Don't Look Now, But Rafael Furcal Is Quietly Coming Back

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The contribution of Rafael Furcal has been an overlooked component of the Dodgers' performance since he arrived in 2006. He was a demon that year, producing 15 homers, 32 doubles, and nine triples, leading to a balanced slash line of .300/.369/.445/.814. Furcal also amassed 73 walks and stole 37 bases. That Dodger team ended up making the playoffs.

Raffy played most of 2007, but he was a shadow of himself due to that horrific moment of idiocy by Jason Repko in Spring Training. The Dodgers missed the playoffs that year.

In 2008, Furcal started like a house on fire, carrying a Manny-esque slash line of .366/.448/.597/1.045 for the first month of the season. He carried that Dodgers team until he was felled until September by a nagging-turned-serious back injury. In the end, the Dodgers needed a huge Manny fueled push to make the playoffs.

This year, Raffy has spent the first three months of the season playing even worse than he was in 2007. By most measures, his defense has been good, but his penchant for mental mistakes has always prevented him from being elite. Unfortunately, his offense has been absolutely awful, as shown by his first half OPS of .682, including a frighteningly low .566 OPS in May. In addition, he stole a mere six bases, including four failed attempts, which would seem to indicate he's still tentative about testing his back.

The good news is that things are looking up for one of the Dodgers' most popular players, as he showed significant improvement in July. In the month, Furcal posted a .343/.395/.500/.895 slash line and 10 of his 37 hits went for extra bases. Even his speed has been marginally better, as evidenced by him hitting his only three triples on the year in July and being 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts.

The hope is that Raffy has begun to put his injury related struggles behind him, and the Dodgers end up getting July's production out of him over the rest of his contract. If so, Furcal can take his place among the best leadoff men in the league again, and the Dodgers will be a much greater force to be reckoned with.

64
reads

2
comments

0
likes

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?