Some unlikely Dodgers are putting together some impressive streaks.
Tyler Anderson has a 26-inning scoreless streak.
Tony Gonsolin has a six-game winning streak.
Trea Turner put together a 26-game hitting streak.
All have led to the Dodgers climbing to the top of the National League West standings.
But which streak is the most impressive?
Anderson’s scoreless inning streak is clearly the most surprising. Anderson was not even in the regular rotation for the Dodgers when the season started. He was a back-up plan, an emergency starter, a bullpen opener if the Dodgers ran into any injury problems.
Instead, he has turned into the most unhittable pitcher in the rotation. The Dodgers have a history of producing pitchers with lengthy scoreless inning streaks. Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser put together streaks that nearly reached 60 innings. And Fernando Valenzuela tossed eight shutouts in his Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award winning season in 1981.
Anderson extended his scoreless inning streak on Friday against the visiting New York Mets. He pitched six shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out five, in a 6-1 win. Anderson improved to 7-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.59.
Most impressive.
Not to be outdone, Gonsolin won his sixth game of the season and has emerged as the ace of the Dodgers staff after the first 54 games of the season. On a team with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Julio Urias, that’s not an easy feat.
Gonsolin was not expected to carry the Dodger starters. But he has become the team’s stopper, providing quality starts when the team needs to snap a losing streak or needs a big win.
His latest gem was against the Mets on Thursday. The Dodgers were coming off an embarrassing three-game sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates. All Gonsolin did was toss six shutout innings, gave up two hits, and struck out five in a 2-0 win to start the weekend series against the Mets.
Gonsolin lowered his ERA to a National League-leading 1.59 after the game against the Mets.
While Gonsolin and Anderson have emerged as the top pitchers on the Dodgers, Turner has become the team’s best hitter.
He singled twice in Saturday’s game against the Mets to extend his hit streak to 26 games. He had a 27-game game hit streak that spread over the end of the 2021 season and the start of the 2022 season.
And even though the Dodgers lost to the Mets, 9-4, on Saturday, Turner kept the Dodgers in the game with timely hitting.
The Dodgers are finding production from some unlikely sources and it bodes well for the rest of the season.
Dodger starter power rankings:
- Tyler Anderson
- Tony Gonsolin
- Julio Urias
- Walker Buehler
- Mitch White
The Dodgers (35-19) have a two-game lead over those pesky San Diego Padres in the NL West standings. They start a three-game series in Chicago against the White Sox on Tuesday and head to San Francisco for a weekend series against the third-place Giants on Friday.
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