What was a miserable start to the season with the Twins has carried over to Los Angeles for Brian Dozier, who on Saturday was benched for the fourth time in the past five games.
Dozier, if you’ll recall, got off to a hot start after being traded from the Twins to the Dodgers on July 31. He went 4-for-9 with two home runs, two doubles in his first two games but has since hit .154 in 36 games and just .183 overall with the Dodgers, according to Baseball America’s Aaron Gleeman.
In fact, Dozier is now hitting just .216 with a brutal .305 on-base percentage and even uglier .388 slugging percentage this season.
So what’s kept Dozier from going on his usual August and September home run binge? A knee injury could be to blame, as Dozier recently said he’s been playing through a knee problem most of the season, although he’s not using it as an excuse.
And outside of Ryan Pressly having success with the Houston Astros, most of the players the Twins traded in July have been average or worse for their new teams.
Traded away Twins in their new homes …
Brian Dozier — .183/.297/.333 in 38 games
Eduardo Escobar — .248/.320/.418 in 42 games
Lance Lynn — 4.79 ERA in 41 innings
Fernando Rodney — 3.52 ERA in 15 innings
Ryan Pressly — 0.96 ERA in 19 innings
Zach Duke — 6.30 ERA in 10 innings— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) September 15, 2018
The Twins didn’t get any marquee prospects in return for Dozier or the other players, but the amount of prospects they got give them a brighter future than they might’ve had otherwise.
Time will tell for the Twins, and Dozier, whose struggles will undoubtedly cost him a lot of money when he becomes a free agent after the season.
