Tuesday night’s 3-0 loss to the Astros was yet another example of how the offense of the Dodgers can go from woke to broke in a hurry, as Los Angeles mustered just five hits and three walks during the entire game. The club advanced a runner past second base just once all evening.
This dismal effort comes one game (with a day off in between) after they pounded the Diamondbacks in a contest that saw the Dodgers plate 13 runs on 14 hits. It’s a narrative we’ve often seen this year, seemingly discounting any real meaning the term ‘run differential’ might give.
By my count, the Dodgers have scored in double digits a whopping twelve times this season. However, there have been 10 occasions when they’ve been shutout or scored just one run, which is surprising for a club with loaded with so much offensive talent. A handful of those losses have come immediately after a prolific offensive effort.
Obviously, it’s probably entirely inaccurate to label this as some type of phenomenon. Credit needs to be given to the opposing pitching staff and defense. Moreover, in this instance, the quality of opposition increased dramatically between the Astros and Diamondbacks. Still, the frequency it occurs is uncanny.
Regardless, as far as team batting average goes, the Dodgers have fallen to 12th in the majors with a .245 mark, but their OBP holds steady in second place at .335, which gives some testament to both their hustle and patience at the plate. Los Angeles leads the majors with 430 walks heading into Wednesday’s games.
As far as power numbers go, the Dodgers have fallen to ninth in slugging at .421 and fifth in homers at 147, both marks which they’ve dominated the league in previous seasons.
If there was an easy way to find the cause of these inconsistencies, the team would have surely addressed it by now. Instead, some fans have pointed their fingers at the team’s plan of attack and inconsistent lineups, while others have blamed certain players like Cody Bellinger, who’s slashing just .165/.262/.284 over 202 plate appearances, which is quickly growing past the point of being just a small sample size.
Bellinger find himself hitting out of the eight-hole on Wednesday.
Trea Turner will be joining the team this week, and while it’s still unclear when he might play, he could end up providing the exact spark the club needs, especially against southpaw pitching.
In the meantime, if recent history holds true, fans can expect a decent offensive performance in Game 2 on Wednesday when Max Scherzer takes the mound wearing Dodger Blue for the first time.
First pitch is slated for 6:40 p.m. Pacific time.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Many of the Dodgers are swinging from their heels. Turner, Taylor, and Seager will go with the pitch. Especially with two strikes. The poor defense and the lack of 5 solid starters all year has piled more innings on this bullpen which has had its share of injury and churn.
They have a very poor record in one-run games because of the inability to generate runs, poor defense, and bullpen issues.
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We’ve got a car with the world’s best engine in it and it keeps misfiring. Hope we can come up with a good mechanic who’s up to the task of getting it to operate at max performance.
Otherwise, we may just have to put it up on blocks and leave it in the garage.
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Actually it’s in the garage now jeff, but they can’t find the darn blocks.
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Darn Dennis. I couldn’t find any games they have lost by less than 1 run and I looked. Lol.
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Should be “when they have scored one run or shutout.” I’ll get that fixed.
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You make so few mistakes I love ribbing you.
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I appreciate it when you guys point out the edits. It allows us to quickly fix the errors. It also shows that you’re reading closely, which is also greatly appreciated.
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I know this guy is trying to make a comment about Bellinger but for the life of me I can’t figure out if he’s in favor or against.
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Absolutely
And Hey! Raley got a hit last night and is officially over the Bellinger (160) line at 175 Woo Hoo!
Love to watch a professional like Pujos get that hit for the go-ahead run. Young players need to watch guys like Turner (both), Pujos, Pollock, Betts, etc go into “make contact mode” move the runner! Score a run win the game mode…
That is the type of baseball that wins championships. Many of those playoff games are determined by who can make the fundamental baseball move.
Jeff, I had to have Bellinger in my comment somewhere!! LOL…
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You and Bear are giving me a Belli-ache.
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Well, Bellinger is on the IL. Bear reminded me it’s no longer the DL. LOL. And contrary to some people’s beliefs I am confident someone on the Dodger team owns a glove and can play Centerfield and hit above the Bellinger Line…
But Belli has left us with as Gordon called it the “Bellinger Line” for offensive futility. I am sure Mendoza is glad to no longer be the ultimate measurement for haplessness with a bat in hand, for a position player. I wonder if any position player that isn’t a catcher will ever get that many at-bats with that low an Average and OBP?
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