by Megan Garcia
Since the National League Wild Card Series, the Dodger offense has stood mostly in the background behind a dominant starting rotation.
The lineup found ways to drive in enough runs to get past some elite arms on the Dodgers’ way to the World Series.
But with the Blue Jays showing their prowess for contact and power in Game 1 of the Fall Classic, scoring 11 runs against Los Angeles pitching, the urgency for the Dodger offense to produce has reached its height.
That’s a known within the Dodgers.
“I think just in totality in the postseason, I think that we can be better,” said manager Dave Roberts. “I think that we have done a nice job at times of building innings, but when it comes down to winning a pitch, getting a base hit, hitting the ball the other way, whatever it might be — taking a walk, we haven’t been great situationally. We really haven’t in the postseason.
“So my hope is that once we create stress, then we can sort of finish off innings. Yeah, I think we’re doing a good job of getting there, but we got to do a better job of finishing, which I think that we’re certainly capable of doing that.”
The Dodgers are hitting .227 with runners in scoring position, the second-lowest mark among playoff teams (minimum five games played).
They average nearly seven runners left on base per game in October. The Blue Jays average just over five per game.
During the regular season, the Dodger offense ranked third in baseball with a .292 batting average with runners in scoring position. Their .475 slugging percentage was the best in Major League Baseball.
Things have been different in the postseason. The first Fall Classic game was an example of it.
During Friday’s 11–4 loss to the Blue Jays, the lineup did go 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position. But the inning that most are pointing to is the second, when the Dodgers scored once and left the bases loaded.
The Dodgers also left a runner on third base in the third inning.
Game 2 presents a chance for the Dodger offense to hit its stride against Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman.
“We know we’re going up against a great pitcher,” said second baseman Tommy Edman. “He has a couple of really good pitches, good execution, so we’ve got to be really disciplined with our game plan. But we’ve talked that through as a team. And I felt like yesterday we had a pretty good approach against their starter and hopefully we can do the same today.”
The Dodgers slashed .252/.331/.439/.769 against right-handers in the regular season. Their OPS was the third-highest in MLB.
Mookie Betts is a career .309 hitter against Gausman in 53 plate appearances with three home runs. Max Muncy has a 1.423 OPS in 23 plate appearances. Each has three homers against the veteran right-hander.
“Today’s a different day,” Roberts said. “The psyche, the mentality, the mindset is good from our guys.”
2025 World Series: The Dodger offense has now grown in importance was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.