3 Dodgers who should’ve been trusted more in 2022 NLDS loss vs Padres

2. Joey Gallo

To the Yankees fans rolling their eyes reading this right now — stop it, I already know what you’re going to say about Joey Gallo.

He definitely wasn’t some kind of magical solution that would have turned the Dodgers’ season around if he would’ve gotten a chance. But with the performance of the other players in the lineup, it’s a bit puzzling that he didn’t get at least one crack at it with his patented boom-or-bust swing.

Heck, there were plenty of times where the Dodgers struck out anyway. At least with Gallo, there would have been the potential of hitting a home run, whereas with Chris Taylor it felt like the best-case scenario was a walk.

Gallo probably should have gotten the start in Game 4 against Joe Musgrove. His numbers against Musgrove historically aren’t great (2-10 with a 3B and one walk), but they were still better than Taylor’s and Bellinger’s.

Plus, it would have at least given the Dodgers the ability to use Taylor later in the game as a pinch-hitter against a left-handed reliever if they needed it. The only right-handed bats the Dodgers had off the bench were Austin Barnes and Miguel Vargas, which obviously is less than ideal.

By starting Gallo, the team would have gotten better fielding (not that it mattered in this game) and would’ve had more of a power option on offense. At the absolute worst, he would’ve just done the same thing that Chris Taylor did.

Then, Roberts would have the ability to bring Taylor in for Max Muncy in the seventh to face Tim Hill. Muncy struck out with runners on first and third and one out against the southpaw.