LA Dodgers 2015 Preview

As the 2015 Major League Baseball season approaches, signs point to this year as a good season to be a LA Dodgers fan. The organization made the move to bring in former Oakland Athletics’ GM, Farhan Zaidi back in November, and are primed for another run this coming season.

The new general manager, along with the new president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman have had a very active off season thus far for their new club. After letting disgruntled shortstop Hanley Ramirez leave in free agency, they also agreed to pay $30 million of Matt Kemp’s salary in order to send the temperamental outfielder south to the San Diego Padres. In addition to those moves, they also traded for shortstop Jimmy Rollins and second baseman Howie Kendrick, two solid veterans with high character qualities that will pay dividends in the locker room. They also made a couple moves that many considered questionable, like the signing of Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson, who are both talented pitchers but who have struggled with injuries throughout most their careers. Regardless, both should help bolster the back end of the Dodgers rotation this season.

Besides the new additions, LA is also returning some of the biggest star players in the game, Clayton Kershaw and Yasiel Puig. Kershaw is well on his way to becoming a living legend as he became only the third starting pitcher in the history of the game to lead their league in ERA for four straight seasons, and there’s little reason to doubt that he can make this season his fifth straight in leading the league in ERA.

Backing up Kershaw in the outfield is arguably the most dynamic player in the game today, Yasiel Puig. The exciting and explosive Cuban-born player continues to be one of the most entertaining players in the league. With his rocket arm that can throw runners out at home from the warning track, his blazing speed which makes any gap single into a potential double, and his acrobatic catches he makes on a routine basis, Puig is quickly becoming one of the best all-around players in the game.

With some new faces running the show this season for the Dodgers, and some solid additions to their club, the Dodgers are once again expected to be right in the thick of things come playoff time of the 2015 baseball season. Plenty of story lines to look forward to this year, especially Kershaw’s attempt to go for his fifth straight season leading the league in ERA. It’s a great year to be a fan of LA Dodgers baseball, and we look forward to another successful campaign for the upcoming season.

This article was brought you by the handicapping experts at Sports Information Traders. For 2015 MLB Picks and predictions as well as sports betting tips to help you get through this years Major League Baseball season.

NLCS Preview, Tim Lincecum

Tim Lincecum's 2010 Vegas Storyline ..

The Giants are likely to be sent off by the oddsmakers as a rather large underdog in Game #1 against the Phillies. The opening line gives the Giants a 37.7% win probability. You may wonder how many times Tim Lincecum has been an underdog in games he has pitched in this year, and have the Giants ever been this big of an underdog with Lincecum starting?

To answer this question I pulled up my 2010 MLB odds database for a detailed look. On August 21st, mired in a bit of a pitching slump, Tim Lincecum took to the hill in St Louis facing off against none other than Chris Carpenter. The closing line had the Giants win probability at 39.37% in a game that the Cardinals won. So this Game #1 start against the Phillies will likely be the largest underdog the Giants have been this season in a Tim Lincecum started game. That does make some sense though, as he is facing off against Roy Halladay, a potent Phillies offense, all while on the road.

Below is a more detailed look at how Vegas handicapped all of Tim Lincecum's 2010 starts, plus the results. Please keep in mind I missed two weeks worth of June games while I was vacationing in China, so those games are not included.

Date	Visitors	Home	Probable Pitching Matchup	Giants Win Prob	Actual
4/11	Braves	Giants	K.Kawakami vs T.Lincecum	65.87%	Win
4/17	Giants	Dodgers	T.Lincecum vs C.Haeger	60.78%	Win
4/23	Cardinals	Giants	J.Garcia vs T.Lincecum	61.98%	Win
4/28	Phillies	Giants	C.Hamels vs T.Lincecum	61.83%	Loss
5/4	Giants	Marlins	T.Lincecum vs A.Sanchez	62.83%	Win
5/9	Giants	Mets	T.Lincecum vs O.Perez	64.79%	Win
5/19	Astros	Giants	R.Oswalt vs T.Lincecum	68.15%	Win
5/20	Giants	DBacks	T.Lincecum vs R.Lopez	62.69%	Loss
5/26	Nationals	Giants	L.Atilano vs T.Lincecum	72.97%	Loss
5/31	Rockies	Giants	U.Jimenez vs T.Lincecum	50.50%	Loss
6/6	Giants	Pirates	T.Lincecum vs R.Ohlendorf	65.64%	Win
7/2	Giants	Rockies	T.Lincecum vs J.Chacin	54.95%	Loss
7/7	Giants	Brewers	T.Lincecum vs C.Narveson	56.52%	Win
7/15	Mets	Giants	R.Dickey vs T.Lincecum	63.24%	Win
7/20	Giants	Dodgers	T.Lincecum vs C.Kershaw	46.30%	Win
7/25	Giants	DBacks	T.Lincecum vs B.Enright	57.98%	Win
7/30	Dodgers	Giants	C.Monasterios vs T.Lincecum	63.90%	Win
8/5	Giants	Braves	T.Lincecum vs J.Jurrjens	51.22%	Loss
8/10	Cubs	Giants	R.Dempster vs T.Lincecum	63.64%	Loss
8/15	Padres	Giants	W.LeBlanc vs T.Lincecum	63.90%	Loss
8/21	Giants	Cardinals	T.Lincecum vs C.Carpenter	39.37%	Loss
8/27	DBacks	Giants	B.Enright vs T.Lincecum	64.16%	Loss
9/1	Rockies	Giants	U.Jimenez vs T.Lincecum	46.51%	Win
9/7	Giants	DBacks	T.Lincecum vs B.Enright	54.13%	Win
9/12	Giants	Padres	T.Lincecum vs M.Latos	42.74%	Win
9/18	Brewers	Giants	Y.Gallardo vs T.Lincecum	58.51%	Loss
9/24	Giants	Rockies	T.Lincecum vs J.Chacin	45.25%	Win
9/29	DBacks	Giants	I.Kennedy vs T.Lincecum	66.10%	Win

The average win probability of games that Tim Lincecum started was 58.44% and the actual win percentage for the Giants in games that Tim Lincecum started was 60.71%.

Dodgers / White Sox, Series Preview

Hitting:

	AVE	OBP	SLG	OPS	wOBA	RAR MLB Rank
Dodgers	.279	.358	.408	.766	.339	8th
White Sox	.282	.324	.399	.722	.319	25th

Skinny: Over the course of the season, the Dodgers have had a much better offense than the White Sox. When you look at the offenses over the month of June, the two offenses are pretty similar as the Dodgers once sizzling offense has come back down to earth. During the month of June, the Dodgers have an OPS of .702 and a wOBA of .312, while the White Sox have had an OPS of .715 and a wOBA of .319.

Starting Pitching:
The White Sox starting pitching has been solid this year, posting a WAR of 6.55. Meanwhile the Dodgers starting staff is not too far behind, with a WAR of 5.97. Up to this point the trio of Gavin Floyd, Mark Buehrle and John Danks have carried the White Sox starting pitching staff. Of the three, only Danks and Floyd could be considered strikeout pitchers. Let's take a look at the pitching matchups for the upcoming series.

Date	Pitcher	IP	W-L	ERA	FIP	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	BABIP	GB/FB Ratio
6/23	Hiroki Kuroda	28.0	1-3	3.86	3.71	6.75	2.25	0.96	.266	1.56
6/23	John Danks	74.1	5-5	4.48	4.06	8.48	3.15	1.21	.314	1.27
6/24	Randy Wolf	93.0	3-2	3.29	4.02	6.68	2.71	1.06	.260	0.79
6/24	Gavin Floyd	89.0	4-5	4.65	3.80	7.38	3.44	0.81	.307	1.30
6/25	Chad Billingsley	98.2	9-3	2.83	3.00	8.76	4.01	0.27	.300	1.21
6/25	Jose Contreras	51.2	2-6	5.23	4.32	5.23	3.31	0.87	.289	1.34

H.Kuroda vs J.Danks
White Sox followers would like you to believe that Danks is their hard throwing left handed version of Clayton Kershaw. Danks is a few years older than Kershaw, so the comparison has it's limitations, but nonetheless Danks is a good young LHP. Danks is coming off of a 7 inning, 7 strike-out, 0 runs performance against the Cubs. Kuroda has been pretty solid since his return from the DL, though he did get touched up for two homeruns in his last start vs the A's. The White Sox should be slight favorites to win this game as Danks is a solid pitcher and the White Sox are playing at home.

Randy Wolf vs Gavin Floyd
Gavin Floyd has been having a productive season for the White Sox so far. His biggest surprise has been the uptick in his K/9, which is currently sitting at 7.38, a full strikeout above his seasonal projection. Floyd's FIP sits at 3.80, quite a bit lower than his ERA of 4.65. Randy Wolf enters the series with an ERA of 3.29 and a shoe box full of no-decisions. Many of Randy's stats point to the ERA of 3.29 being a bit on the lucky side (Wolf Stat's, FIP: 4.02, BABIP: .260, LOB%: 76.4%). The White Sox should once again be slight favorites to win this game.

C.Billingsley vs J.Contreras
Contreras, the 37 year old veteran who recently made it back into the White Sox starting rotation hasn't pitched as bad as his ERA of 5.23 would indicate. Contreras has been hampered by some bad luck to the tune of a 60% LOB%. Which means that other teams are getting an unfair share of clutch hits against him. Contreras hasn't lost much velocity off of his fastball as he has aged, but tends to throw a lot more sliders and a lot less split fingered fastballs than he did back in his more successful Yankees days. Billingsley has been rock solid this year. His BB/9 (4.01) is up a little bit this year, but it's being offset by his low HR/9 of 0.27. Chances are, the series will be tied up going into this game, setting the Dodgers up for a good opportunity to take 2 out of 3 from another AL team.

Bullpen:
Both teams have very good bullpens. The difference being that each team has gotten it's value out of different roles. The Dodgers best relief pitcher is Jonathan Broxton, who is one of the best closers in all of baseball. Ronald Belisario and Ramon Troncoso have been solid in making sure that Broxton gets the ball in a save situation. The White Sox on the otherhand, have been getting the best performances from setup men Matt Thornton (FIP: 2.42, K/9: 11.96) and lower leverage innings pitcher D.J. Carrasco, who is a ground ball machine. Below, let's take a look at a table that lists the average leverage index that each relief pitcher from both teams enters the game with. I do this, to get an idea of how each manager uses his bullpen. I am looking at the last 30 days!

Dodgers	J.Broxton (1.59)	R.Troncoso (1.51)	R.Belisario (1.23)	C.Wade (1.01)	G.Mota (0.77)	B.Leach (0.68)
White Sox	M.Thornton (1.54)	B.Jenks (1.53)	O.Dotel (1.22)	S.Linebrink (1.01)	D.Carrasco (0.64)	J.Gobble (0.40)	J.Poreda (0.23)

Defense:
Both teams are average fielding teams, though they do have their share of good and bad fielders. For the White Sox, Jayson Nix who has played 2B, 3B, SS, LF and RF has been the best defender, along with first baseman Paul Konerko. For the Dodgers CF-Matt Kemp is among the league leaders in UZR, and SS-Rafael Furcal ranks high among the leagues shortstops. For the White Sox, you won't see too many good defensive plays out of RF-Jermaine Dye (UZR: -7.2), 3B-Josh Fields (UZR: -5.7, when he does play) and 2B-Chris Getz (UZR: -4.7). The Dodgers have been getting suspect defense out of RF-Andre Either (UZR: -12.4 Lack of range and poor arm) and 2B-Orlando Hudson (UZR: -3.5 Lack of range).

Dodgers / Angels, Series Preview

Hitting:

	AVE	OBP	SLG	OPS	wOBA	RAR MLB Rank
Dodgers	.277	.356	.404	.760	.337	9th
Angels	.282	.342	.429	.770	.339	10th

Skinny: Two pretty evenly matched offenses. The Dodgers do a better job of drawing walks and getting on base, and the Angels do a better job of slugging the ball. The Dodgers offense has been on a down swing. The Dodgers wOBA in the month of June has been .294, while the Angels come in at a .361 clip. The Dodgers BABIP has steadily been heading south, their once mighty BABIP of .340 has dwindled to a more realistic .325, thanks in part to a June BABIP of .264.

Starting Pitching:
The Angels starting rotation has done a great job considering all the injuries and tragic events that have happened so far this year. The Angels starters have been 6.1 wins above replacement level, good enough for a ranking of 7th in MLB. The Dodgers starters on the other hand, have been 5.6 wins above replacement level, coming in 13th best in MLB. Let's preview this weekends starting pitching matchups.

Date	Pitcher	IP	W-L	ERA	FIP	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	BABIP	GB/FB Ratio
6/19	C.Billingsley	92.2	9-3	2.72	2.92	9.03	3.79	0.29	.300	1.31
6/19	J.Saunders	86.0	7-4	3.66	4.63	4.92	2.62	1.07	.269	1.17
6/20	Jeff Weaver	29.0	3-1	3.72	4.24	6.21	4.66	0.62	.312	1.11
6/20	Jared Weaver	90.2	7-2	2.08	3.30	7.35	2.48	0.69	.245	0.64
6/21	C.Kershaw	69.2	3-5	4.13	3.84	9.04	5.43	0.65	.275	0.99
6/21	J.Lackey	38.1	2-2	6.10	4.32	6.57	1.88	1.17	.370	1.50

C.Billingsley vs J.Saunders
This is the only pitching matchup where the Dodgers have the clear cut edge. Billingsley has blossomed into one of the National Leagues best pitchers. Saunders on the other hand is pretty average but could give some of the Dodgers left handed hitters (Loney, Ethier, Pierre) trouble.

Jeff Weaver vs Jared Weaver
A historical brother vs brother matchup, or should I call it Jeff Spicoli vs little brother. The last time two brothers started against each other was back in 2002 when Andy and Alan Benes faced each other (Hat tip: Dodgers49 via DodgerThoughts). Big bro Jeff has been pitching on fumes but has done reasonably well so far this year. But little brother Jared will help make the Angels a solid favorite to win this game. Jared has been a little lucky, limiting opponents to a BABIP of only .245.

Clayton Kershaw vs John Lackey
The outcome of this game is very unpredictable. Lacky coming off of an injury that has limited him to just over 38 innings has been pretty bad so far this year. But we all know the track history of Lackey, who was one of the AL's best pitchers last year. The big question with Kershaw every start has been, which Kershaw will show up, the good one or the bad one. Kershaw is getting more consistent these days, and all arrows point towards a very high early pitch count, lots of strikeouts and a handful of walks. You can pretty much count on Kershaw to pitch right around 5 innings. Clayton, don't be afraid to throw the curve ball for a strike to right handed hitters!

Bullpen:
If you have been following the Angels and Dodgers closely this year, this is where you will find the biggest talent gap between the two teams. The Angels bullpen has been pretty bad, though closer Brian Fuentes has a good stranglehold on 9th inning leads of late. Master of the blown save, Jose "Dog Food" Arredondo was recently sent packing to the minor leagues which can't hurt. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have one of (if not the) best closer in all of baseball in Jonathan Broxton. Broxton has been nursing a sore toe and has missed the past two games and his availability is day to day. Relievers Ramon Troncoso and Ronald Belisario have done a great job of protecting late inning leads. If Broxton is available, the Dodgers will have the edge in any tied games that go to the bullpen.

Defense:
Just a lot of ho-hum here. Both teams are middle of the pack defensively. Each team has their standout fielders. For the Dodgers it's Matt Kemp, who is 6th in UZR in all of baseball and ranks first defensively for all centerfielders. Surprisingly, LF-Juan Rivera ranks 8th on the list of best UZR in all of baseball. This is probably due to the fact that there aren't too many good defensive left fielders. While CF-Torri Hunter does make many spectacular plays he rates just under league average using the UZR metric.

Know Your Enemy

Pos	Player	Skinny
C	Jeff Mathis	Worst hitting catcher in the big leagues.
C	Mike Napoli	Solid hitting catcher who packs a punch.
1B/RF	Kendry Morales	Decent power but rarely draws a walk.
1B/RF	Rob Quinlan	Defensive replacement at firstbase, nothing more.
2B/SS	Macier Izturis	Decent glove man.
2B	Sean Rodriguez	Adequate power in minors, but strikes out way too much.
SS	Erick Aybar	Slightly below league average SS, most value from glove.
3B	Chone Figgins	Speedy, hits for average, gets on base and sustains a high BABIP.
OF	Juan Rivera	Passable power, not fond of walking.
OF	Torri Hunter	Having All-Star year with the bat.
OF	Gary Matthews	A big mistake.
OF	Vladimir Guerrero	Battling through injuries this year. My knees hurt watching him run.
OF	Bobby Abreu	Typical Abreu season. Decent average, little bit of pop, and a great OBP.

A's / Dodgers, Series Preview

Defense: Not much difference between these two teams when it comes to defense. The A's come in with the MLB's 10th ranked defense (UZR) and the Dodgers come in ranked 15th. Light hitting third baseman, Jack Hanrahan leads the A's defense and Rajai Davis (mostly for his arm) and Matt Holliday (mostly for his range) lead a slick fielding outfield. Meanwhile the Dodgers defense is buoyed by CF Matt Kemp who is having a spectacular season in the field, and SS Rafael Furcal and his cannon arm.

Offense: Even though their offense has seen some recent regression to the mean, the Dodgers still rank 6th overall. At the other end of the spectrum you find the A's offense. If their offense was a rocket, it would be buried deep underground in a bunker somewhere and the launch codes would be lost. Out of site and out of mind. The A's offense ranks dead last, an amazing 53.2 runs below average.

Starting Pitching: The Dodgers pitching staff gets a slight edge over the A's staff. The toughest starter the Dodgers will face will be LHP Dallas Braden (FIP: 3.52, K/9: 6.0, HR/9: 0.67). Braden has pitched atleast 7 innings in four of his last five starts. Josh Outman (FIP: 4.14, BABIP: .245, HR/9: 1.1, K/9 7.26) has been very hittable this year but tends to bail himself out statistically with a decent strike-out rate. A's rookie, Vince Mazzaro who has thrown 19-2/3rds innings in three starts has pitched well but has been surviving in the minors and pro ball off of the lack of HRs he has given up.

Relief Pitching: Both the Dodgers and A's have had very good relief pitching. The Dodgers have arguably the best relief pitcher in all of baseball in Jonathan Broxton. The A's on the otherhand are not a top heavy bullpen. Anyone in their bullpen is completely capable of shutting the door on an opposing teams rally, as long as their name is not Santiago Casilla (FIP: 6.54, HR/9: 2.08, BB/9: 5.82).

Notes of Interest: The A's already weak offense will now have to bat a pitcher. In their previous three road interleague games, the A's scored a total of three runs against the Giants. Amazingly, the A's only have three players hitting above league average and they are Adam Kennedy, Matt Holliday and Jack Cust. This is about as perfect an opportunity as any for Dodger starting pitching to fatten up their numbers.

Dodgers / Rangers, Series Preview

Interleague play revs up again this weekend as the Dodgers head out to hot & humid Arlington Texas for a three game series sandwiched in between two off days.

The Rangers head into the series at the top of the AL West with a 34-25 record and a 31-27 pythagorean record. The Rangers, like the Dodgers, have "made hay" by beating up on teams in their own division. The Rangers are 13-3 vs the AL West and also have an AL best 25-10 record against sub .500 teams.

The Dodgers make the scamper down to Texas with the best record in all of baseball at 39-22. The Dodgers also match the Rangers 25-10 record against sub .500 teams. The Rangers have a few key injuries, as CF-Josh Hamilton recently was added to the DL, and closer Frank Francisco is nursing a sore shoulder and is questionable for the entire series.

Texas Ranger blog Lonestar Ball notes recent Ranger offensive problems, mainly due to the lack of taking walks and the teams low rank in OBP. Hopefully, this is something that Dodger pitchers can take advantage of.


Team Comparisons... Know Your Enemy

Team	Hitting	Arm	Range R	Error R	Overall Fielding	SP	RP	Overall Pitching	Team Total
Units	RAR	MLB Rank	MLB Rank	MLB Rank	UZR	RAR	RAR	WAR	WAR
Dodgers	28.4	-4.1	-1.7	3.7	0.3	54.9	20.9	8.1	18.7
Rangers	20.1	1.2	16.9	4.2	22.6	39.0	5.1	4.3	15.3
Dodgers MLB Rank	7th	14th	17th	7th	16th	10th	8th	6th	3rd
Rangers MLB Rank	10th	14th	3rd	6th	1st	20th	20th	23rd	6th

Who's Been Hot and or Lucky Recently

Player	PA	wOBA	OPS	BABIP
A.Ethier	32	.565	1.438	.421
D.Murphy	25	.443	.962	.474
M.Kemp	29	.408	.932	.474
N.Cruz	32	.379	.915	.235

Who's Been Cold or Unlucky Recently

Player	PA	wOBA	OPS	BABIP
J.Saltalamacchia	22	.155	.325	.273
R.Martin	23	.179	.360	.200
M.Byrd	30	.228	.543	.350
C.Blake	24	.232	.523	.278

Top Three Dodgers Hitters by 2009 WAR:
1. CF-Matt Kemp 2.9
1. 2B-Orlando Hudson 1.9
3. 3B-Casey Blake 1.8

Top Three Dodgers Starting Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. *Chad Billingsley 2.5
2. *Randy Wolf 1.0
3. Clayton Kershaw 0.9

Top Three Dodgers Relief Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. Jonathan Broxton 1.8
2. Ramon Troncoso 0.7
3. Ronald Belisario 0.4

Top Three Dodgers Fielders by 2009 UZR:
1. CF-Matt Kemp 7.6
2. RF-Jamie Hoffman 2.9
3. 3B-Casey Blake 2.5

Top Three Rangers Hitters by 2009 WAR:
1. RF-Nelson Cruz 2.9
2. 2B-Ian Kinsler 2.6
3. SS-Elvis Andrus 1.4

Top Three Rangers Starting Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. Kevin Millwood 1.0
2. *Scott Feldman 0.9
3. Matt Harrison 0.8

Top Three Rangers Relief Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. Frank Francisco 0.7
2. Darren O'Day 0.4
3. Jason Jennings 0.2

Top Three Rangers Fielders by 2009 UZR:
1. RF-Nelson Cruz 10.3
2. SS-Elvis Andrus 6.0
3. 2B-Ian Kinsler 5.6

* Denotes a pitcher is pitching in this series.

Defense: Slick fielding is the apparent strength of this Texas Ranger team. Right fielder and slugger Nelson Cruz leads the way with an MLB 2nd best UZR of 10.3. Shortstop and AL ROY Leading Candidate Elvis Andrus leads all shortstops with a UZR of 7.2 and Ian Kinsler makes baseballs top 20 fielders with a UZR of 5.6. Matt Kemp and his UZR of 7.8 is the Dodgers only player in the UZR defensive top 20.

Offense: The Dodgers have seen their offense slip to 28.4 runs above replacement, as a few of their players begin their regression to the mean. But they are still good enough for a rank of 7th in the MLB. The Rangers are 10th, coming in at 20.1 runs above replacement. The Dodgers will have the luxury of using a DH in this series, and Jon Weisman predicts that Blake Dewitt should see consistent playing time due to the extra hitter.

Starting Pitching: The starting pitching matchups heavily favor the Dodgers. The Dodgers will arguably be using their three best starting pitchers (Billingsley, Wolf and Kuroda). The Rangers, best matchup will be saturday when Scott Feldman faces off with Randy Wolf.

Relief Pitching: The Dodgers will have a big advantage in any close, late inning games. The Dodgers have by far the best reliever in this series in Jonathan Broxton. Broxton leads all relief pitchers in MLB with a 2009 WAR of 1.8. Other competent options for Joe Torre out of the bullpen are, Ramon Troncoso (FIP: 2.95, HR/9: 0.00), Ronald Belisario (FIP: 3.48, K/9: 8.23, HR/9: 0.51), Cory Wade (FIP: 3.20, HR/9: 0.00) and rookie left hander Brent Leach (FIP: 2.45, K/9: 9.28, HR/9: 0.00). Frank Francisco, the only effective pitcher out of the Rangers bullpen is nursing a sore shoulder and is questionable for the series. The Rangers next best reliever, Darren O'Day has been decent (K/9: 8.05) but also very lucky (BABIP: .262, LOB% 88.0%). Temporary closer C.J. Wilson has been very liberal with his walks (BB/9: 4.44, FIP: 4.59).

Notes of Interest: The most difficult part of watching this series will be when most hated former Dodger Andruw Jones comes up to bat. Jones, a total bust for the Dodgers has actually been hitting pretty well for the Rangers in limited action.

Park Factors: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Year	Runs	HR	H	2B	3B	BB
2009	1.172	1.064	1.123	1.248	3.250	1.160
2008	1.142	1.229	1.070	1.042	2.227	1.030
2007	0.979	1.000	1.024	0.943	1.652	0.945

Source: ESPN Park Factors

Last 10 Games, Dodgers: 6-4
Last 20 Games, Dodgers: 12-8
Away Record: 17-12

Last 10 Games, Rangers: 4-6
Last 20 Games, Rangers: 10-10
Home Record: 18-11


Series Pitching Matchups
6/12: H.Kuroda vs V.Padilla
6/13: R.Wolf vs S.Feldman
6/14: C.Billingsley vs D.Holland


Source for stats: Fangraphs and Baseball Reference

Dodgers / Cubs, Series Preview

The Dodgers and Cubs both enter this game as teams of streaks. Not so much for their current modest win streaks (Dodgers 3, Cubs 2), but more for their recent streaks. The Cubs previous road trip saw them lose all 6 games, including 2 from a previous home stand, which totalled an 8 game losing streak. That road trip saw the Cubs score 5 runs in 6 games. The Dodgers on the otherhand have a 13 game home winning streak to their 2009 resume. More recently, the Dodgers just came off an impressive three game sweep of the Colorado Rockies in Coors Field and have won 11 of their last 15 games. The Dodgers have only played three games vs the NL Central so far this year, and sport a record of 1-2 (@ HOU) in those three games. The NL Central teams will pose a big challenge for the Dodgers even though the Dodgers won't see another NL Central team until July 10th when the Dodgers visit Milwaukee in the dead of the summer.

Team	Hitting	Arm	Range R	Error R	Overall Fielding	SP	RP	Overall Pitching	Team Total
Units	RAR	NL Rank	NL Rank	NL Rank	UZR	RAR	RAR	WAR	WAR
Dodgers	36.8				-4.9	44.1	13.8	6.1	15.4
Cubs	-20.4				3.5	41.8	-2.5	4.0	7.9
Dodgers NL Rank	1st	15th	10th	6th	11th	5th	4th	4th	1st
Cubs NL Rank	12th	9th	6th	4th	5th	6th	14th	9th	11th

Top Three Dodgers Hitters by 2009 WAR:
1. CF-Matt Kemp 2.0
1. 2B-Orlando Hudson 2.0
3. 3B-Casey Blake 1.6

Top Three Dodgers Starting Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. *Chad Billingsley 2.0
2. *Randy Wolf 1.0
3. Clayton Kershaw 0.8

Top Three Dodgers Relief Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. Jonathan Broxton 1.3
2. Ramon Troncoso 0.6
3. Cory Wade 0.3

Top Three Dodgers Fielders by 2009 UZR:
1. CF-Matt Kemp 7.4
2. LF-Juan Pierre 1.4
3. 3B-Mark Loretta 1.0

Top Three Cubs Hitters by 2009 WAR:
1. CF-Kosuke Fukudome 1.8
2. SS-Ryan Theriot 1.5
3. 3B-Aramis Ramirez 0.8

Top Three Cubs Starting Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. Carlos Zambrano 1.1
2. *Ryan Dempster 0.8
3. *Ted Lilly 0.8

Top Three Cubs Relief Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. Angel Guzman 0.3
2. Luis Vizcaino 0.1
3. Carlos Marmol 0.1

Top Three Cubs Fielders by 2009 UZR:
1. SS-Ryan Theriot 4.2
2. RF-Kosuke Fukudome 2.8
3. 2B-Mike Fontenot 2.1

* Denotes a pitcher is pitching in this series.

This years version of the Cubs has not been all that impressive. They have struggled to score runs, especially on their previous road trip. They will have to put up some runs to compete with the Dodgers in this series. The Cubs starting pitching has been decent, but they obviously miss Rich Harden who is on the 15-Day DL with a lower back strain. The Cubs are a better fielding team than the Dodgers, their best fielder so far this year being shortstop Ryan Theriot. Still, Matt Kemp is the best fielder on either team. The most glaring weakness of this Cubs team is their bullpen and it's propensity for walking batters (BB/9: C.Marmol 7.71, A.Heilman 6.86, D.Patton 6.28, K.Gregg 5.59). An exciting player to watch in this series is RF-Jake Fox for the Cubs, who was just recently called up after putting up historically great numbers in AAA (Fangraphs: Free Jake Fox).

Last 15 Games, Dodgers: 11-4
Last 15 Games, Cubs: 7-8

Last 5 Games, Dodgers: 4-1
Last 15 Games, Cubs: 7-8


Series Pitching Matchups
G1: R.Wolf vs R.Wells
G2: C.Billingsley vs T.Lilly
G3: E.Stults vs R.Dempster
G4: E.Milton vs S.Marshall


Source for stats: Fangraphs

Dodgers / Rockies Series Preview

Interleague play is over for the time being and it's back to the NL West competition for the Dodgers. Next up is a three game road series against the last place Rockies. The Rockies might be the last place team in the NL West, 11 games behind the Dodgers and 1/2 a game behind the Diamondbacks, but they are the 2nd best last place team in the majors. The NL West is no longer the NL worst, as the division as a whole is only one game under .500. The NL East is now the NL Least, as the division finds itself 10 games under .500. The Rockies haven't been playing all that bad of late. They are 7-8 over their last 15 games and have a decent pitching staff that is keeping them afloat. The Dodgers will be throwing out three consecutive left handed starters (Stults, Milton, Kershaw), all three can be a bit of a grab bag at times.

Team	Hitting	Arm	Range R	Error R	Overall Fielding	SP	RP	Overall Pitching	Team Total
Units	RAR	NL Rank	NL Rank	NL Rank	UZR	RAR	RAR	WAR	WAR
Dodgers	28.4				-4.9	42.6	14.9	6.1	14.0
Rockies	-19.0				-7.4	42.7	10.2	5.5	8.0
Dodgers NL Rank	1st	15th	10th	6th	11th	5th	3rd	2nd	7th
Rockies NL Rank	12th	13th	11th	8th	12th	4th	6th	4th	1st

Top Three Dodgers Hitters by 2009 WAR:
1. CF-Matt Kemp 1.9
2. 2B-Orlando Hudson 1.6
3. 3B-Casey Blake 1.4

Top Three Dodgers Starting Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. Chad Billingsley 1.8
2. Randy Wolf 1.1
3. Clayton Kershaw 0.9

Top Three Dodgers Relief Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. Jonathan Broxton 1.4
2. Ramon Troncoso 0.6
3. Cory Wade 0.3

Top Three Dodgers Fielders by 2009 UZR:
1. CF-Matt Kemp 7.4
2. LF-Juan Pierre 1.4
3. 3B-Mark Loretta 1.0

Top Three Rockies Hitters by 2009 WAR:
1. C-Chris Ianetta 0.8
2T OF-Seth Smith 0.7
2T 1B-Todd Helton 0.7
2T 2B-Clint Barmes 0.7

Top Three Rockies Starting Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. *Ubaldo Jimenez 1.4
2. *Jorge de la Rosa 1.2
3. Jason Marquis 1.0

Top Three Rockies Relief Pitchers by 2009 WAR:
1. Jason Grilli 0.3
2. Manny Corpas 0.2
3. Huston Street 0.2

Top Three Rockies Fielders by 2009 UZR:
1. 2B-Clint Barmes 3.8
2. LF-Ryan Spillborghs 2.2
3. RF-Ryan Spillborghs 2.1

* Denotes a pitcher is pitching in this series.

The Dodgers better not take the Rockies too lightly. The biggest difference between these two teams is the hitting. The Dodgers have the #1 ranked NL Offense and the Rockies the 12th. Fielding and pitching wise the two teams are very similar. The Rockies have three starting pitchers with an 09 WAR of 1.0 or greater, while the Dodgers have two, with Kershaw ready to climb over that threshold. Jason Grilli has been the Rockies best pitcher out of the pen (FIP 3.00, K/9 11.57), more impressively done while allowing a BABIP against of .411. Huston Street has been pretty decent too (FIP 3.95, K/9 10.38), but Manny Corpas has been a bit of a letdown (FIP 3.58, K/9 4.82) especially his K/9 rate which has dropped for the 3rd consecutive year. Corpas, admittedly has been a bit unlucky (BABIP .388). Either way, don't expect the Rockies to be a pushover, as this is a big series for them, as they try to close the gap on the Dodgers big NL West lead.

Last 15 Games, Dodgers: 9-6
Last 15 Games, Rockies: 7-8

Last 5 Games, Dodgers: 3-2
Last 15 Games, Rockies: 3-2


Series Pitching Matchups
G1: E.Stults vs J.de la Rosa
G2: E.Milton vs A.Cook
G3: C.Kershaw vs U.Jimenez


Source for stats: Fangraphs