Dodgers' Dave Roberts Gets Honest About LA's Bad Outfield Defense

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been off to a great start as they are tied for the best record in baseball at 53-32, but there are still a few glaring holes that the team must address before the most important stretch of the year.

L.A. has had a problem with its fielding this season as the All-Star break approaches, and manager Dave Roberts recently touched on the criticism that his outfield has been receiving.

“It’s fair,” Roberts said. “I think as a defender, we can’t be everywhere. I think that if you look at our outfield construction, we’re not fleet of foot. And we knew that as we built the roster. And so there’s going to be some cost. When balls have some hang time, on the line or in the gap, and we can’t get to them, that’s part of it.

“So we have to make the plays that we’re supposed to make. But there’s not a bunch of sprinters in the outfield. That’s just kind of how we’re constructed.”

The Dodgers are at league average in terms of total defensive efficiency, grading out at a .698 mark this season in terms of balls in play being converted into outs. However, in terms of the Baseball Information Systems' Good Plays/Misplays Runs Above Average stat, L.A. is tied for the second-worst mark in the majors at a score of negative-3.

This stat deals with the "number of runs above or below average the player was worth based on plays where they made an exceptional contribution or obviously misplayed the situation," per Baseball Reference.

To Roberts' point, Teoscar Hernández, the everyday right fielder for L.A., ranks in the first percentile (the worst in MLB) among qualified players with an Outs Above Average ranking of negative-8.

Michael Conforto, the starting left fielder of the Dodgers, ranks in just the ninth percentile of fielders in baseball with a negative-4 Outs Above Average ranking.

As the trade deadline gets closer, perhaps more outfield depth will be atop the Dodgers' wishlist, with a defensive specialist to provide more consistency, while also getting quality at-bats in a star-studded lineup.