Former Dodger Davey Lopes is now available. The former Dodger second baseman resigned as first base coach of the Phillies today, after four years in Philadelphia. Lopes was also in charge of baserunning and served as outfield coach in addition to his first base coaching duties.
Take a look at the Phillies' baserunning the last few years:
Years | SB (NL rank) |
CS | SB% (NL rank) |
2007 | 138 (2nd) | 19 | 87.9% (1st) |
2008 | 136 (3rd) | 25 | 84.5% (1st) |
2009 | 119 (2nd) | 28 | 81.0% (1st) |
2010 | 108 (4th) | 21 | 83.7% (1st) |
It is simplistic to assign all the credit to Lopes, but that's very good baserunning, at least when trying to steal bases. Then again, before Lopes came along, the Phillies were pretty good in stealing bases:
Years | SB (NL rank) |
CS | SB% (NL rank) |
2004 | 100 (6th) | 27 | 78.7% (2nd) |
2005 | 116 (2nd) | 27 | 81.1% (1st) |
2006 | 92 (9th) | 25 | 78.6% (4th) |
The Dodgers stole 92 bases this season, but were caught 50 times. Their 64.8% success rate ranked 14th among 16 teams in the National League.