Dodgers: The Offense is Becoming Downright Offensive

The Dodgers entered Thursday night’s game with the expectation that this was going to be the stretch that the Dodgers right the ship.  Seven straight games against the Reds and Marlins.  Unfortunately, it was more of the same on Thursday night.

The Dodgers entered Thursday night’s game hoping that this would be the time that the season gets turned around.  The worst team in the National League coming to Dodger Stadium for a four-game set.  If Thursday’s game was any indication, the Dodgers are in for a long season and a season that is going to end a long streak of playoff appearances.

The Dodgers offense has overtaken the bullpen as the main Achilles heel of the 2018 team.  Sure Corey Seager and Justin Turner are out, but there is no excuse for how abysmal the Dodger offense has been.  They are getting runners on and in scoring position, but they simply cannot buy a hit with runners in scoring position.  Wednesday’s game was a gift win as the Dodgers won without getting a base hit with the bases loaded multiple times.

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The Dodgers offense has gone 3-19 in the past two games with runners in scoring position and left a whopping 16 runners on base in just two games.  The Dodgers currently rank 23rd in MLB with a .167 average with the bases loaded.  For anyone who has watched this team lately, that sounds higher than it should be.  Especially these last two games in which the bases seem to be loaded every other inning for the Dodgers.

Players on the team are now starting to press which is only exasperating the issue.  Alex Verdugo was reaching for balls in the other batters box prior to his demotion and Cody Bellinger has stranded the bases loaded multiple times a game it seems.  Bellinger is trying to hit the ball to the moon but in reality, all the Dodgers need with RISP is a simple base hit.  Everyone needs to stop trying to hit home runs because the current lineup does not have that kind of power.

The Dodgers need to get back to the basics on offense.  Play small ball, move runners over, and then get them in.  Rather than everyone trying to go deep and fail, they need to just try an get on base.  The offense needs to manufacture runs because the way the lineup currently looks, the Dodgers are not going to win a home run derby with anyone.

Next: Sending Verdugo to Triple-A was the wrong move

The Dodger bullpen needs improvement but at the moment the offense is downright offensive.  The Dodgers have to pitch near shutouts every night in order to win with the way that the offense is playing.  Walker Buehler only gave up two runs in six innings, a quality start, but for this offense that is too much to overcome a 2-1 or 4-1 lead.  There is no doubt that the return of Justin Turner will bolster the Dodgers’ offense, but it’s going to take way more than just Turner returning to get the offense back on track.