Dodgers Dugout: So this is what a mediocre team looks like

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Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. So this is what it feels like to be a fan of a mediocre team. I’ve always wondered.

Some random thoughts about the 9-10 Dodgers:

—They are lucky to be 9-10.

—When the offense hits, the pitchers fail. When the pitchers shine, the offense fails. Can everyone please get on the same page?

—The Dodgers are in desperate need of some infield depth.

—Last season, Trea Turner hit .298/.343/.466. This season, Dodgers shortstops are hitting .129/.217/.290. The newsletter mathematician is off this week, but I believe that is worse than what Turner did.

—Most of the new guys on offense aren’t exactly setting the league on fire. Miguel Rojas is hitting .125. Miguel Vargas is hitting .191. David Peralta is hitting .184. Jason Heyward is hitting .200. Rojas has an OPS+ of -3. That’s right, negative three.

—Then there’s the curious case of Chris Taylor, who has misplaced his ability to hit. He is five for 40, with four of his five hits being home runs. He has struck out 18 times. Taylor was named to the All-Star team in 2021 after hitting .277/.382/.452. In 194 games since then, he has hit .216/.293/.391 with 257 strikeouts in 657 at-bats. You can’t really call it a slump at this point, you have to call it a new level of hitting. So, you can’t really say “Well, he’s five for 40 but it’s a small sample size.” The sample size is now 194 games.

—Backup catchers (Austin Barnes and Austin Wynns) are hitting .071 (two for 28).

—On the positive side, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Will Smith remain stars. James Outman (.281/.397/.561) looks like the real deal. J.D. Martinez (.274/.321/.562) has been solid. Max Muncy (.237/.400/.593) has rediscovered his hitting stroke, however he has been brutal defensively at third base, playing the position in a manner similar to Pedro Guerrero back in the day. Trayce Thompson (.233/.361/.633) has been good.

—Turning to pitching, the bullpen has been a mess. In years past, the Dodgers always would have one or two members of the bullpen slumping, but they could hide them while using the other six. But when six or seven relievers are slumping, there’s no place to hide.

—In previous seasons, if the starting pitcher came out of the game with the Dodgers trailing, you could count on the bullpen to hold the opponent scoreless, giving the Dodgers a chance to rally. Not this season. Case in point: Wednesday. Noah Syndergaard leaves after six, trailing 2-1. The Dodgers score in the eighth and ninth and in years past that would win the game. But Wednesday, the bullpen gave up three runs, so the Dodgers lost, 5-3.

—The big problem here is that there aren’t a lot of new names in the bullpen. It’s the crew that was solid last season. And the one new guy, Shelby Miller, gave up his first runs of the season Wednesday. But Alex Vesia has given up 17 hits in 5-2/3 innings. Yency Almonte has given up 11 hits in 6-1/3 innings. Everyone has been erratic at best. Why? There is more than one possibility.

1. Everyone is just slumping at the same time.

2. The lack of the shift is harming the bullpen. The Dodgers were known around the majors at being one of the best teams at positioning their infielders. Now, that positioning is limited since you can’t shift, since infielders have to be on the dirt, not the outfield grass, when the pitch is delivered. Are some balls sneaking through for hits that would have been outs in previous seasons?

3. The pitch clock has caused pitchers to work much faster. No more strolls around the mound between pitches. It’s possible this quicker pace has thrown some pitchers off their game.

The bullpen problems could be any of the above, or a combination of them.

—Syndergaard and Michael Grove have not been reliable starters. In his defense, Syndergaard has had only one bad outing, but he has looked more like Donald Blake than “Thor.” And Grove now has a 5.95 ERA after nine career starts. They haven’t exactly been this season’s version of Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney.

—On the positive side, Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urías and Dustin May have been dependable.

So what have we learned? Well, every game is an adventure. The Dodgers are 9-10 but are still in second place, two games behind Arizona. They have a better record than the preseason favorites, the Padres. There are still 143 games left in the season. Much too early to give up. But not too early to be concerned. There are definite gaping holes on this team; will they heal? Or will a trade need to be made? What will the front office do if the team is 25-25? Or below .500 at the All-Star break? These are things to keep an eye on. It’s going to be an interesting season.

Win No. 200

Kershaw picked up win No. 200 with a masterful performance Tuesday. He became only the third Dodger to win 200 games, which is hard to believe considering the rich pitching history of the team. And in his usual modest fashion, Kershaw said, “There’s been a lot of pitchers that have pitched well but maybe don’t have the team behind them. Just reflecting on that, and just thankful for being part of great teams; that’s what wins signify to me.”

Some numbers:

Most wins with the Dodgers

Don Sutton, 233
Don Drysdale, 209
Clayton Kershaw, 200
Dazzy Vance, 190
Brickyard Kennedy, 177
Sandy Koufax, 165
Burleigh Grimes, 158
Claude Osteen, 147
Fernando Valenzuela, 141
Johnny Podres, 136

Most wins, active pitchers

Justin Verlander, 244
Zack Greinke, 223
Max Scherzer, 203
Clayton Kershaw, 200
Adam Wainwright, 195
Cole Hamels, 163
Johnny Cueto, 143
Madison Bumgarner, 134
Gerrit Cole, 134
Lance Lynn, 123

Kershaw also moved into 22nd place on the career strikeouts list, with 2,833.

However, looking at that another way, here is the list of pitchers with the most strikeouts per nine innings pitched (minimum 2,000 innings):

1. Max Scherzer, 10.7
2. Randy Johnson, 10.6
3. Pedro Martinez, 10.0
4. Clayton Kershaw, 9.8
5. Nolan Ryan, 9.5
6. Sandy Koufax, 9.3
7. Justin Verlander, 9.1
8. Sam McDowell, 8.9
9. Johan Santana, 9.8
10. David Price, 8.7

Injury report

Paternity leave

RF Mookie Betts. OK, not really an injury, but Betts has been out for two games because of the birth of his second child. He should be back Thursday. Interestingly, he was probably going to start at shortstop Wednesday if he had been available.

7-day IL

C Will Smith (concussion). He took two hard foul tips off the mask during a game against the Giants. He is eligible to come off the list Thursday, but it’s unlikely he plays before the weekend.

10-day IL

SS Miguel Rojas (strained left hamstring). He was put on the IL Wednesday and replaced by Yonny Hernández.

15-day IL

RHP Tony Gonsolin (right ankle sprain). He is scheduled to make a rehab start with triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday. If that goes well, he makes a second rehab start. If that goes well, he rejoins the Dodgers.

RHP Jimmy Nelson (right elbow inflammation). May be close to a rehab assignment, but could spend extended time in the minors since he hasn’t pitched since July 30, 2021.

RHP Ryan Pepiot (left oblique strain). Pepiot is not close to returning, as he hasn’t even started to throw yet.

60-day IL

RHP Walker Buehler (Tommy John surgery). It’s possible he returns at the end of this season but 2024 is more likely.

RHP J.P. Feyereisen (right shoulder surgery). Signed in the offseason, he had surgery in December and the earliest he will play is August.

RHP Daniel Hudson (right knee). Hudson was transferred to the 60-day IL this week. He has soreness in his right knee but could be back in June.

SS Gavin Lux (right knee). Lux is out for the season after undergoing ACL surgery in March.

RHP Alex Reyes (right shoulder). Signed before the season, Reyes won’t join the team until after the All-Star break.

RHP Blake Treinen (right shoulder). Treinen had surgery in the offseason and if he return this year, it probably won’t be until September.

What Vin Scully meant to me

Last season, after Vin Scully died, I asked readers to send in what he meant to them. I ran them the rest of the season and wanted to circle back and run the rest, which will take a few weeks at least. If you wish to contribute (if you sent it to me last season, I still have it, so no need to send again), please email it to [email protected] and put Vin Scully in the subject line.

From Char Ham: The beginning would be shortly after my life began. I was born at the very end of 1957, just before the team’s first year in L.A. Dad got bored waiting for my formula to warm, so listening to Vin and Jerry helped pass the time. Like many, our family listened to the ballgames over dinner, even watching them way back when KTTV showed them playing up at the old Candlestick Park.

More so, listening to Vin and his fellow broadcasters during pre- and postgame shows was influential on how to interview the players, fellow staff, and even members of opposing teams, as years later, I worked as a music journalist interviewing jazz and blues musicians.

From Nicholas Takach of Tulsa, Okla.: I was still living in Glendora and my family was out to dinner to celebrate my sister’s 20th birthday on Sept. 9, 1965.

This was also the night Sandy Koufax pitched his perfect game. I was listening to the game on the car radio on our way to the restaurant, but had to enter the restaurant with my family sometime around the middle of the game. Before we finished the meal, I begged my father to let me have the keys to the car so I could catch up on the radio broadcast of the game. I got there in time for the end and I’ll never forget Vin’s words as Koufax prepared to pitch the ninth, perfect game intact:

“As Sandy Koufax walks toward the mound he is the loneliest man in the world.”

From Javier Sanchez: My dad (RIP) immigrated to Los Angeles before I was born in 1960. His English wasn’t great. I will never forget, after working two jobs, he made sure to be home by 7 p.m. to listen to the Dodger game. Instead of listening to Jaime Jarrín in Spanish, he preferred to listen to Vin Scully on a very static-filled AM radio. I must have been 5 years old next to dad listening to Vin and the Dodgers. He didn’t miss a game, and neither did I.