LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers built a grand palace with some termites in the walls, it was said. They were a race car on 87 octane. A classic novel with a chapter missing.
Sure the Dodgers assembled one of their more anticipated rosters in a long time, but it had the potential to be destroyed from within by its defense. Or more specifically: infield defense.
That’s how the narrative went, anyway.
Gavin Lux was moved off shortstop in spring training because of throwing issues and placed at second base. Mookie Betts moved to short as a career outfielder who merely dabbled on the dirt in recent years. Max Muncy never has been considered a Gold Glove contender.
To top it off, the Dodgers moved one of the top defensive shortstops in Miguel Rojas into a backup middle infielder role.
All of it was believed to be an overall flaw that would make the Dodgers’ offensive machine a little less potent.
Flash forward to just shy of one-third through the season and the Dodgers were third in the major leagues in FanGraphs’ defensive runs saved, heading into Wednesday’s game against the Miami Marlins. Defense isn’t a liability, it’s a strength, at least in the early going for the Dodgers.
“Defense, sometimes there is a ceiling individually, but I think the floor a lot of times, isn’t raised as high as it should be and that’s because of effort,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And our guys have put forth the effort to raise the floor and the ceiling … coincidentally.”
Roberts noted the hard work put forward by Muncy and Betts in order to pull their weight, as well as the mentorship from Rojas, who has been trying to pass on as many tricks of the trade as possible. Lux’s determination to improve has been noted.
“I give Miguel a lot of credit because understanding your role on a ballclub is really important,” Roberts said. “Everyone wants to play every day but to feel that you can do things to be additive and help your teammates out and to help us win baseball games, he’s done that.”
The pitching staff is also helping the defense. The pitching has been so strong and efficient in the early going that it has made life easy for infielders who are growing into their roles. The starting staff has been strong, but so has the bullpen, despite a number of injuries.
“I think it’s no secret that our pitching has been so much better in, call it, the last two weeks,” Roberts said. “And that’s because our defense has been stellar.”
FORTNIGHT AHEAD
After the Dodgers enjoy a day off Thursday, they will start a stretch of 13 games in 13 days starting with the opener of a three-game series at San Diego on Friday. From there, it’s a trip to San Francisco then home series against the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks.
With Brusdar Graterol, Evan Phillips, Joe Kelly and Kyle Hurt all out because of injuries, the nearly two-week run of games will put bullpen management at the forefront.
“That’s something that we have to be ready for,” Roberts said. “We play some really good teams so we’re going to need really good starts. We might drop somebody in at some point to kind of give the starters an extra day. But yeah, bullpen management will be huge.”
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Since Phillips went to the injured list Sunday, the Dodgers had one save situation, with Alex Vesia coming through with his first save of the season Monday and the fourth of his career in five seasons.
Ryan Yarbrough’s ability to cover multiple innings at a time has been huge for the group with a possibility the left-hander could pick up a spot start during the upcoming stretch.
UP NEXT
The Dodgers off Thursday.
Dodgers (RHP Tyler Glasnow, 6-1, 2.70 ERA) at Padres (RHP Michael King, 3-3, 4.29), Friday, 6:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570