Dodgers 2022 league leaders & records

Oct 5, 2022 - 11:10 PM

The regular season is now complete, and the Dodgers finished the season with the second-most wins in National League history at 111-51.

Those 111 wins are tied with Cleveland in 1954 for the fourth-most wins in major league history, trailing only the 1906 Cubs (116-36), 2001 Mariners (116-46), and 1998 Yankees (114-48). At 111-51, the Dodgers’ .685 winning percentage is their best ever for a full season, surpassing the 1899 (101-47, .6824) and 1953 (105-49, .6818) Brooklyn teams.

Los Angeles outscored opponents by 329 runs in 2022, the fifth-best run differential in MLB since 1900. The Dodgers did that by leading the majors in runs scored (847) and fewest runs allowed (513). They also led the National League in both runs scored and fewest runs allowed every year dating back to 2018, the only team in major league history to lead their league in both for five consecutive seasons.

The 513 runs allowed is the lowest total by a major league team in a full season since 1972. That year was shortened by a week because of a strike, but the 430 runs allowed by the 1972 Orioles and 457 allowed by the Pirates that season worked out to fewer per game (2.79, 2.95) than this year’s Dodgers (3.17).

Dodgers pitchers led baseball by allowing a paltry .2728 on-base percentage this season. That’s the second-lowest OBP against in major league history, trailing only the 2020 Dodgers (.2724). The Dodgers in the last four seasons have the four lowest OBP allowed in major league history.

Against National League West teams the Dodgers were 54-22 (.711), their best win percentage against the NL West since divisional play began in 1969. The old mark was held by the 1974 team that was 63-27 (.700) against the division.

The Dodgers set a franchise record with 325 doubles, averaging over two per game for the first time in club history. They led the National League with all those doubles, the first time a Dodgers led the league in doubles since Brooklyn in 1955. They had two players with 40 doubles (Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts) for the first time since 1930, and had nine players with 20 doubles for the second time ever.

Twelve different Dodgers pitchers recorded a save in 2022, the most of any team in club history. Six had multiple saves, LA’s most since 1991.

The individuals

Freddie Freeman led the majors in doubles, his 47 two-baggers tied for fourth-most in a season in Dodgers history. Forty-seven is a career high for Freeman, who also led the NL in doubles in 2018 and 2020.

Freeman also led the majors with 199 hits, the most by a Dodger since Adrián Beltré’s 200 hits in 2004. He’s the first full-season Dodger to lead the league in hits since Steve Garvey in 1980 (Trea Turner led the NL in hits in 2021, a season split between the Nationals and Dodgers).

Freeman topped the National League with a .407 on-base percentage, outpacing Paul Goldschmidt (.404) and Juan Soto (.401). Freeman is the first Dodger since Pedro Guerrero (.422) in 1985 to lead the NL in OBP.

Freeman led in batting average — both in the NL and the majors — as late as Sunday, but an 0-for-12 slump dropped him to second place. Freeman’s three hits on the final day of the season brought him back up to .325, just behind Jeff McNeil of the Mets (.326).

Freeman and Mookie Betts tied for the NL lead with 117 runs scored. Freeman also led the NL in runs scored in 2020 and 2021. He’s the first player to lead the league in runs for three straight years since Mike Trout from 2012-2014, and the first in the NL since Albert Pujols from 2003-2005.

Betts also led the American League in runs scored in 2018 and 2019. Combined with Trea Turner’s 102 runs, the Dodgers had three triple-digit run scorers for the first time since 1962.

Trea Turner, who was second in the majors to Freeman with 194 hits, hit a three-run home run on the season’s final day to give him 100 runs batted in, the first shortstop in Dodgers history with 100 RBI and 100 runs in a season. The only other Dodgers middle infielders to do it were Jackie Robinson (in his MVP season of 1949) and Jeff Kent (2005), both of whom played second base.

Freeman drove in Turner in the seventh inning on Wednesday to collect his own 100th RBI, giving the Dodgers 100-RBI teammates for the first time since Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp in 2009. In between, the Dodgers only had four individual 100-RBI seasons.

Gavin Lux hit seven triples, tying Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo for the NL lead. Lux is the first Dodger to lead the NL in triples since Dee Strange-Gordon in 2014.

Trea Turner led the NL with 130 singles, after also leading the league in singles (and hits) in 2021.

Betts’ career-best 35 home runs all came out of the leadoff spot, the most in Dodgers history for one season. Those 35 leadoff homers are tied for the seventh-most in a season in MLB history, but did not lead the league this year, thanks to Kyle Schwarber hitting 38 of his 46 home runs while batting first.

Freeman and Trea Turner tied atop the NL with 708 plate appearances, the first time a Dodger led the league in PA since Brett Butler in 1991. It’s the first time two Dodgers batted 700 times since Davey Lopes (726) and Steve Garvey (704) in 1975. It’s the first time any Dodger batted 700 times since Juan Pierre in 2007.

Julio Urías led the National League with a 2.16 ERA, the eighth Los Angeles Dodger to lead the league in ERA. His 193 ERA+ also led the NL, and is fourth-best in franchise history.

Urías left 86.6 percent of his runners on base, tops in the majors. He also had the lowest on-base percentage against (.251).

Evan Phillips led major league relievers (minimum 50 innings) with a 1.14 ERA, which also stands as the Dodgers franchise record for lowest ERA in a season in at least 40 innings. Phillips led the Dodgers with 64 appearances and 63 relief innings. He allowed one run over his final 27 appearances of the season, including a hidden perfect game, retiring 29 batters in a row from August 6-30.

That’s not to shortchange Yency Almonte, who signed a minor league deal in March and was up with the Dodgers by May. In 35⅓ innings, the right-hander posted a 1.02 ERA, tops in the majors for pitchers with at least 30 innings. Among all-time Dodgers seasons of at least 30 innings, only Hank Aguirre’s 0.69 mark in 1969 beats Almonte. Aguirre was a Dodgers rewind subject on the True Blue LA podcast back in July.

Tyler Anderson, the veteran who signed a one-year contract and started the year in the bullpen, led the Dodgers with 178⅔ innings pitched, and led all major league starting pitchers in lowest hard-hit rate (28.5 percent) and lowest average exit velocity (85 mph). He ended up fifth in the NL with a 2.57 ERA.

Tony Gonsolin missed six weeks near the end of the season with a forearm strain, so he fell short of qualifying for leaderboards, but finished 16-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 130⅓ innings. His split-fingered pitch a value of 16 runs better than average, the best splitter in the sport in 2022.

Walker Buehler tied for the major league lead with one shutout, thanks to his blanking of the D-backs on April 25. One of 16 shutouts in MLB this year.