The Los Angeles Dodgers have played well short of expectations for several weeks as injuries continued to mount and most, if not the entire, lineup has fallen into an extended slump.
Among other shortcomings during the stretch, the Dodgers were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in the season series.
“It’s frustrating. And I think that’s a word that everyone uses when things aren’t going well,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said this week. “But you also have to make your own breaks, and when things are tough, you can’t do things to sabotage yourself.”
The Dodgers’ ongoing struggles at the plate were compounded Sunday by committing three errors. They seemingly were a factor in Clayton Kershaw being plenty frustrated and prompted Roberts to question his team’s attention to detail.
“I think that the defense, the plays that I’ve seen, I think are lack of focus. That’s what I feel,” Roberts said.
“And recently, we’re seeing that more and more. And like I said, that shouldn’t happen with our club.”
With the subpar stretch of play, the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West has dwindled but they still have one of the better records in baseball. Some of that can be attributed to an 8-0 start this season and performing well during what took shape to be a grueling part in the Dodgers’ schedule of facing postseason-caliber opponents.
But that went by the wayside more recently amid series sweeps at the hands of the Houston Astros and Brewers.
“The way we’ve played, it really doesn’t matter,” answered Roberts when asked about the Dodgers’ recent struggles against quality opponents. “We’ve got to play better.”
Do Dodgers need vocal leader?
One area of focus that often gets attention during a subpar stretch is clubhouse leadership, and in particular if there is a clear voice that emerges. The Dodgers currently lean toward a roster of players who lead by example.
“I don’t necessarily believe there needs to be,” Roberts said of the prospect of a vocal leader. “I think what’s happening, and it sort of came to a head with the way Clayton responded after his outing, that was a lot of frustration, in my opinion, of the way we’ve played.
“I think one of the things we do pretty well is consistently do the little things, which lead to winning baseball games. When everything is not synced up, those things really come to light a lot more. We just need to do a better job of doing the little things and playing the right way.
“I think for a guy that’s giving everything he has, where he’s at, to not have guys hold up their end of the deal, it’s frustrating. I think that’s something that everyone in that clubhouse understood why he was so frustrated.”
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