The Los Angeles Dodgers have hit a rough patch over the last week of play, particularly on the offensive side of things.
The club has scored three runs or less in seven of their previous eight games — the lone exception being a 16-run outburst against the Toronto Blue Jays last Tuesday.
L.A.’s recent offensive struggles carried over into Monday’s opener against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The club mustered up just three runs on seven hits while striking out 13 times en route to their third loss in four games.
Justin Turner downplayed the Dodgers’ week-long skid and is simply focusing on putting together quality at-bats, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“This is baseball. I mean, if you guys expect us to score 10, 12 runs every single night, you guys are out of your minds. Just got to keep working, keep trying to put together ABs. Stuff like this happens throughout the course of a season to every single team, no matter how good or bad they are. This is baseball.”
A.J. Pollock echoed Turner’s comments and emphasized the importance of staying true to one’s approach rather than making a drastic change:
“It’s just the season. You go through stretches where — last inning, I don’t really want to swing at any of those pitches and I strike out. It just happens. I think you’ve just got to stay with it. The key is not to change. Just try to hunt your pitches, and sometimes you don’t get them.”
Though the Dodgers struggled as a whole over an eight-game stretch before breaking out in Tuesday’s win, Turner has been one of the few bright spots in the lineup. He has collected five hits in his last 13 at-bats, including a three-hit performance against on Monday.
Though, Turner’s night ended in a disagreement with home-plate umpire Rob Drake, during which the two made contact. As a result Turner was fined and undisclosed amount by MLB and suspended one game. He’s appealing the punishment.
While Turner has thrived from an individual standpoint, the same can’t be said for Pollock. The 31-year-old is in the midst of a slump, having tallied just five hits over 25 at-bats (.200) before a 3-for-5 effort Tuesday.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opined that the team’s overall offensive struggles correlate with a drop-off in at-bat quality.
Usually disciplined and rarely chasing pitches out of the strike zone, the Dodgers have shifted away from this formula as of late, which in turn, has led to more strikeouts.
In four games prior to defeating the Padres, the Dodgers struck out 52 times in comparison to drawing just 10 walks.
