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Dodgers Season In Thirds: A Look At The First 54 Games

Clayton Kershaw, Andre Ethier and, when he was healthy, Matt Kemp, had themselves quite a start to the 2012 season for the Dodgers.
Clayton Kershaw, Andre Ethier and, when he was healthy, Matt Kemp, had themselves quite a start to the 2012 season for the Dodgers.

Sunday's game in Colorado was the Dodgers' 54th game of the season, meaning the season is a third complete. Even with the last week filled with losses, the Dodgers have still had quite a start to their season. With 33 wins, they have their second-best 54-game of the last 30 years, behind only the 2009 team that ended up winning 95 games.

Here is a look back at the first 54 games of each of the last four seasons:

Year W-L Runs For Runs Allowed BA/OBP/SLG ERA
2012 33-21 232 (4.30/gm) 199 (3.69/gm) .269/.342/.405 3.27
2011 24-30 187 (3.46/gm) 226 (4.19/gm) .248/.312/.360 3.99
2010 31-23 254 (4.70/gm) 246 (4.56/gm) .264/.331/.403 3.98
2009 36-18 295 (5.46/gm) 208 (3.85/gm) .285/.367/.414 3.75

The Dodgers are scoring nearly a run more per game than they did at this time last year.

Here are the numbers for each individual player, starting with the ridiculously productive catchers:

Catchers
Player G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB/CS BB BA/OBP/SLG OPS
Ellis 43 43 174 143 19 45 7 1 6 25 0/0 28 .315/.430/.503 .934
Treanor 11 11 40 33 5 9 1 1 2 6 1/0 5 .273/.350/.545 .895
Totals 214 176 24 54 8 2 8 31 1/0 33 .307/.415/.511 .926

Here are the infielders. For purposes of classification, I am counting Jerry Hairston Jr. (17 starts in the infield, five starts in the outfield) and Scott Van Slyke (5/1) as infielders, and Juan Rivera (7/13) and Jerry Sands (1/4) as outfielders.

Infielders
Player G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB/CS BB BA/OBP/SLG OPS
Gordon 49 45 202 188 21 42 6 0 1 10 14/5 11 .223/.264/.271 .535
Loney 53 41 183 165 14 41 12 0 2 16 0/2 18 .248/.322/.358 .680
Ellis 37 33 154 132 27 36 4 1 2 9 3/0 18 .273/.373/.364 .736
Kennedy 43 18 97 80 10 17 3 1 0 7 0/0 13 .213/.316/.275 .591
Hairston 28 22 94 82 6 30 6 1 1 7 1/1 8 .366/.441/.500 .941
Uribe 25 21 87 80 8 20 4 0 1 10 0/1 5 .250/.302/.338 .640
Herrera 18 14 69 61 8 19 4 0 0 6 1/0 7 .311/.382/.377 .759
Sellers 19 12 50 44 6 9 3 1 1 2 0/0 5 .205/.286/.386 .672
Van Slyke 17 6 33 31 3 6 2 0 1 6 1/0 1 .194/.219/.355 .574
De Jesus 11 4 25 22 4 7 3 0 0 3 0/0 2 .318/.360/.455 .815
Totals 994 885 107 227 47 4 9 76 20/9 88 .256/.327/.349 .676

James Loney is on pace for six home runs, 48 RBI, and 42 runs scored this season. Last season through 54 games, Loney was hitting .238/.284/.302 with two home runs, 10 runs scored, and 15 RBI.

Outfielders
Player G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB/CS BB BA/OBP/SLG OPS
Ethier 53 53 223 200 28 64 18 1 9 46 0/1 16 .320/.377/.555 .932
Gwynn 51 28 145 134 17 36 5 2 0 14 8/3 9 .269/.315/.336 .651
Kemp 36 35 144 121 30 43 6 1 12 28 2/3 21 .355/.444/.719 1.163
Abreu 26 20 87 71 13 22 5 1 1 8 2/0 16 .310/.437/.451 .887
Rivera 25 20 87 81 9 20 3 0 2 13 0/2 4 .247/.276/.358 .634
Sands 8 5 21 20 2 4 2 0 0 1 0/0 1 .200/.238/.300 .538
Castellanos 4 1 7 5 0 2 0 1 0 2 0/0 0 .400/.429/.800 1.229
Totals 714 632 99 191 39 6 24 112 12/9 67 .302/.369/.497 .866

Only two Los Angeles Dodgers have hit 45 doubles in a season: Shawn Green, with 49 in 2003, and Wes Parker, with 47 in 1970. Andre Ethier is on pace for 54 doubles this season.

Now onto the pitching, beginning with the stellar starting staff:

Starters
Pitcher GS QS W-L IP H R ER BB K ERA WHIP FIP
Kershaw 11 7 4-3 74.1 55 22 20 19 64 2.42 0.996 2.97
Capuano 11 8 7-2 68.1 49 23 19 25 61 2.50 1.083 3.46
Harang 11 6 4-3 64.2 63 31 28 24 56 3.90 1.345 3.50
Billingsley 11 5 2-4 61.2 64 34 28 25 60 4.09 1.443 3.75
Lilly 8 6 5-1 48.2 36 23 17 19 31 3.14 1.130 3.72
Eovaldi 2 1 0-2 12.2 9 5 4 5 8 2.84 1.105 3.91
Totals 54 33 22-15 330.1 276 138 116 117 280 3.16 1.190 3.47

Chris Capuano is on pace for 183 strikeouts, which would set a new career high. Capuano struck out 176 in 2005, 174 in 2006, and 168 last year.

Relievers
Pitcher G W-L Sv/BS IP H R ER BB K ERA WHIP FIP
Lindblom 25 2-0 -- 26.2 19 8 8 9 25 2.70 1.050 5.14
Jansen 25 4-0 6/3 25.2 13 6 6 10 39 2.10 0.896 2.73
Guerra 27 2-3 8/3 24.0 26 9 9 10 20 3.38 1.500 2.29
Wright 19 2-2 -- 23.1 22 14 13 13 26 5.01 1.500 3.22
Elbert 23 0-0 -- 15.2 17 6 6 4 17 3.45 1.340 3.22
Belisario 14 0-0 -- 13.1 8 2 2 7 11 1.35 1.125 2.89
Coffey 12 1-0 -- 10.0 13 9 8 7 9 7.20 2.000 4.56
Guerrier 7 0-1 -- 6.2 3 2 2 5 4 2.70 1.200 3.56
MacDougal 7 0-0 -- 5.2 9 5 5 6 4 7.94 2.647 4.72
Totals 54 11-6 14/6 151.0 130 61 59 71 155 3.52 1.331 3.46