5 Dodgers who desperately need a wake-up call after the All-Star Break

4. Max Muncy

Max Muncy suffered the worst kind of freak injury that a first baseman possibly could on the last day of the 2021 season. Muncy reached out to field a throw when Brewers infielder Jace Peterson inadvertently crashed into his left arm, tearing Muncy’s UCL.

Muncy made a quick recovery and was ready for the start of the 2022 season, but started off ice cold. The former All-Star had a quick stint on the IL and later admitted that he regretted rushing back from his UCL injury.

This season has been Muncy’s worst since joining the Dodgers, as he’s slashing .160/.316/.315 with only nine home runs and 30 RBI. The lack of power is the most concerning thing for Muncy right now as his slugging percentage has dropped 200 points from last season.

The most intriguing thing about Muncy thus far is that the walk artist is actually walking more than he ever has in his career. Muncy’s walk rate is 18.5% this season, which is 4.5% higher than it was last year.

His strikeout rate isn’t far from the norm, either. While it’s higher than last season, Muncy’s 24.2% strikeout rate is only 0.3% higher than his career average.

It really is the lack of power for Muncy, and that can be directly tied to his arm injury from last season. Hopefully, the time off can help him get in a good mindset and allow him to flip his season in the second half.

3. Craig Kimbrel

With Kenley Jansen leaving in the offseason for the Atlanta Braves, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a hole to fill at the closer position. Right before the 2022 season began, the team decided to fill that hole by trading AJ Pollock to the Chicago White Sox for Craig Kimbrel.

Just for transparency’s sake, I hated the trade when it happened and every time I see Kimbrel allow a run I hate it even more. Kimbrel is past his prime and overpaid, and it’s always great to have outfield depth. I bet the Dodgers wish they had Pollock instead of Trayce Thompson or Zach McKinstry right now, don’t you?

It would at least be better if Kimbrel was having a halfway decent season, but that hasn’t been the case. Manager Dave Roberts’ faith in Kimbrel is already being tested as the veteran closer has a 4.35 ERA this season.

Reliever’s ERAs can balloon quickly, but this is not the case of one really bad outing for Kimbrel — it’s consistent mediocrity. Kimbrel has blown three saves and lost another two games from allowing runs in the ninth when the game was tied.

He has allowed a run in 12 of his 33 appearances this season, meaning there’s a 36% chance that he will allow a run whenever he takes the mound. Those odds are simply far too high for a closer.

There have been nights where Kimbrel looks like a valuable MLB closer, and the Dodgers need to see a lot more of that in the second half. If not, there’s no way he can pitch during high-leverage moments in the playoffs.

Dodgers that will lose a roster spot if they don’t wake up

This group of players does not include those who are only on the roster right now because of injuries. We all know that the likes of McKinstry and Thompson are not long-term roster solutions and are just depth options for the time being.

These are players who were meant to be staples of the 26-man roster this season that should get demoted if they do not figure it out fast.

2. Phil Bickford

Bickford has not been able to follow up his breakout 2021 season with anything remotely successful in 2022. While Bickford started the season on a great note, it has gone extremely downhill since then. Bickford is sporting a 5.04 ERA on the season and has allowed a run in 10 of his last 17 outings. That just isn’t good enough.

Reinforcements are on the way with players getting healthy as well as the Dodgers potentially adding relievers at the trade deadline. If Bickford can’t rediscover his 2021 form, he’s going to be one of the first players to get demoted.

1. Hanser Alberto

Alberto was brought in to be the Dodgers’ right-handed bench bat this season and he’s been nothing short of bad (though his energy and clubhouse presence is notable). Aside from two scoreless relief outings and a game-winning hit against the St. Louis Cardinals, Alberto has not done much of anything for the Dodgers this season.

He has a below-average .600 OPS and 64 OPS+, meaning that he’s 36% below league-average as a hitter. And keep in mind that Alberto is only hitting in matchups that directly favor him. There are no excuses for his numbers to be this bad when he’s being put in situations to succeed.

If Alberto doesn’t start torching southpaws soon, then the Dodgers are going to look to replace him with someone who does.

3 NL teams Dodgers need to be worried about at trade deadline

The Los Angeles Dodgers need to focus on their trade deadline plans first and foremost ... but these teams need to be in the back of their mind.