Brian Dozier: Staying hot in the second half

Since June 19th, the Twins sit at 26-22 and at least part of the reason is second baseman Brian Dozier. Since then, Dozier is hitting .304/.354/.686 with 17 homeruns. In fact, since the All-Star break, his line is even better. This goes against a trend he had been setting the last two years.

We’ve talked about this before, but here are his first and second half (pre/post-All-Star break) numbers. Note: The stats in this article don’t include Saturday’s game.

Key: (AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS)

2016

1st half: .246/.335/.450/.786

2nd half: .313/.349/.696/1.045

Total: .264/.339/.516/.855

2015

1st half: .256/.328/.513/.841

2nd half: .210/.280/.359/.639

Total: .236/.307/.444/.751

2014

This year he actually improved his OBP, but his slugging took a hit.

1st half: .242/.340/.436/.777

2nd half: .244/.352/.387/.739

Total: .242/.345/.416/.762

2013

This is the one year where Dozier had a better second half than first half. You can attribute this to Dozier progressing as a hitter as the season went on. After all, this was his breakout year, with no signs of this happening in 2012 where he was hitting (.234/.271/.332/.603).

1st half: .235/.310/.386/.696

2nd half: 253/.313/.443/.757

Total: .244/.312/.414/.726

Career

1st half: .245/.321/.433/.754

2nd half: .242/.314/.424/.738

Total: .244/.319/.429/.748

Can Dozier keep up the 1.045 OPS he’s hitting in the second half? Probably not, but it seems like Dozier may have kicked his second-half bug. One caveat to this is Dozier has hit very well in the month of August (.260/.337/.483/.820) and then dropped off a cliff in September (.223/.300/.344/.644).

I was digging through the archives and found this article about Dozier by Jesse from about what we can expect from him. At that time he was considered a SS prospect.

Expecting great things from Dozier right away isn't what should be exciting about his callup. Instead, let's be excited that we get to see him develop and grow right in front of us, and that two years down the line he's a solid starter. That's the goal.

-What Can We Expect From Brian Dozier? -2012

Just how much better or worse Dozier will become is up in the air. Maybe he’ll regress mightily as soon as I press the “publish” button on this article. One thing is for sure, Dozier is the best second baseman we’ve had in a long while.