The Los Angeles Dodgers were expected to be one of the best offenses in baseball after an offseason that saw them add Shohei Ohtani to a group that already featured two other MVPs in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
Although that group has lived up to the hype, the offense as a whole has been disappointing at times, and especially lately. The Dodgers have struggled to receive quality production from anyone not named Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, and Will Smith.
Teoscar Hernández has been a good complimentary piece, but has been the only one in the Dodgers lineup. Andy Pages has the potential to be another one as well, but he is still working through things at the plate.
One issue that has been a team-wide problem is they struggle to hit high-velocity fastballs as they are one of the worst teams in the league against that pitch. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes it boils down to the team being hesitant in the box and sitting on off-speed too often, according to Jack Harris of the L.A. Times:
“I think there’s a little bit of pause, as far as making the decision and being a little too careful at times, trying to see the ball a little too long, not making yourself susceptible to the breaking-ball speed. With that, it causes you to be late on the heater.”
As a unit, collecting walks has been something that the Dodgers have been excelling at this season. They are one of the three best teams when it comes to drawing walks this season. That discipline may partially come at the expense of their ability to jump on the fastball.
Their first step to addressing this problem is putting it on film and showing opposing pitchers that they are capable of turning on the fastball at least occasionally:
“It’s like anything,” Roberts said. “Until you can show you can flip the script or do something different, then they’re going to continue to exploit that.”
“I think you, at certain times, have to pick your spots to sell out to the fastball. You have to make them respect the fact that you can turn the fastball around. I’m not saying every time. But you’ve got to kind of put that thought in a pitcher’s head in certain situations.”
The Dodgers still have a top-10 offense in baseball in terms of runs scored, and their average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage are comparable to the best offenses in the league, so it’s not as if the situation is hopeless. But changes to need to be made if they want to accomplish their goal in 2024.
How the Dodgers are planning to address the bottom of the lineup
The lower-third of the Dodgers lineup is one of the worst in MLB this season and has become a major issue that needs to be addressed. Some improvement will have to come from in-house options, but it is rumored that they may be exploring the trade market for help before the deadline passes.
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