While a given hitter’s performance in the clutch can very year to year — or as we’ll see, month to month — Dodger batters are having timeless success with runners on base in 2025.
Los Angeles leads the Major Leagues in its performance with runners in scoring position (RISP), and it’s not close. The Dodgers have posted a .298 batting average, .374 on-base percentage, .545 slugging percentage and .919 OPS to top MLB in all four categories.
That RISP OPS is .057 ahead of the next-closest team, the Chicago Cubs, and in fact would be the highest in recorded Dodger history for that category, dating back to 1912. Only the 2020 San Diego Padres have finished a campaign with a higher mark in MLB history.
Not for nothing — in fact, quite for something — the Boys in Blue have the best OPS with runners in scoring position and two out (.929) and with at least one runner at any base (.855).
Who’s responsible for all this pitcher-plaguing success? Among MLB players with at least 15 RISP plate appearances, the Dodgers boast four of the top eight in OPS: Freddie Freeman (second at 1.458), Tommy Edman (fifth at 1.348), Will Smith (seventh at 1.270) and Teoscar Hernández (eighth at 1.266).
Now, as we hinted above, past performance in the clutch does not guarantee future results, near-term or long-term. Look no farther to illustrate this point than Shohei Ohtani. Through early May in 2024, Ohtani was hitting .184/.250/.237/.487, alongside the fewest RBI of any Major Leaguer with at least 35 at-bats in RISP opportunities. However, keen-memoried fans might recall he finished last season a wee bit stronger, including one heater in which he went 16 for 19. (Exclamation points for that last sentence available at your request.)
How much of the Dodgers’ 2025 success with baserunners ahoy can hold up? That’s for the future to reveal. What we can say is that in what has been a competitive pennant race to date, the Dodgers have banked a MLB-best 25 wins, and their clutch stats are a big reason why.
Record RISP pace propels Dodgers was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.