Dodgers offense has to take a look in the mirror ahead of Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Game 3 start

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves are all evened up at a game apiece in the National League Division Series. It's what you'd expect from two of the best teams in baseball this season. However, the Dodgers may be kicking themselves following a number of missed opportunities to score additional runs in Game 2. 

It's not always easy to look into the mirror and reflect on your shortcomings. But for a team like the Dodgers, they've managed to not only reflect on their deficiencies over the past few seasons, but address them and become a better team because of it. That's been a big reason why they've been the most successful team in Major League Baseball since 2020. 

But this postseason, the Dodgers offense has not hit their stride through their first two games. It's not time to panic or overreact, but the lineup has put the team in a tougher position as they head to Atlanta for Game 3 tied 1-1 in the series. 

As noted by Katie Woo of The Athletic, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has already acknowledged that winning the series isn't going to be easy. But with everything all tied up, it's almost like the start of a brand new series. 

“We’ve got our work cut out,” Roberts said after the Dodgers dropped Game 2. “So now it’s a three-game series.”

Despite a rocky Game 2 start from Blake Snell, the Dodgers' pitching staff has looked solid through 18 innings of work against the Braves. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto slated to take the mound in Game 3, the team will look to continue that trend. But it'll be up to the offense to determine if the Dodgers can take advantage of that strong pitching. 

The Dodgers' offense could prevent the team from an elusive three-peat

In their Game 1 win against the Braves, the Dodgers scored all five of their runs via the long ball. Not the worst problem to have, but a team could run into issues if they need to rely on only home runs to score. The Dodgers had just one at-bat with a runner in scoring position in Game 1, which resulted in a Max Muncy lineout. 

Game 2 also saw the Dodgers’ offense rely solely on hitting the ball over the fence. But two solo jacks is usually not the most reliable way to win a ballgame. While the team managed to get more runners past first base in Game 2, the lineup struggled to find a way to drive them in. The Dodgers were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, resulting in seven left on base over nine innings. In a game that the Dodgers lost by a run, you can't help but look back on run-scoring opportunities that the team failed to cash in on. 

You can look up and down the Dodgers' lineup to see why they struggled to score runs in Game 2. Will Smith, Andy Pages, and Tommy Edman are a combined 0-for-20 in the Division Series. It's tough to win consistently when a third of your lineup remains hitless in a do-or-die series. But the team has proven throughout the season to be more than competent at putting up their fair share of runs on the board. 

Thanks to a stacked lineup, the Dodgers offense scored 4.94 runs a game during the regular season, good for the fourth highest mark in all of baseball. The team also performed well in RBI opportunities, sporting an OPS of .779 with runners in scoring position, the third highest in the league. It was a major factor in helping the club to its fourth 100-win season in six years. 

But that doesn't mean it's been all sunshine and rainbows for the Dodgers' offense in 2026. The lineup has run into the occasional team-wide slump with RISP over the course of the season. Obviously that'll happen to any team during a 162-game schedule. However, it can become concerning when one of those slumps occurs in the postseason.  

But like Roberts said, it's now a three-game series to determine which team we'll move on to the next round. With a proven track record to produce throughout the season, the Dodgers' offense will need to look in that mirror and remember who they are if they want to continue playing right now. Because if they can't swing the bats with RISP, it may be an unfamiliar early exit for the Dodgers in the postseason. 

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