Several years ago in the comic strip BC, the manager of the caveman baseball team was asked what the nickname was of his batting lineup a la "The Murderer's Row" of the 1927 New York Yankees. The manager's reply was "The Whiff and Poof Express." I thought of that comic strip when I was glancing at the Los Angeles Dodgers offensive statistics for the 2016 season.
In their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Dodgers had three players out of their starting eight regulars that by the end of the game were hitting below the infamous "Mendoza Line", a term used to describe a level of futility in major league hitters. Outfielder Enrique Hernandez finished the game at .198, fellow outfielder Scott Van Slyke at .185 (although he did hit the game winning three-run homerun), and Catcher A.J. Ellis at .187. Granted all three of those players have spent the majority of the season coming off the bench, spot starting, or on the Disabled List.
The overall statistics don't lie. A team batting average of .231 good for 12th in the National League, On Base Percentage of .307 good for 11th, 13th is Slugging Percentage at .376, ninth in Runs Scored with 277 good for a little over 4.1 a game, and they are eighth in strikeouts and in homeruns. Those middle of the pack statistics lead to a record of a little over .500 and lagging behind in the National League West.
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