Entering play on Friday, the Los Angeles Dodgers once again have the best record in baseball at 21-10 despite yet hitting their stride.
For most of the season, the club has not been synced up. When they’ve had strong pitching, the offense hasn’t been there, and when the offense has shown up, the pitching has slacked. Defense has also been an issue for the Dodgers with multiple starting players among the least effective defenders in MLB.
Miguel Rojas is one of the players who has struggled the most to begin the season, both with his bat and surprisingly, his glove. He feels those issues have been because he was trying too hard, instead of just doing his job and performing in the role they need him to.
“I feel like everybody is following what we’re here for. At the beginning of the season I was trying to do too much and putting a little bit of pressure on myself,” Rojas said this week.
“Then I realized, ‘OK, this is my role on this team. Getting on base, trying to move the guys over, let the top of the lineup do damage and get the guys in. And I’ll get my own opportunities.'”
Multiple players on the roster are still trying to find their footing this season. Max Muncy just hit his first home run of the season, and Michael Conforto has been in a prolonged slump.
But when things start to click for them, Rojas feels the Dodgers’ offense is going to be a force to be reckoned with.
“I think that’s going to be important for us to continue to do that, even though a lot of players are trying to figure out ways to get better,” he said. “Like Munce, and you see how Pages was a week ago and now he’s the hottest hitter in baseball. I think when this offense continues to get better every single day, we’re going to be unstoppable.”
But for those who are struggling, it can be difficult to deal with from a mental standpoint. They want to help the team win, but it’s difficult to do that with an 0-for day at the plate.
Still, Rojas believes if the Dodgers keep a postseason mentality and focus on doing anything they can to help the club win, rather than just what’s happening at the plate, things will work out. That’s the message that has been shared throughout the club, and it’s led to a five-game winning streak.
“Yeah, it’s tough. When you ask someone about how their season is going, you’re probably not going to remember what happened in April in many of those years,” Rojas said. “But April is part of the season. A lot of the guys started hot and other guys started slow. For us, it was a stretch where a couple guys hit a slump at the same time.
“It’s not easy when you have a couple guys struggling and worrying about their own battles they have to fight every single day. You don’t play as a team when you’re trying to get out of your own head. I think that’s what’s going on right now. Everyone is kind of buying into more of playoff baseball.
“It’s really hard to play playoff baseball every single day for 162, but I feel like that’s the mentality that we have to have. What do I need to do today to get the team an opportunity to win? That’s the message the last couple days. Keep moving on, it doesn’t matter what the scoreboard says, what the numbers say. Just continue to be a good player for that day.
“It doesn’t matter what happened in the past, just try to play winning baseball every single day.”
As Rojas points out, the regular season is a grind and it’s not sustainable to play with postseason intensity on a daily basis. It’s also not possible to manage 162 games with the same strategy of managing in the postseason.
But from an individual standpoint, if a player commits to not worrying about their stats and only worrying about the team, it can be beneficial for both in the long run.
Andy Pages found success after meeting with Dodgers leadership
After an extremely difficult start to the season, Andy Pages has become arguably the best hitter in baseball for the past 10 days and was named co-National League Player of the Week for games played from April 21-27.
His recent turnaround has been linked to recent conversations with Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and manager Dave Roberts.
“The team has talked to me and told me to relax, just go out there and play,” Pages said through an interpreter. “Things have been working out.”
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
