The 2020 series on team offense continues with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers finished fifth in the majors and first in the National League in 2019 with 5.47 runs scored per game.
I am using RotoChamp as a source of default lineups. That Dave Roberts order is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. For the pitcher slot, I used the Dodgers actual numbers from 2019. That information produces the following results (Runs per game):
- Best lineup: 5.68
- Probable lineup: 5.53
- Worst lineup: 5.15
- Regressed lineup: 4.94
While the Red Sox lineup appeared to lose 0.2 runs per game with the loss of Mookie Betts, the Dodgers didn’t gain that much. It looks like just 0.05 runs versus the probable lineup. Betts should help with his defense as well.
The probable lineup has a lot in common with a number of the high ranking lineups. Betts and Max Muncy batting 1-2 occurs often. Cody Bellinger in the default clean-up hitter in both orders. Although Gavin Lux is sometimes seen batting third, he still works at the bottom of the order.
What really impresses me is the depth of power on the Dodgers. Five of the eight position players project to slug over .500. Given that four of those players also project to OBPs of at least .470, there should be plenty of RBI coming from that power. The above estimates of run scoring for Los Angeles may be too conservative.
You can follow the data for the series in this Google spreadsheet.
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