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Justin Turner, the second-half man for the Dodgers

Since 2014, Turner has been one of the best in baseball after the All-Star Break

By Craig Minami
MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers at Boston Red Sox Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

After going 0-for-4 on Friday, Justin Turner had three hits, two doubles and a home run, on Saturday. The Dodgers will hope that yesterday’s performance will be indicative to how well Turner plays for the rest of the regular season.

Justin Turner has been one of major league baseball’s best hitters after the All-Star Game since arriving to Los Angeles. Turner has a .916 OPS which is seventh among all players with a minimum of 1000 plate appearances from 2014 - 2018 after the All-Star Game.

2014-2018 Top Second Half Batters (min. 1000 PA)

Player OPS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR BB SO BA OBP SLG
Player OPS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR BB SO BA OBP SLG
Joey Votto 1.047 1163 903 159 316 59 2 42 240 176 .350 .488 .559
Mike Trout .970 1377 1109 227 317 55 14 71 232 317 .286 .417 .553
J.D. Martinez .946 1330 1188 187 363 74 6 78 125 350 .306 .371 .575
Josh Donaldson .930 1260 1053 185 294 64 2 70 181 235 .279 .387 .543
Edwin Encarnacion .921 1264 1066 175 294 50 1 78 172 218 .276 .377 .544
Nolan Arenado .920 1417 1267 216 372 79 8 83 122 232 .294 .355 .565
Justin Turner .916 1122 979 164 304 78 3 43 105 171 .311 .388 .528
Jose Abreu .915 1364 1220 169 381 76 4 63 103 259 .312 .379 .536
Paul Goldschmidt .905 1237 1038 183 303 64 4 52 176 287 .292 .394 .512
Christian Yelich .903 1478 1305 212 406 91 9 52 160 287 .311 .388 .514
Bryce Harper .900 1237 1028 194 295 61 3 52 187 284 .287 .396 .504

In 2018, Turner was second to Christian Yelich with a 1.066 OPS, his overall second half batting line was .356/.447/.619.

Turner had a good first half, he hit .294/.375/.446 in 333 plate appearances. His power was almost non-existent before May, since then he has hit 11 home runs and 15 doubles up through yesterday.

Dodgers on first of four East Coast trips in second half

Aside from a two-day visit to Tampa, the Dodgers did not make an East Coast visit in the first half. That will change as the Dodgers finish up in Boston today and then they go to Philadelphia to conclude their first full trip to East Coast.

Their next trip will start in Washington DC and then they conclude their regular season visits to Coors Park in Denver. In the middle of August, the Dodgers will play at the Marlins and the Braves.

Finally in September, they will play the Orioles in Baltimore and then spend a weekend in Queens against the Mets.

Which prior Dodger team will the 2019 version emulate in the second half

The Dodgers ended the first half with a 60-32 record. As the second half begins, will this team play like their 2013 and 2014 Dodger teams, if they do, they will be well over 100 wins this season.

Dodgers Post All-Star Break Record (by winning pct)

Year W L W-L%▼
Year W L W-L%▼
2013 45 23 .662
2014 40 25 .615
2017 43 29 .597
2018 39 28 .582
2015 41 31 .569
2016 40 31 .563

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