-0, 3.63 ERA) at Dodgers (*-Justin Wrobleski, 5-0, 1.25 ERA), 1:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020<\/p>\n All times Pacific<\/p>\n *-left-handed<\/p>\n In case you missed it<\/p>\n Shohei Ohtani is mired in a hitless streak. Here\u2019s what the Dodgers are doing to fix it<\/a><\/p>\n How a onetime top Dodgers prospect became an advisor to four U.S. presidents<\/a><\/p>\n And finally<\/p>\n Vin Scully tells a story about a childhood prank. Watch and listen here<\/a>. <\/p>\n Until next time…<\/p>\n Have a comment or something you\u2019d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com<\/a>. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I guess Shohei…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[10662,4017,426,10663,10665,423,2134,1049,10664,10666,48,52,51,47,50,49,10250,278,428,687,72],"class_list":["post-304330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-batting","tag-contract","tag-dodgers","tag-double","tag-era","tag-game","tag-good-team","tag-hit","tag-homer","tag-ip","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-ohtani","tag-season","tag-start","tag-walk","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
2019: 121
2020: 79
2021: 157
2022: 144
2023: 185
2024: 181
2025: 187
2026: 131<\/p>\n
May: .261\/.355\/.541
June: .316\/.413\/.721
July: .248\/.361\/.543
August: .272\/.365\/.537
Sept\/Oct.: .294\/.391\/.582<\/p>\n