DENVER — August has not been kind to the Dodgers, with the offense lumbering through the “dog days” as the team fell back on an 11-game cushion over the second-place San Diego Padres on July 31 and watched it dwindle to seven games entering play on Monday.
The lineup has averaged 3.4 runs per game over that stretch while losing 11 of 16 games.
“It’s about collectively having good, quality at-bats,” Manager Dave Roberts said before the opener of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. “It’s been quite some time since we’ve been consistent with our approaches and making adjustments in the middle of a game, being better with two strikes. The chase is up, the swing percentage is up, the walk percentage is down, and that’s just not who we are as an offense.”
Roberts made no excuses for the slumbering lumber, emphasizing that “the standards for this talent that we have is higher, and it should be, and that’s what I’m looking for.”
The skipper noted that batters have appeared to be “chasing (their) tail in the box” due to an inconsistent approach that finds virtually the entire lineup “swinging more … chasing more … walking less than the back of their baseball card.”
Players often see a trip to Coors Field as an opportunity to fix what ails their offense, sometimes turning that into an overly aggressive approach at the plate.
“We’ve had a lot of guys that have played here and we’ve actually swung the bats well here,” Roberts noted. “Hopefully we can get back to being who we are.”
In terms of a mass exodus from the collective slump, Roberts showed no signs of panic with the weeks of underachieving offense.
“I have a lot of peace about it, because we’ve done it,” Roberts noted. “We still got a heck of a ball club. Making sure our guys don’t think that (the fact that) we’ve done it in the past guarantees future performance (is important). We’re still chasing something special, and every game is an opportunity.”
BULLPEN TAX
The diminished offensive output has seen an increase in close games – 10 of the Dodgers’ past 16 games through Sunday had been decided by two runs or fewer and seven of those by one run.
The result has had a noticeable effect on the bullpen, according to Roberts.
“Honestly, in the last six weeks there haven’t been many low-leverage situations,” Roberts said. “Every time a guy comes out of the ’pen, it’s high leverage, and that’s hard. It’s taxing mentally. Your margin for error is obviously smaller. That’s why it’s a team game. It all goes hand-in-hand.”
MEDICAL TENT
With the Dodgers on the road for three days, catcher Will Smith will be ramping up his hitting, remaining behind in Los Angeles with the hope of getting out on a rehab assignment by the beginning of September, the earliest date Roberts said he could see him being activated. Smith has been on the injured list since June 11 (retroactive to June 8) with neck inflammation.
“This week is going to be a lot of live BPs for him, facing pitchers, and then there’s a chance, if this is a good week, then he could go out on a rehab next week,” Roberts said.
Additionally, two-way star Shohei Ohtani is expected to throw a bullpen session while in Colorado, based on his throwing schedule.
“He should have one here,” Roberts said Monday.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (LHP Eric Lauer, 7-6, 4.67 ERA) at Rockies (RHP Ryan Feltner, 5-6, 5.59 ERA), Tuesday, 5:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA, 570 AM