LOS ANGELES — The underside third of the Dodgers’ lineup has weathered a tough begin to the season. However which may simply be a symptom of the issue the defending champions are dealing with.
The Dodgers fell to the Cubs, 4-2, on Sunday, dropping their third collection in a row after sweeping their first three of 2025 in an 8-0 begin to their title protection. Los Angeles set the bar at perfection by going undefeated for thus lengthy, which has made its six losses prior to now 9 video games loom even bigger.
However the Dodgers scored solely 5 runs throughout their collection loss to the Cubs, which supervisor Dave Roberts attributed to his crew getting away from what it does greatest.
“Our DNA as an offense, we do a extremely good job of beating the starter and getting the pitch depend up and attending to the ‘pen,” Roberts stated. “And I believe for me, that stands out. It’s going to occur. It’s simply on this final nine-, 10-game stretch, it simply hasn’t.”
Each of Los Angeles’ runs on Sunday have been pushed in by the underside third of the order — Kiké Hernández’s RBI knock within the second inning, then Max Muncy’s sacrifice fly within the sixth. Via his first dozen video games of the season, all of Hernández’s hits had left the yard — however there have been solely 4 of them. Muncy nonetheless has but to go deep this season, and he simply missed a homer on his run-scoring drive.
The three batters who began within the Nos. 7-9 spots on Sunday — Muncy, Hernández and Miguel Rojas — all completed the day batting effectively under the Mendoza line. The Dodgers have gotten a .508 OPS from their Nos. 7-9 hitters, versus .823 from the highest six within the order. The underside third of the lineup has gotten on base at a .230 clip.
However essentially the most telling statistic about how the underside of the order has not set the desk could be that Shohei Ohtani, who has began all 17 of the Dodgers’ video games within the leadoff spot, has taken simply seven plate appearances with runners in scoring place, which is tied for the third fewest amongst certified Main League hitters.
Throughout the Dodgers’ 2-4 street journey by means of Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., the frequent thread for Roberts was an absence of crew at-bats. There have been flashes the place L.A. has been in a position to string hits collectively — like in Sunday’s sixth inning capped by Muncy’s sac fly — however there hasn’t been fixed stress on opposing pitchers.
“I simply really feel like … we’ve got extra guys scuffling than guys which can be feeling actually good on the plate, so it is simply a kind of stretches proper now,” Hernández stated. “It is a matter of time. We will snap out of it and we’re simply going to start out steamrolling individuals. We’re simply going by means of somewhat little bit of a tough patch.”
That the tough patch got here after the crew’s season-opening dominance solely makes the distinction extra stark. It is common for gamers and groups to seek out their rhythm within the first month of the season.
Even when the Dodgers have been undefeated, Roberts stated a number of occasions that they weren’t taking part in their greatest baseball. In what ended up being the ultimate sport of the season-opening win streak — when Ohtani walked off the Braves on his bobblehead evening — the supervisor stated he was “dumbfounded” that his crew had discovered a approach to win that sport.
Now that the Dodgers have not been discovering methods to win, the early-season scuffles are amplified.
“It may possibly occur in October. It may possibly occur any time,” Mookie Betts stated. “That is the sport of baseball. It is a sport. You by no means know when you are going to do good, whenever you’re not going to do good. It is arduous.”
However the struggles can compound when a number of members of the lineup aren’t feeling synced up. The Dodgers, although, have the angle to know that these ebbs and flows on the plate are solely pure in a 162-game season — and anticipate to get by means of it as a crew.
“If you get guys which can be type of looking — they’re wanting extra anxious than I believe usually we’re,” Roberts stated. “Hitting isn’t straightforward, however I’m not overly involved proper now, given the place we’re at on the calendar. I do know we’re going to hit. I do know we’re going to attain runs, issues like that. We’ve simply obtained to get again to who we’re.”
