Fresh off a sweep at the hands of the sub-.500 Cincinnati Reds and suffering a five-game losing streak, their longest since 2019 and tied with the Chicago White Sox for the longest in the MLB this year, the Los Angeles Dodgers have looked much more vulnerable lately, especially offensively.
After signing reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani to insert into a lineup filled with former MVPs and All-Stars like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, many didn’t think it would be possible for this offense to struggle to score runs this season.
However, as we know, baseball games aren’t won on paper no matter how much talent you have. You have to execute, deliver in the clutch moments, and win games in different ways.
What we’ve learned about the 2024 Dodgers through the first two months of the season is this team clearly has flaws and holes in their lineup, and those have been exposed more recently.
While they’ve had great stretches including winning 21 of 27 games from late April to mid-May, they haven’t dominated those games with their offense; it’s actually been with their pitching. Both the starters and relievers have rallied from a slow start this season which included many injuries to produce quality outings.
Lineup depth is clearly an issue especially at the bottom of the order (7-8-9) where consistency has been a major problem. The offensive production from the outfield (sans Teoscar Hernandez) has been a glaring issue as Chris Taylor has struggled all season, James Outman was recently demoted to Triple-A OKC, Andy Pages has hit an offensive funk after a hot start, and Jason Heyward missed several weeks dealing with a back injury and is still shaking off the rust.
While the ‘Big Four’ of the Dodgers’ lineup of Betts, Ohtani, Freeman, and catcher Will Smith have been very good to start the season, even they have hit a wall recently and shouldn’t be relied on to do all of the heavy lifting in the lineup.
The offensive inconsistency reared its head these last five games as the Dodgers have really struggled to score runs, putting their pitching staff in a position to be almost perfect.
They scored eight total runs against the Reds and only two in the last two games and were shutout against NL West rival Arizona Diamondbacks in the rubber match of that series.
While there is still two months before the MLB Trade Deadline on July 30 and plenty of time for guys to get going offensively, one has to wonder will president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman be aggressive in adding a bat or two to a lineup that clearly needs help.
Some of the names that have come up linked to the Dodgers are Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames and Toronto Blue Jays All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette.
The objective here would be to add a solid everyday shortstop and move Betts to second base to replace Gavin Lux or back to everyday position of right field. While he’s played his new position well at times and certainly putting in the work to embrace a new challenge, the Dodgers clearly don’t want to burn Betts out as the season goes on in a physically demanding position.
The question is can they land either Adames or Bichette. Adames is on an expiring contract but playing well for a first place Milwaukee Brewers team that could end up being buyers, not sellers at the trade deadline.
With the disappointing Blue Jays who are in last in the AL East, will they decide to deal some of their top tier talents like Bichette or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and opt to clean house before extension talks begin.
Bichette is a two-time All-Star under contract for this year and the 2025 season, so the asking price could be very high despite a pedestrian season thus far with three home runs, 22 RBIs, and a .247 batting average. The Dodgers don’t need another struggling star hitter, but the 26-year-old Bichette is still young and dynamic, and could be a building block for the franchise moving forward.
It’s unlikely the Dodgers are able to land either player, despite having the assets to negotiate a blockbuster trade. However, if the struggles continue and the Jays, Brewers, or another squad are willing to shop some of their infield or outfield talent, Friedman will be the one to make a move or two like we’ve seen in past years.
The Dodgers are still an elite team, just in a rough patch, but those flaws are getting exposed more often lately, and might need something to help them in the long run in order to avoid another disappointing October.
