The Los Angeles Dodgers have deviated from their Opening Day lineup quite a bit over the course of the season, mainly to combat struggles from certain bats in the batting order.
This week also saw the return of Teoscar Hernández from the 10-day injured list, which opens the door for a more dynamic structuring of the bottom half of the lineup on a day-to-day basis.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s sort of kind of a day-to-day thing from five through nine, essentially,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on SportsNet LA. “With Teo in there, he’ll probably hit five [Tuesday] as well. And then with the right-handed pitchers, just trying to figure out where to put Teo, Muncy and Tucker. That’s kind of the decision point every day.”
From a pure handedness advantage, the Dodgers’ lineup was slightly more flexible with the 11-year veteran inactive. Ryan Ward and Alex Call formed a platoon in left field, and Tommy Edman made a handful of starts since returning from the injured list.
Ward was optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room for Hernández on the active roster.
The Dodgers do lose some of their ability to create handedness advantages with another right-handed bat in the lineup on a regular basis. Still, the upgrade in talent and experience makes it matter less.
As Roberts mentioned, the onus is on him and the front office to put together an effective batting order. The Dodgers’ skipper should be more than up to the task, given the organization’s track record for over a decade.
Roberts became the 69th manager in MLB history to reach 1,000 career wins with Tuesday’s victory. He became the fourth Dodgers skipper to achieve the feat and reached it in the fewest amount of games at 1,606.
The record previously belonged to Cap Anson, who needed 1,641 games to reach 1,000 wins. New York Yankees manager Joe McCarthy held the Live Ball Era Record (since 1920) by notching his 1,000th career win in 1,648 games.
Mookie Betts feeling like himself in Dodgers lineup
One of the batting order changes the Dodgers made this season was moving Mookie Betts down from the No. 2 spot amid his struggles.
However, the 33-year-old has had a productive month of June and is finally starting to look like his old self again.
While Betts isn’t ready to say his season is back on track just yet, he is starting to feel comfortable in the batter’s box again.
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