Franchise Timeline
The Dodgers in 2010 finished fourth with their first losing record in five years and it was enough to convince Joe Torre to step down and turn over the reins to protégé Don Mattingly. The team went 12 games below .500 after the All-Star break and Torre said the young nucleus needed a new, younger voice.
Four Dodgers went to the All-Star Game - Andre Ethier, Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo and Rafael Furcal. Ethier, however, battled after breaking a finger. A distracted Matt Kemp regressed. Broxton never seemed the same after a collapse against the Yankees. Furcal hit .300, but played only 97 games.
Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley swapped roles, as the lefty became the ace with a 2.91 ERA. Kuo put together one of the great seasons ever for a set-up man and Kenley Jansen, a converted catcher, came out of nowhere and was virtually unhittable.
The Dodgers rode an organizational roller coaster in 2011. The team was placed in bankruptcy protection and finished fourth for the second consecutive season, but Clayton Kershaw won the Cy Young Award and Matt Kemp just missed a batting Triple Crown and the MVP Award while playing for new manager Don Mattingly. Kershaw, Kemp and Andre Ethier were All-Stars and won Gold Glove Awards.
Kershaw and Kemp combined for the best pitching/hitting tandem since Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson in 1988. Kershaw led an efficient pitching staff, even though the bullpen had to be rebuilt on the fly after closer Jonathan Broxton was injured. Javy Guerra had 21 saves and fellow rookie Kenley Jansen broke the MLB record for strikeout frequency.
James Loney revived his career with a productive second half and the All-Star break acquisition of Juan Rivera jump-started the offense.
In 2012, the Dodgers went 86-76 and finished second in the NL West in their second season under manager Don Mattingly. It was the club's sixth winning season in the last seven. The club finished 7-1 in the last eight games and missed the second Wild Card berth in the NL by two games.
The season was marked by the May 1 arrival of new ownership - Guggenheim Baseball Management, headed by controlling partner Mark Walter and partners Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten, Peter Guber, Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly - and a subsequent cash infusion that led to bold in-season acquisitions of Hanley Ramirez, Shane Victorino, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Brandon League, Joe Blanton, Randy Choate, Nick Punto and Carl Crawford.
Led by defending Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw, the pitching staff ranked third in the Major Leagues in ERA and opposing batting average, but the offense struggled while centerpiece Matt Kemp battled injuries.
A.J. Ellis established himself as the starting catcher and Luis Cruz took charge of third base in two of the better developments of the season. But 50 players were used as 20 players spent at least one stint on the disabled list, 10 finished the season on the 60-day disabled list and 13 required operations.
In 2013, the Dodgers finished the season with a 92-70 record and won the National League West title by 11 games, the largest margin in Los Angeles history. They defeated Atlanta, 3-1, in the National League Division Series, and lost to St. Louis, 4-2, in the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers became the fourth club to finish in first place after being in last place on July 1 or later and the fourth team to win a division in a season in which they were at least 12 games below .500. They are the third team to rally from at least 9 ½ games back to win by at least 10 games. Included in the comeback was the best 50-game stretch in franchise history, beginning on June 22, going 42-8.
At one point the club won 15 consecutive road games, the first NL team to do that since 1957, and they went unbeaten in 18 consecutive series.
Dodgers pitchers led the Major Leagues with 22 shutouts and were second in the league with a 3.25 team ERA. That included Clayton Kershaw, who won his third consecutive ERA title at 1.83, the lowest in the NL since Greg Maddux's 1.63 in 1995, and was the club's lone All-Star. Kershaw combined with Zack Greinke to go 31-13. Kenley Jansen supplanted Brandon League as closer and Brian Wilson, signed in July after his recovery from Tommy John surgery, took over as set-up man.
The offense, with new hitting coach Mark McGwire, was third in the league with a .264 team average, led by Adrian Gonzalez's 100 RBIs. Hanley Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier all battled injuries, but Ramirez's return in June coincided with the club's turnaround, as did the arrival of Cuban rookie Yasiel Puig.
Injuries were a big part of the story, as there were 25 placements on the disabled list. Chad Billingsley (Tommy John surgery), Josh Beckett (thoracic outlet syndrome) and Scott Elbert (Tommy John surgery) were lost for virtually the entire season. Matt Kemp went on the disabled list three times, had two operations and his status for next year is uncertain. Andre Ethier played on a microfractured leg.
2014 -- The Dodgers went 94-68 and won the NL West Division for the second consecutive year, erasing a 9 ½-game deficit for the second consecutive year and went without a losing streak of longer than three games. The team had the best road record in MLB (49-32).
Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Yasiel Puig and Dee Gordon represented the Dodgers at the All-Star Game. Kershaw became the first pitcher ever to win four consecutive ERA titles, going 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA, but lost twice in the playoffs. Greinke won a career-high 17 games.
Kershaw and Josh Beckett threw no-hitters. Adrian Gonzalez led MLB with 116 RBIs and tied with Matt Kemp for the club home-run lead with 25. Kemp and Crawford led the club's second-half offensive surge after manager Don Mattingly settled on an outfield alignment of Kemp in right field, Crawford in left and Puig in center with Andre Ethier on the bench. Gordon became the seventh in history to lead MLB with 64 steals and 12 triples.
Closer Kenley Jansen tied for third in NL saves with a career-high 44, but the rest of the bullpen had a late-season fade that was devastating in the postseason.
Shortly after the season ended, the Dodgers named Andrew Friedman president of baseball operations and reassigned general manager Ned Colletti to senior advisor for the president.
2016 - In Vin Scully's final season at the microphone and Dave Roberts' first season as a manager, the Dodgers overcame an injury onslaught and erased an eight-game deficit to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive National League West title with a 91-71 record, beating the Giants by four games. They defeated the Nationals in an epic Game 5 of the NL Division Series, but were eliminated from the NL Championship Series by the Cubs in six games.
With 28 players on the disabled list, including ace Clayton Kershaw for 2 ½ months with a herniated disk, the Dodgers tied franchise records by using 55 players and 31 pitchers. The bullpen, led by Kenley Jansen, set franchise records with league-leading totals in innings pitched and appearances. The staff set an MLB record with 1,510 strikeouts and rookie pitchers accounted for 30 victories. The team led the NL with 46 comeback wins and ranked third with a .986 fielding percentage. Offensively, led by rookie Corey Seager, the club had four players with at least 25 home runs for the first time since 1997 - Seager, Yasmani Grandal, Justin Turner and Joc Pederson. The Dodgers had three All-Stars --Kershaw, Jansen and Seager -- and led MLB in attendance (3,703,312) for the fourth consecutive season and 28th time since moving to Los Angeles.
After the season, Scully received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Esurance MLB Award for Best Call; Seager capped a phenomenal first season by sweeping Rookie of the Year Awards from Esurance, the Baseball Writers Association of America, Players Choice, The Sporting News and Baseball America, and finished third in the BBWAA's Most Valuable Player award; Seager also won the Silver Slugger as the NL's best-hitting shortstop; Jansen was named winner of the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year; Roberts was named NL Manager of the Year by BBWAA and The Sporting News.
2017 - For the first time in 29 years, the Dodgers won the National League pennant and took a record-breaking season into November before dropping the first World Series Game 7 in Dodger Stadium history to Houston. The Dodgers won an unprecedented fifth consecutive NL West title with a 104-58 regular season record, the best in MLB in 2017 and the franchise's best since 1953. They swept the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Division Series and won an NL Championship Series rematch with the Cubs as Dave Roberts joined Tom Lasorda and Joe Torre as the only Dodgers managers to reach the postseason in their first two seasons. Included was a 43-7 run, the best 50-game stretch in franchise history and best in MLB since the 1912 New York Giants.
The Dodgers had six All-Stars - Cody Bellinger, Kenley Jansen, Clayton Kershaw, Corey Seager, Justin Turner and Alex Wood. Offensively, the Dodgers set franchise records with 553 extra-base hits, 312 doubles and 221 home runs. For the first time the club had six players with at least 20 homers - Bellinger, Yasmani Grandal, Yasiel Puig, Seager, Chris Taylor and Turner, the latter finishing third in the NL batting race at .322. Bellinger, despite beginning the season in the Minor Leagues, set an NL home-run record for a rookie with 39. The pitching staff led the NL in ERA, opponents batting average, strikeouts, WHIP and shutouts. Kershaw led the league with 18 wins and a 2.31 ERA. Jansen led MLB relievers with a 1.32 ERA and 15.57 ratio of strikeouts to walks, led the league with a 0.75 WHIP and was tied for the league lead with 41 saves. The Dodgers led MLB in defensive efficiency and led MLB in home attendance for the fifth consecutive season with 3,765,856.
After the season, Bellinger capped a phenomenal first season by winning National League Rookie of the Year Awards from the Baseball Writers Association of America, Players Choice and The Sporting News; Seager won his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award as the NL's best-hitting shortstop; Jansen was named winner of the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award for the second consecutive season; and Chris Taylor and Justin Turner were co-MVPs of the NL Championship Series.
2018 - The Dodgers went 92-71 to win the NL West for the sixth straight year, marking their 17th overall division title, reaching the postseason six consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history. The Dodgers won 90-plus games for the sixth consecutive season, a feat that had only previously been accomplished once in franchise history, 1951-56. The team overcame a season-ending injury to shortstop Corey Seager, rallying from 10 games below .500 and a nine-game deficit to reach the World Series for a second consecutive season, losing to the Red Sox in five games.
The Dodgers' 3.38 ERA led the NL and ranked second in the Majors, behind only Houston's 3.11 mark. The Dodgers also topped the NL in strikeouts (1,565) and WHIP (1.15), while ranking second with a .230 opponents' batting average. L.A pitchers issued the fewest walks in the NL (422) and held opponents to a NL-best .290 OBP. The Dodgers blasted a franchise record and National League-best 235 home runs (2nd MLB, NYY 267). The had seven players finish the season with 20 or more home runs - Cody Bellinger (25), Yasmani Grandal (24), Kiké Hernández (21), Matt Kemp (21), Max Muncy (35), Joc Pederson (25) and Yasiel Puig (23) - the most in franchise history and the most ever by an NL club. Muncy, who opened the season in the Minor Leagues, led the club with 35 homers.
The Dodgers were represented by three players - Matt Kemp (3rd All-Star Game), Kenley Jansen (3rd ASG) and Ross Stripling (1st ASG) - on the National League All-Star team, which was managed by Dave Roberts. He became the first manager in Los Angeles history to lead the Dodgers to the postseason in his first three years with the club. After starting the year on the disabled list (fractured left wrist), Justin Turner returned to the Dodger lineup on May 15 and led the club to a 76-47 (.618) record the rest of the way. Walker Buehler finished third in voting for the National League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award. On July 18, the Dodgers acquired shortstop Manny Machado from Baltimore in a 5-for-1 trade.
Four Dodger pitchers combined to no-hit the Padres on May 4 in Monterrey, Mexico in a 4-0 win. It was the first combined no-hitter in franchise history and the 23rd no-no in club history (13th in LA), which are the most of any team. Buehler pitched six innings, before Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore closed out the game with a hitless frame each. The Dodgers led the Majors for a sixth consecutive season and set a single-season franchise record with a total attendance of 3,857,500 for their 82 home dates.
2019 - The Dodgers won a franchise-record 106 games and their seventh consecutive National League West crown. They went a NL-best 59-22 (.728) at home, the top mark in Los Angeles history and second-best in franchise history (60-17, .779 in 1953). The Dodgers posted the best record in the National League for the sixth time in the divisional era and the club's .654 winning percentage set a Los Angeles record. The Dodgers won the National League West division by 21 games, the largest margin in franchise history, according to STATS LLC. They also won the West division by the largest margin in MLB history, surpassing the 1975 Cincinnati Reds 20 games). The Dodgers clinched the division on Sept. 10, their 146th game of the season, becoming the fastest Los Angeles squad to clinch the division by both date and number of games.
Dodgers pitchers led the Majors in ERA (3.37), WHIP (1.10), opponents' on-base percentage (.282) and opponents' slugging percentage (.379), while issuing the fewest walks (392). Their pitchers held hitters to a .223 batting average, the top mark in the NL and the second-lowest mark in the Majors behind the Astros (.221). The Dodgers' 185 home runs allowed were the second-fewest in baseball. Dodger relievers led the National League with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP, and ranked 2nd in the NL with a .220 opponents' batting average. Los Angeles has led the National League in ERA each of the last three seasons since 2017.
The Dodgers clubbed a National League record 279 home runs, fourth in the Major Leagues, and had 11 players record 10 or more homers, a National League record. The Dodgers clubbed an MLB Opening Day record with eight homers. The Dodgers had 12 walk-off wins, the club's most since 2012, and recorded three consecutive wins in walk-off fashion June 21-23, with home runs by rookies Matt Beaty (June 21), Alex Verdugo (June 22) and Will Smith (June 23). It marked the first time in MLB history that three different rookies hit walk-off home runs in three consecutive games.
The Dodgers were represented by five players - Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Max Muncy - on the National League All-Star team, which was managed for the second consecutive season by Dave Roberts. The club scored a Los Angeles-record 886 runs, which also led the NL. In the modern era (since 1900), only the 1953 Dodgers (955 R) scored more runs in franchise history. The Dodgers led the National League with a franchise-record +273 run differential, behind only the Houston Astros (+280) for best run differential in the Majors.
After the season, Cody Bellinger won the NL MVP, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger. Hyun-Jin Ryu finished second for the Cy Young.