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The Dodgers look for that ever elusive win against the Diamondbacks on Friday night, as they continue their weekend series at Dodger Stadium. The team will need to rely heavily on the offense for the final 30 games of the season.
Not to say that the pitching won't be important, but with an ever increasing likelihood that both Chad Billingsley and Kenley Jansen have thrown their last pitches this season, run prevention will suffer. If either one happens to return that would be great, but scoring more runs would be ideal.
Matt Kemp will return soon enough, but his surrounding cast will have to perform too. Let's look at the new guys.
Hanley Ramirez has been wonderful since arriving from Miami. Since joining the team on July 25 Ramirez has hit .279/.336/.522 and has led the team with eight home runs and 34 runs batted in during that time.
Shane Victorino was having a bit of a down year in Philadelphia, and his month in Los Angeles hasn't been any better. Victorino is hitting .255/.305/.360 in 26 games as a Dodger, not exactly setting the table from either the first or second spot in the order.
Adrian Gonzalez hit a home run in his first at-bat as a Dodger but is just 5-for-23 (.217) since. A small sample size caveat applies, obviously, but having Gonzalez produce would be a big boost to an offense that has been shutout twice this week and been held to two runs or less in four of the last five games.
Did I have a point here? Not really, except be more like Hanley Ramirez, new guys.
Then again, maybe it is just as simple as Matt Kemp returning.
- In 78 games Kemp has played, the Dodgers have averaged 4.40 runs per game.
- In 54 games Kemp has not played, the Dodgers have averaged 3.50 runs per game.
Come back soon, Matt.
Game Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV: Prime Ticket