It has been said in sports that teams cannot just flip-a-switch in order to improve their performance.
Well, the 2025 Dodgers appear to be an exception. The team has stepped up to play better team baseball after manager Dave Roberts challenged them to play better team baseball.
Perhaps it was 27-year-old Dodgers starting right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto shutting down the San Diego Padres offense in the Dodgers 8-2 win on Sunday, August 24. Or, was it 24-year-old Dodgers rookie catcher Dalton Rushing’s three-run home run in the seventh inning that slammed the switch open?
The Dodgers next game was against the charging Cincinnati Reds and their flame throwing, right-handed pitcher Hunter Greene. No problem, the switch had already been flipped.
Taking nothing away from Dodgers starting right-hander Emmet Sheehan’s terrific seven-inning performance (no runs, 2 hits, 1 walk,10 strikeouts), but the Dodgers defense was a difference-maker. Outfielders Michael Conforto, Teoscar Hernández, and Andy Pages made exceptional game-changing plays; the type of defensive plays Dodgers fans have been longing for the entire season. And Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts took his defensive game to a higher level, making plays like the great Hall of Fame shortstop – The Wizard of Oz (Ozzie Smith).
(SportsNet LA)
And the Dodgers offense that, for weeks, has been offensive to watch, stepped up their game, with the heretofor maligned Conforto hitting two doubles and Pages belting two home runs.
Has the switch been flipped for the remainder of the 2025 season?
Dodgers fans can only hope.
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