Dodgers: Struggling Offense Really Misses Cody Bellinger

The Dodgers start this week with one of their final three off days before the regular season concludes. They are coming off of their first series loss since June 7th and have lost back to back for the first time since July 20th and 21st.

This series loss is nothing to write home about, as the team still sits 53 games over .500 and currently holds a 19 game lead over the Diamondbacks, leading to the lowest magic number in the MLB (14). But it is worth noting that the Dodgers offense has been relatively stagnant the past seven games.

The club has combined to score 24 runs in their last seven games and has been shut out twice in the past week. While those numbers don’t seem bad, they’re poor for what we’ve come to expect from this club.

The biggest difference for the offense right now is the absence of Cody Bellinger. Since Bellinger was placed on the DL on August 22nd, the Dodgers have gone .500  including the two shutouts I mentioned. Bellinger’s presence in the Dodger lineup is like night and day for Dave Roberts.

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With Bellinger in the lineup, the Dodgers are 78-23 and average 5.3 runs per game. Without Bellinger, the club is 13-14 and average 3.8 runs per game. Those numbers include games before Bellinger arrived in the big leagues and the games he has missed by being on the DL. The good news is that Bellinger is nearing a return.

After a little over a week of resting his ankle, Bellinger is 100% healthy again and is expected to be activated from the DL on Wednesday when he is eligible.

Bellinger’s injury was never considered to be serious and placing him on the DL was more of a precautionary move to make sure there would be no lingering effect as the season wears down. Bellinger’s presence in the lineup has certainly been missed as there are only two regular starters who are hitting above .250 the past seven games.

Yasiel Puig and Corey Seager have carried the load since Bellinger has been on the DL, combining to hit .387 with a .531 OBP. Aside from Puig and Seager, the Dodgers offense has been quite. Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .192, Chris Taylor is hitting .226, Yasmani Grandal is hitting .154, and even Justin Turner is in the middle of a slump right now hitting .167.

We’re certainly not used to watching the team struggle to hit the ball and drive in runs, but it’s better to go through this funk now opposed to October. Some fans question earlier in the season if there should be cause for concern with the fact that the Dodgers rely heavily on the long ball and now with Bellinger out of the lineup the lineup loses their leading home run hitter.

Next: Players to Watch in the NLDS

The Dodgers conclude the season with a relatively weak scheduled. They face the Padres seven more times and the Giants six more times this season so we should expect the club get back to players the way we know they can soon. Although this past seven game stretch was the worst stretch since June 4-15, the Dodgers are going to get better this week by adding the NL Rookie of the Year and the best pitcher in baseball.