Adrian Gonzalez is first player to hit five homers in season’s first three games
It’s amazing that in all of the hoopla and drama that surrounds the Los Angeles Dodgers and the National League West in general, former all-star Adrian Gonzalez tends to go overlooked. Not because he’s unproductive, either — Gonzalez led the NL last season with 116 RBIs — but because other players — and now even general managers — command the attention more.
Don’t worry though, A-Gone. You have our full attention thanks to your historic start to the 2015 season.
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On Wednesday night, Gonzalez delivered three solo home runs against his former team, the San Diego Padres, to lead the Dodgers to a 7-4 victory. The home runs were Gonzalez’s third, fourth and fifth of the season, which according to Elias established a new individual record through the first three games of a season.
For a little more perspective on how hot Gonzalez is:
We can safely call off the voting for the NL player of the week award.
Gonzalez started his home run binge on opening day with a fourth-inning round tripper against James Shields. On Tuesday, he followed with a game-tying solo home run in the eighth inning off Joaquin Benoit. In Wednesday’s game, he went deep in the first, third and fifth inning against Andrew Cashner.
The only problem: All five have come with the bases empty, so he only has seven RBIs despite the home run total and 10 hits in 13 plate appearances.
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Not that anyone in Los Angeles is complaining. The Dodgers, in particular, have to be happy just seeing Gonzalez hitting for power after he said last season that he doesn’t see himself as a home run hitter at this stage in his career. At 32, Gonzalez finished with 27 homers last season. That’s actually a very respectable number hitting in Dodger Stadium, but the Dodgers would gladly embrace a 35-40 home run season, which Gonzalez did twice in San Diego.
Does Gonzalez still have that in him? Time will certainly tell, but it’s encouraging to see how free and easy his swing looks, and how quickly the baseball explodes once he makes contact.
He’s the very definition of locked in right now, and the Dodgers will keep riding the wave for as long as they can.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
