Daily Dodger in Review: Just a glimpse of Adrian Gonzalez?
ADRIAN GONZALEZ: 30, first base
Final 2012 stats: .299 batting average, 18 home runs, 108 RBI, career-high 47 doubles, .344 on-base and .463 slugging percentages, three errors.
Contract status: Will be in the second year of a seven-year, $154-million deal.
The good: In his 36 games as a Dodger, he hit .297 with three homers and 22 RBIs. Finished the year on a 15-game hitting streak, longest by any Dodger of the season. Hit dramatic three-run homer in his first at-bat as a Dodger.
Notorious for grounding into double plays (he led the American League with 28 in 2011); hit into only one as a Dodger.
The bad: After his home run in his Dodgers debut, he went another 26 games before he hit another one. And by then, the Dodgers were essentially out of it, their offense failing to ignite after his Aug. 24 acquisition.
Since becoming a regular, his slugging percentage and home run total were the lowest of his career.
What’s next: He’s supposed to be one of the game’s premier players. That’s why he’s here, to stabilize what had been an unproductive power position and anchor the heart of the lineup.
What’s next is he’s supposed to be leading the Dodgers to the Promised Land. That’s all.
The take: There are plenty of Dodgers eager for a fresh start next season, and Gonzalez may lead the list. He told The Times’ Dylan Hernandez he thought the reason his season was something less than Gonzalez-like was not because of health or joining the Dodgers late in the season, but simply because his swing felt slightly off all season.
In his six previous seasons, he hit .297 and averaged 31.3 home runs, 103 RBI and a .520 slugging percentage, so it’s not like he has far so far to come back from. He’s still in his prime, and figures to be a centerpiece for years to come. Anyway, the Dodgers had better hopes.
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