The Los Angeles Dodgers lineup received a major reinforcement when Mookie Betts was activated off the 10-day injured list and penciled into the No. 2 spot after Shohei Ohtani, who has remained the leadoff hitter.
Betts’ return came a week after Freddie Freeman rejoined the club from the family emergency list, giving L.A. their deepest lineup in months.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the Dodgers look like a different team offensively. They went on to win five consecutive games, scoring 6.2 runs per contest during the stretch.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was especially impressed with the Dodgers’ situational hitting in their series against the Milwaukee Brewers, via Tim Stebbins on MLB.com:
“When you get good starting pitching, it does take pressure off the offense,” Roberts said. “We’ve had some timely hits. I talked about this last series, I didn’t think we were good situationally. This series, so far, we’ve been good. It’s just nice to see up and down the lineup guys are performing, one through nine.”
The Dodgers’ best offensive performance against the Brewers came on Tuesday when they scored seven runs on 13 hits. Every starter had at least one hit, and the team received four home runs as well.
The trio of Ohtani, Betts and Freeman combined to go 5-for-15, but the Dodgers benefited from contributions throughout the lineup. Will Smith most notably enjoyed his best game in weeks, going 3-for-4 with a home run and double.
The Dodgers dropped their next two games against the Brewers, but that was mostly due to sloppy defense and a blown save from Daniel Hudson, rather than specific offensive issues.
With the Dodgers starting to find their groove offensively, the lineup should only continue getting stronger as Max Muncy and Tommy Edman are expected to return in the next week.
Dave Roberts sees benefit to Dodgers roster crunch
The Dodgers’ ongoing roster crunch has forced the team to make some difficult decisions, but Roberts believes it is giving players on the back end of the depth chart a chance to stand out.
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