LA continues to have one of the worst offenses in baseball over the last few weeks
The second I saw the Dodgers lineup I wanted to immediately bet the under. With a chance to win the series, the Dodgers’ offense went ice cold as they fell to the Cardinals, 2-1.
In case you missed the starting lineup, let me read off the batting averages of the players that were hitting in the 5-8 spots, not to mention the pitcher hitting ninth:
.158, .161, .192, .217
Players like Corey Seager, Chris Taylor and Will Smith all had the day off. I’d totally be fine with that if this was May or if the Dodgers had an eight-game lead in the division. But no. There are only three weeks remaining in the season and the Dodgers trailed the Giants by two games in the division.
That’s the lineup they rolled out there.
“Guys are going to have to have days off,” Dave Roberts said on why he gave certain players days off. “That’s the nature of this game. We’ve run other guys and had the same result. It’s not predictable, as much as you can say it was. We know our offense has struggled with different guys at the bottom of the lineup.”
As expected, the offense did nothing. They scored one run on four hits. Trea Turner had two hits, with Mookie Betts and Max Muncy each recording a hit as well. The players that batted in the 5-9 spots went a combined 0-for-17. The lone player to reach base was Albert Pujols, who walked in his pinch-hitting appearance.
“We just couldn’t build innings and just couldn’t put things together,” Roberts said. “It’s just that time where results matter. The process has been good and we jus have to keep grinding.”
The Dodgers need to do something and they need to do it quick. Whether that is calling up Matt Beaty and Gavin Lux or figuring out how to fit guys in the lineup. This offense has been among one of the worst in all of baseball over the last three weeks and it has cost the Dodgers numerous times.
Thank god for the pitching or else this division race would be over. LA’s pitching staff has kept them in so many games and has been the reason they’ve won a lot of these close finishes.
With today’s loss, the Dodgers are 2.5 games out of first place. A win would have put them only 1.5 games back.
Yes, there’s still plenty of time. I have faith in the Dodgers to still win this division. With that being said, a lineup with all these All-Stars should not be struggling to score runs. They simply shouldn’t be. This needs to turn around and it needs to turn around this weekend. It doesn’t matter if you have the best pitching in the game, all it takes is one game for another team to outscore you and your season is over.