(This also could be used in context of a manger in the postseason about slumping players but I digress)
The Los Angeles Dodgers have, on paper, one of the most high powered offense in all of Major League Baseball. They may also have the most inconsistent.
Dodgers fans are well versed in the offense going flat once the playoffs roll around. Coaches and players swear it’s not the long layoff that comes with having one of the top two records at season’s end. But it has happened many times in that same scenario.
And this year, it’s happening more in the season also.
There are some contributing factors. Max Muncy has been on the IL since May 16, and since then the Dodgers offense 26th in runs scored, averaging 3.66 per game; 28th in OPS with RISP, dead last in OPS with any runner on, and 28th in hard hit rate.
With Muncy out of the lineup, the Dodgers have had a rotating cast covering third base. Chris Taylor, Kiké Hernandez, and Miguel Rojas all have gotten starts. We’ve previously discussed Taylor’s terrible start to the season. Kiké is batting a paltry .202, and Rojas is the best out of the group, hitting .267 with two homers.
Another factor, semi-related to Muncy being out, is that Mookie Betts has found himself in quite the slump. Betts was top of the leaderboard in most offensive categories to start the season.
Mookie entered Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-for-25, and batting .236 with a .685 OPS over his last 32 games.
Manager Dave Roberts had this to say about the situation –
“I think the lazy, easy answer is because of his workload at shortstop. I just don’t buy that … I think this is one of those situations where, the world would wait for Mookie to start not staying hot, and say that’s why…I just want time to pass. I trust his work. I know he’s gonna hit. He’s gotten a lot better at shortstop. And we still got a first-place ball club. He’s still a pretty good player.”
Roberts thinks that Mookie is “just missing some pitches” lately, especially the inside ones he usually attacks.
If Muncy were in the lineup, presumably Mookie would be able to get more time at second base. Regardless, Mookie is too good a player to be in a slump for too long – but something to monitor as the season progresses.
Some fans are calling for a new pitching coach because the slumping offense is not a new phenomenon. Since Robert Van Scoyoc has become the hitting coach in 2019, the Dodgers offense has gone cold every playoff stretch – even in 2020 when they won the World Series, they had to dig themselves out of a 3-1 hole in the NLCS.
As a team, they have seemed to take a much less aggressive approach. Roberts has stated that they seem to be waiting a beat too long, to let the ball get a little deeper in the zone. This approach is not leading to the offensive fire power we all expect.
Watching the team in Pittsburgh this week, it seems to be affecting all facets of the game. The Dodgers didn’t score any run in the series opener. James Paxton completely melted down in the second game, allowing seven runs in the second inning, a deficit the Dodgers could not come back from (although they did manage to chase phenom Paul Skenes in the fifth inning). And while they scored four runs in the first inning of the final game, they recorded three errors in the first three innings, stressing starter Walker Buehler who faltered some and allowed the Pirates to tie it up in the third inning.
The Dodgers did go on to have an offensive outburst, scoring 11 runs, but once again the defense didn’t help the pitching. Betts had two errors in the game. They hung on to win, 11-7.
No rest for the weary as the Dodgers now head into New York to take on the red hot Yankees. All three games will be prime time, with the eyes of the country watching to see if the offense is back on track, or was just doing well against less than stellar Pirates pitching.
I wouldn’t imagine anything drastic would be done soon, like firing Van Scoyoc. The Dodgers as an organization tend to give personnel very long, long runways. The offense is a rollercoaster. If nothing changes fans have to hope that they enter the postseason on a high.