The Hitting Approach of Back-to-Back Champs
This era of Dodger baseball has been the best I've ever experienced (though my heart will always be with those Jim Tracy, Grady Little, Joe Torre rosters).
There are a ton of ways to slice or point to how this core roster has won back to back titles...but wanted to share one offensive angle that might be interesting if you're into hitters' approaches/mentalities, a Dodger lover, or even a Dodger hater.
A side project study, I found: by creating a scoring index of decisions per count…the Dodgers' 1 through 9 (or 10, 11, 12, etc depending on Doc's definition of everyday lineup pieces) seem to control the counts/swing decisions better than any other team in the last 2 seasons. Admitting one gap here is the pitcher, game situation, maybe even subjective scoring too. But it’s interesting to see the clusters of each team under this method…
Example: 2-0 fastball down the middle, they're consistently take a hack. 1-1 they're consistently taking a ball off the plate. 0-0, they're consistently taking a strike on the black because it's not a pitch they can groove. They make good decisions, regardless of the outcome. They hunt the same way...seemingly all bought in on an approach at the plate.
Sharing a writeup with some visuals if you're curious to dive in! (Link to article)
Need to refresh it for 2026 season-to-date if they're trending the same way. But in the meantime...cue Randy Newman!