Although wins and losses aren’t important during Spring Training, the Los Angeles Dodgers have hit a bit of a skid in recent days as they dropped their third straight game on Saturday, falling to their Camelback Ranch co-tenants, the Chicago White Sox, 5-2.
The main reason for the losses is that the Dodgers offense has gone stagnant, scoring just a combined three runs in their last two games while going 0-for-13 combined with runners in scoring position.
The Dodgers did have one big swing on Saturday, and it came with one out in the fourth inning as Chase Utley pulled a two-run home run down the right-field line. It came after a Yasmani Grandal leadoff walk.
Utley’s home run was his first of the spring, and he has heated up recently after getting off to a slow start. He began the spring 0-for-11 but has since gone 7-for-20 (.350 batting average) with two home runs.
Other than Utley, Grandal was the only other Dodger that had a productive day at the plate as he went 2-for-2 with a walk. Like Utley, Grandal has gotten hot in recent games as he is 7-for-his-last-8, improving his spring slash line up to .313/.389/.719. Grandal’s four home runs is tied with Matt Kemp for the team lead and his 10 RBI rank third.
Grandal is currently battling with Austin Barnes for the starting catching job, so he has certainly helped out his cause this spring by swinging the bat well..
The Dodgers bullpen also had a strong day Saturday after Hyun-Jin Ryu struggled a bit. Kenley Jansen, Pedro Baez, Scott Alexander, J.T. Chargois and Corey Copping combined to toss five shutout innings (one each), allowing just two hits.
