Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Here we are, right back where we started.

You play 131 games only to end up where you were before Game 1 began: tied with the Padres. OK, technically, the Dodgers are in first place right now because they hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Padres. But it feels like a tie.

Before we get to the main topic here, there are a couple of points worth mentioning, with all due respect to the players involved:

Unless there is an injury involved, Buddy Kennedy should not be starting any games over Alex Freeland or Miguel Rojas. Let’s look at those numbers, shall we?

Kennedy: .069/.156/.103, -26 OPS+
Freeland: .226/.342/.387, 104 OPS+
Rojas: .252/.313/.388, 95 OPS+

And, in case you are a big Kennedy fan and are hollering “small sample size” right now, let’s take a look at those career numbers

Kennedy: .178/.271/.274, 54 OPS+
Freeland: .226/.342/.387, 104 OPS+
Rojas: .259/.313/.361, 85 OPS+

And it’s not like Kennedy is Ozzie Smith with the glove out there, while Rojas makes plays like this one from last week. Freeland hasn’t played much, but he was ranked as their No. 3 prospect, so there’s little reason to play Kennedy over him.

—Michael Conforto has gotten plenty of runway now. Time for him to hit the bench and for Alex Call to play every day. There are 161 players who have at least 400 plate appearances this season. Where does Conforto rank among those players? Let’s look:

Batting average
158. Ryan McMahon, NYY, .216
159. Anthony Volpe, NYY, .208
160. Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh, .207
161. Michael Conforto, Dodgers, .183

Not only is Conforto last, he is 24 points behind the next-worst player.

On-base%
151. Michael Conforto, Dodgers, .293
158. Teoscar Hernández, Dodgers, .277
159. Anthony Volpe, NYY, .274
160. Michael Harris II, Atlanta, .273
161. Adolis Garcia, Texas, .270

Gee, two Dodgers in the bottom 10. Perhaps Hernández didn’t want Conforto to feel so bad.

Slugging %
158. Joey Ortiz, Milwaukee, .328
159. Ke’Bryan Hayes, Cincinnati, .317
160. Michael Conforto, Dodgers, .314
161. Victor Scott II, St. Louis, .312

Last. 151st. Next to last. That’s not good.

OPS+
158. Joey Ortiz, Milwaukee, 72
159. Matt McLain, Cincinnati, 71
160. Michael Conforto, Dodgers, 70
161. Ke’Bryan Hayes, Cincinnati, 70

WAR (which also factors in defense)
158. Agustín Ramírez, Miami, -0.2
159. Eric Wagaman, Miami, -0.6
160. Michael Conforto, Dodgers, -0.9
161. Nick Castellanos, Philadelphia, -1.1

So, please, he might be the nicest guy in the history of the universe and I know he’s getting paid $17 million, but it’s not like you have to pay him more if you don’t play him. Until Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández get back, let’s send Call out. I don’t care what hand the pitcher throws with.

With the two teams tied with 31 games remaining, let’s do a few more comparisons:

Longest winning streak
Dodgers, 8
Padres, 7

Longest losing streak
Dodgers, 7
Padres, 6

Most runs scored
Dodgers, 19
Padres, 21

Most runs allowed
Dodgers, 18
Padres, 14

Times shut out
Dodgers, 6
Padres, 8

Times opponent was shut out
Dodgers, 6
Padres, 15

Comeback wins
Dodgers, 40
Padres, 33

Walkoff wins
Dodgers, 8
Padres, 6

Walkoff losses
Dodgers, 7
Padres, 6

Run differential
Dodgers, +94
Padres, +57

Home
Dodgers, 41-24, .631
Padres, 43-22, .662

Road
Dodgers, 33-33, .500
Padres, 31-35, .470

Before the All-Star break
Dodgers, 58-39, .598
Padres, 52-44, .542

After the All-Star break
Dodgers, 16-18, .471
Padres, 22-13, .629

Extra-inning games
Dodgers, 7-5, .583
Padres, 6-4, .600

One-run games
Dodgers, 21-20, .512
Padres, 26-19, .578

Games decided by 5+ runs
Dodgers, 21-9, .700
Padres, 18-14, .563

Interleague
Dodgers, 23-19, .548
Padres, 16-20, .444

vs. NL West
Dodgers, 25-11, .694
Padres, 24-18, .571

So what’s going to happen? No idea. Will the Dodgers’ offense remain erratic? Will the bullpen improve? Will the Padres get even better (because they have holes too)? I don’t what’s going to happen over the next 31 games. No one does. So don’t give in to pessimism or false hope. Enjoy each game as it happens. Get frustrated at times, sure. But these next 31 games will be exciting. A division race that comes down to the wire. It doesn’t get any better than that.

An interesting race

The race for the NL batting title is going to be interesting to follow. Here are the leaders after Sunday’s games:

Freddie Freeman, .302
Trea Turner, Philadelphia, .300
Sal Frelick, Milwaukee, .298
Will Smith, .297
Manny Machado, San Diego, .292
Xavier Edwards, Miami, .291
Nico Hoerner, Chicago, .291

Smith was leading the NL for quite a while this season, but the rigors of playing catcher have caught up to him, as he is hitting just .158 in August (9 for 57). That’s not meant as a criticism. Playing catcher is taxing, especially in the heat, and we’ve had a lot of warm nights in Los Angeles this month. The hope was that by releasing Austin Barnes and bringing up Dalton Rushing, the Dodgers could give Smith more days off, which they have, but it hasn’t helped.

In major league history, a catcher has won the batting title only seven times (Bubbles Hargrave in 1926, Ernie Lombardi in 1938 and 1942, Buster Posey in 2012 and Joe Mauer in 2006, 2008 and 2009.) All the foul balls you take off your body also take a tremendous toll.

Will Freeman hold on to win? Will Turner win another batting title? Tune in next week to find the answers, same Bat-time, same Bat-… wait wrong show.

And isn’t it amazing that only two players who qualify for the title are hitting .300?

Up next

Monday: Cincinnati (Hunter Greene, 5-3, 2.63 ERA) at Dodgers (Emmet Sheehan, 4-2, 4.17 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Tuesday: Cincinnati (Nick Martinez, 10-9, 4.59 ERA) at Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 8-2, 3.13 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Wednesday: Cincinnati (Zack Littell, 9-8, 3.62 ERA) at Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani, 0-1, 4.61 ERA), 5:40 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Shaikin: The Padres aren’t dead, and the Dodgers have plenty to lose in baseball’s best rivalry

News Analysis: The Dodgers have an outfield problem. But do they have the options to fix it?

Dalton Rushing knows ‘main focus is catching,’ but first base also on his mind

And finally

Lou Johnson homers in Game 7 of the 1965 World Series to give the Dodgers the lead. Watch and listen here.

Until next time…

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