Are eight games enough to tell us anything about this team? Not really, but such is the life of off days early in the season. Here are some other things that stood out to me through the first eight games:
A couple of blowouts have really enhanced the club's run differential:
| LA Dodger Highest Run Differential, First 8 Games | |||
| Year | RS | RA | DIff |
| 1978 | 54 | 25 | +29 |
| 1974 | 49 | 22 | +27 |
| 1972 | 43 | 18 | +25 |
| 1969 | 48 | 26 | +22 |
| 1977 | 53 | 32 | +21 |
| 2009 | 43 | 24 | +19 |
| 1965 | 30 | 12 | +18 |
The outfielders as a group have been hitting:
| Player | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Manny | .304 | .529 | .435 | .964 |
| Kemp | .357 | .387 | .536 | .923 |
| Ethier | .250 | .417 | .500 | .917 |
| Pierre | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Total | .313 | .448 | .494 | .942 |
Even without Manny Ramirez hitting his power stride, the Dodger outfield is among the best in baseball so far:
| Club | BA | OBP | SLG | sOPS+ |
| Giants | .382 | .442 | .605 | 165 |
| Cubs | .288 | .430 | .613 | 164 |
| White Sox | .316 | .391 | .579 | 145 |
| Dodgers | .313 | .448 | .494 | 142 |
| Phillies | .294 | .365 | .588 | 139 |
The Dodgers have also been a walking bunch, leading baseball with 40 walks. They seem intent on delivering on my 50-walk challenge.
| Player | Walks | Pace |
| Furcal | 3 | 61 |
| Hudson | 3 | 61 |
| Manny | 11 | 223 |
| Loney | 4 | 81 |
| Martin | 3 | 61 |
| Ethier | 7 | 142 |
| Kemp | 2 | 40 |
| Blake | 3 | 61 |
Since James McDonald's implosion Friday night in Arizona, the starters have put the smack down:
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | ERA | WHIP | Gm Score |
| Stults | 5.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1.69 | 1.13 | 59 |
| Wolf | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1.29 | 0.57 | 72 |
| Billingsley | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1.29 | 0.71 | 74 |
| Totals | 19.1 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 1.40 | 0.78 | 68.3 avg |
Overall, the starters have a 3.30 ERA, and have allowed opposing batters to hit only .182/.276/.264. How about the back end of the bullpen?
| Pitcher | IP | Baserunners | K | K/9 |
| Belisario | 4.2 | 3 | 8 | 15.43 |
| Kuo | 3.0 | 3 | 3 | 9.00 |
| Broxton | 4.0 | 1 | 5 | 11.25 |
| Totals | 11.2 | 7 | 16 | 12.34 |
Sure it's only eight games. But there's a lot to be excited about so far this season.