Dodgers July In Review: Treading Water

The Dodgers in many ways are a team in transition. They started July without Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, but got them back before the month was half over. By the end of the month, the club added four new players via trade, most notably Hanley Ramirez.

But on the field, the club was inconsistent, and the result was a .500 month, and the Dodgers ended July one game back of San Francisco, just like they started the month.

Dodger Batter of July: He didn't play his first game of the month until July 13, but Matt Kemp still led the team in hits, and batted .355/.380/.553.

Honorable mention goes to Luis Cruz, who led the club in extra-base hits (11) and RBI (16) despite not even being on the team at the beginning of July; and to Adam Kennedy, who hit .342/.372/.526 in part-time duty before getting hurt.

Dodger Pitcher of July: Chad Billingsley and Stephen Fife both did okay, but didn't pitch enough to garner the honors. This award goes to Clayton Kershaw, who consolidated his bad pitching into one start in St. Louis, and even with it put up a solid month.

Honorable mention goes to Kenley Jansen, who allowed one earned run all month, with 18 strikeouts.

July Record: 13-13
106 runs scored (4.08 per game)
108 runs allowed (3.86 per game)
.491 pythagorean winning percentage (13-13)

Record Through July 31: 56-49
410 runs scored (3.90 per game)
399 runs allowed (3.80 per game)
.512 pythagorean winning percentage (54-51)

Game of the Month: On July 18 in their series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers got a much-needed victory thanks to a walk-off home run from Matt Kemp in the 12th inning. But the game was much more than that, as it also featured a fine pitching duel between Clayton Kershaw and Cliff Lee.

Welcome Aboard: Relief pitcher Josh Wall was recalled on July 14, but went seven games without an appearance, before finally pitching on July 22. Wall pitched a scoreless inning in New York and picked up the win as the Dodgers rallied in the 12th inning. Wall got his first major league win, and the next day got a ticket back to Triple A Albuquerque. Welcome to baseball.

Pinch Hitting: For the month, Dodger pinch hitters were on fire, hitting .350/.400/.375 in 46 plate appearances.

Runners in Scoring Position: In July, the Dodgers hit .240/.322/.336 with runners in scoring position in 257 plate appearances.

They had a runner on third base with less than two outs 54 times in July, and got the runner home 29 times, or 53.7% (the entire NL scored 412 of 813 times, 50.7%).

They had a runner on second base with nobody out 42 times in July, and the runner advanced 29 times, or 69.0% (the entire NL advanced the runner 320 of 589 times, 54.3%).

July Weeks in Review: July 2 | July 9 | July 16 | July 22 | July 29

Previous Months In Review: April | May | June

Month Ahead: The Dodgers play 15 of their 28 August games at home, but 10 of their road games come on one trip, to Miami, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta.

July Stats