Yesterday, Kyle Tucker announced that he would be wearing number 23, mirroring shades of the past. While Kirk Gibson will forever be a Dodger legend, his walkoff home run etched in Dodger history, our attention is focused on the upcoming season. How good is this Dodger team and why? It’s easy to get caught up in the stars and the accolades, but their offensive success is built off of basic fundamentals, specifically timely hitting.
If you just look at batting average, the Dodgers have an average lineup. Even players like Shohei are only in the 76th percentile of hitters, while players like Will Smith and Freddie Freeman are sitting in the 80th percentile. While these numbers may seem incredible, they’re only three players in a lineup of nine.
To compare hitters across the league, we used z-scores, a statistical tool that measures how far a player’s performance deviates from the league average. A z-score of zero represents a perfectly average hitter, while positive values indicate above-average performance and negative values indicate below-average performance. In practical terms, z-scores allow us to see not just who is good, but how much better or worse a player is relative to the rest of Major League Baseball.Using this methodology we’re able to see that the Dodgers are average when it comes to batting average.
However, what stands out the most about this Dodger lineup is the level of RBIs this lineup produces. With the exception of Tommy Edman, who will always be a hero in our hearts, the entire lineup of Dodger players consistently ranks in the upper tier of MLB Players, with Shohei ranking in the top 5% of MLB players. It’s clear that the danger of this lineup comes not in their ability to make contact and get on base, but to execute in clutch situations, driving in runs and punishing opposing pitchers.
This trend continues to extend even into 2026 with the addition of Kyle Tucker, who’s consistently been one of the best hitters in MLB. Tucker ranks in the upper half of MLB players when it comes to RBIs, making him a perfect addition to this already efficient lineup.
If the Dodgers can continue to hit in clutch situations and drive runners home, not only will they continue to be successful, but they could go down as one of the most prolific offenses in MLB history.
