Do the Dodgers have a problem hitting left-handers?

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Short answer: Does Frank McCourt have an image problem?

OK, so last season, they pretty much had trouble hitting any kind of pitching. Right-handers, lefties, submariners, old guys, rookies and, I’m pretty sure, two of the Kardashians.

Yet the perception is, with the left-handed-hitting Andre Ethier and James Loney, the Dodgers were particularly vulnerable to lefties.

Against left-handers as a team last season, the Dodgers hit .247 (tied for 24th), with an on-base percentage of .314 (24th) and a slugging percentage of .364 (26th).

Yep, that qualifies as pretty horrific.

The reality is, it sadly wasn’t a whole lot worse than they hit against right-handers: .254 (18th), .324 on-base (tied for 15th) and a .384 slugging (tied for 22nd).

But against left-handed starters, they went 23-27; against right-handers, 57-55.

So, yeah, left-handers were more of a problem, though not as dramatically as you might suspect. The Dodgers just generally reeked as an offensive team last season, particularly in the second half.

There’s not much reason, however, to believe they will lift their game against lefties next season. Here’s a possible Dodgers lineup and their career numbers (average, on-base, slugging) against lefties:

Rafael Furcal (switch) -- .283, .349, .400.

Matt Kemp (right) -- .341, .390, .536

Andre Ethier (left) -- .247, .311, .370.

Juan Uribe (right) -- .259, .305, .439.

James Loney (left) -- .261, .321, .381.

Casey Blake (right) -- .271, .360, .489.

Jay Gibbons (left) -- .265, .300, .423.

Rod Barajas (right) -- .229, .283, .413.

Outside of Kemp and Blake, there’s not a whole lot there. And Ethier’s numbers versus lefties seriously went in the wrong direction last season (.233, .292, .333), as did Loney’s (.222, .262, 313). Not a promising sign.

The ever-so-slim hope remains that they might sign a right-handed bat to platoon in left, though Gibbons’ numbers against left-handers are actually better than four other starters.

Lefties figure to be continued trouble for the Dodgers, and that’s no minor problem.

-- Steve Dilbeck