Dodgers Dugout: Here’s one reason the Dodgers are playing so well

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I’m awaiting “Sharknado 6: Dodgers Save the Day� starring Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner.

Not left out anymore

Fair warning: I’ll be throwing a lot of stats out there the next couple of sections, so if you don’t like stats, skip ahead to the end.

The Dodgers are having an amazing run one that has them positioned to be the greatest Dodgers team of all time. One thing that has gone somewhat overlooked is their complete turnaround against what had been their Achilles’ heel the last couple of seasons: hitting against left-handers.

Last season, the Dodgers finished last in the NL with a .214 batting average against lefties, last with a .291 OB% and last with a .333 SLG%. This season: Sixth in batting (.259), second in OB% (.346) and second in SLG% (.471). Let’s look at the turnaround for individual players against lefties:

Yasiel Puig

2016: .261/.313/.471

2017: .149/.257/.207

Corey Seager

2016: .250/.308/.413

2017: .341/.411/.597

Adrian Gonzalez

2016: .244/.293/.310

2017: .237/.293/.263

Yasmani Grandal

2016: .224/.385/.395

2017: .261/.320/.406

Chris Taylor

2016: .217/.250/.391

2017: .330/.387/.557

Justin Turner

2016: .209/.303/.337

2017: .398/.489/.759

Enrique Hernandez

2016: .189/.308/.361

2017: .252/.355/.607

Chase Utley

2016: .154/.206/.264

2017: .167/.286/.389

Joc Pederson

2016: .125/.250/.219

2017: .205/.286/.318

Almost every Dodgers has improved against lefties, and the guys they added this season, Cody Bellinger (.261/.320/.550) and Logan Forsythe (.325/.462/.494) have also done well against lefties.

The Dodgers are 27-10 in games started by a left-hander this season, they were 22-24 last season.

Nice going

The Dodgers are 43-7 in their last 50 games. The only teams to win at least 41 of 50 games in one season since 1901:

1906 Chicago Cubs (45-5)

1912 New York Giants (42-7-1)

1941 Yankees (42-8)

1942 St. Louis Cardinals (42-8)

2013 Dodgers (42-8)

1909 Pittsburgh Pirates (41-9)

1913 New York Giants (41-9)

1931 Philadelphia A’s (41-9)

1939 Yankees (41-9)

1944 St. Louis Cardinals (41-9)

1953 Dodgers (41-9)

1975 Cincinnati Reds (41-9)

1998 Yankees (41-9)

The .700 club

Only 10 teams since 1901 have finished the season with a .700 or better winning percentage. Here they are (and where the Dodgers rank):

1906 Chicago Cubs, 116-36, .763

1902 Pittsburgh Pirates, 103-36, .741

1909 Pittsburgh Pirates, 110-42, .724

1954 Cleveland Indians, 111-43, .721

2001 Seattle Mariners, 116-46, .716

1927 New York Yankees, 110-44, .714

2017 Dodgers, 79-32, .712

1998 New York Yankees, 114-48, .704

1931 Philadelphia A’s, 107-45, .704

1907 Chicago Cubs, 107-45, .704

1939 New York Yankees, 106-45, .702

All these numbers, and more, can be found at baseball-reference.com.

In case you missed it

In his last six starts, Hyun-jin Ryu has a 2.08 ERA in 34 2/3 innings, with 38 strikeouts and a 1.154 WHIP.

Next series

Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. PT, Dodgers (Kenta Maeda, 10-4, 3.79) at Arizona (Zack Godley, 5-4, 2.86)

Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. PT, Dodgers (Alex Wood, 13-1, 2.33) at Arizona (Zack Greinke, 13-4, 3.10)

Thursday, 6:30 p.m. PT, Dodgers (Yu Darvish, 7-9, 3.81; 1-0, 0.00 with Dodgers) at Arizona (Taijuan Walker, 6-5, 3.60)

Note: Pitchers are subject to change.

And finally

Corey Seager keeps quiet, but his excellent play speaks for itself. Read all about it here.

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter:@latimeshouston

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Twitter: @latimeshouston