2018 Dodgers Review: Brian Dozier

Brian Dozier was acquired by the Dodgers at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline as a solution to the struggling Logan Forsythe. As it would turn out, Dozier would have his own struggles.

What went right

Dozier made a strong impression in his first two weeks with the team. The 31-year-old hit a home run in each of his first two games in Los Angeles to help the Dodgers even a four-game set with the Brewers.

In his first 11 games (10 starts), Dozier was 10-for-35 with three homers. The second baseman drove in 11 runs while walking 10 times to give him an impressive 1.073 OPS and a slash line of .286/.444/.629 in a small sample.

Dozier also had some flashes with the leather during his time with the team.

What went wrong

After those initial 11 games were said and done, Dozier hit .148/.248/.259 the rest of the way and completely disappeared — along with his playing time — in September. From August 29 to the end of the season, Dozier went 5-for-56 (.089) with 16 strikeouts in 64 plate appearances.

Dozier revealed in September that he had been dealing with a knee injury all season, but didn’t want to go on the disabled list at any point.

“That’s not me,” Dozier said to a group of media. “I’ve never been on the DL. I hope to not ever be. My mentality has always been, you can still be productive if you’re not 100%. I’m still trying to find ways to be productive.”

In limited time in the postseason, he went 2-for-17 at the plate — including 0-for-5 in the World Series.

2018 particulars

Age: 31

Stats: 26-for-143 (.182/.300/.350), 5 home runs, 9 doubles, 33 strikeouts to 24 walks, 16 runs scored, 20 RBIs.

Salary: $9,000,000 ($2,983,957 while with the Dodgers)

Game of the year

In his Dodger debut, Dozier went 3-for-4 with a home run, scoring twice to help his new team to a 6-4 win over the Brewers.

Roster status

Dozier has six years and 100 days of major league service time and is a free agent.