The Los Angeles Dodgers are currently navigating a challenging period, having lost their last three series, marked by subpar pitching, offensive struggles, and defensive miscues. The offensive performance, in particular, has been a key concern, especially given the team’s talent and the high expectations surrounding them.
So far this season, the Dodgers’ offense ranks in the middle of the league with a 108 wRC+ and ninth in runs scored with 74, while posting a .225/.304/.423 slash line. “I think it’s a collective as I’ve said it this past week,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged.
Los Angeles Dodgers Rotating Players, Looking For Offense At The Bottom Of The Order
“I just think that offensively, we’re just not taking as many good team at-bats.” Roberts added, “Obviously, the guys at the bottom have struggled getting on base, and so hopefully Kiké and Miggy Ro today can get on base for Shohei, and turn that line up over. I think right now, we just haven’t been synced up. But I think it’ll be short-lived.”
While the Dodgers have several starters performing well, including Will Smith, Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernández, Tommy Edman, and Michael Conforto—all of whom have been at least 25% above league average, with the first four exceeding that mark by at least 40%—the bottom of the lineup has been a source of limited production.
Andy Pages has been the most productive of this group but is still performing approximately 30% below league average. E. Hernández, Max Muncy, and Miguel Rojas have all received significant playing time with minimal returns, creating a noticeable void in the latter part of the batting order.
“I think for Andy’s situation, I’ve used that 150 plate appearance benchmark,” Roberts stated when questioned about the team’s patience with the struggling players. “I think Kiké figured some things out offensively the last couple days, and it’s worked, that we’re going to start seeing some better at-bats. It was good to see Miggy got a couple hits. But these are our guys right now, so I’m going to just continue to run them out there and sort of mix and match. And obviously I got to find a way to include Chris Taylor as well, to get him some at-bats too.”
It’s highly probable that the Dodgers’ offense will rebound and return to its expected level of performance. However, if the struggling players at the bottom of the lineup fail to improve, the Dodgers have several viable options in Triple-A who could potentially address and resolve some of the team’s offensive challenges.