Max Langer
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers left Los Angeles a week ago with the best record in baseball and were undefeated. Now, they’re in third place in their own division. The pitching staff has allowed 31 runs over the last six games. Blake Snell‘s on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
The Dodgers have gone 2-4 over their last six contests, losing series in Philadelphia and in Washington D.C to the Phillies and the Nationals, respectively. They’ve been passed by the red-hot Padres and Giants in the extremely talented NL West. But as the Dodgers fly home tomorrow, they should feel just as good as when they left.
It was said quite a bit over the off-season that a weakness for the Dodgers, the weakness in fact, was their defense. Defensive miscues have certainly reared their ugly head over the last several games for Los Angeles. Max Muncy has struggled at the hot corner recently, Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas have both made costly errors up the middle, and Andy Pages has been having such a tough time in center field that the Dodgers benched him Monday, even against Nationals ace left-hander MacKenzie Gore.
Other teams have also been successfully running on the Dodgers this season. Will Smith and Austin Barnes have combined to throw out opposing teams’ base stealers exactly zero times. The Dodgers, on the other hand, have committed a litany of blunders on the base paths.
In the series opener in Philadelphia, both Shohei Ohtani and Chris Taylor were thrown out by J.T Realmuto to end the 8th and 9th innings, respectively. All of this screams trouble for the Dodgers.
Bad baserunning, poor defense, and a pitching staff that can’t get outs is the recipe for a bad baseball team. But good news is on the way: the next time the Dodgers take the field, Freddie Freeman will rejoin them, playing for the first time in almost two weeks per manager Dave Roberts. Freeman won’t just lengthen the lineup; he’s an excellent base runner and a terrific defender at first base.
The Dodgers’ starting pitching was arguably what hindered the team most over this road trip, but it looks like their woes may turn out to be a simple blip on the radar. Tyler Glasnow was the victim of particularly harsh weather in South Philly, a climate he likely won’t face again for quite some time.
While there was initially huge concern with Blake Snell, after meeting with team doctors, it’s been decided that Snell will start throwing again on Monday, and could be back in the rotation sooner rather than later. Both Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski were called up for starts from Triple-A Oklahoma City, and both allowed at least five runs.
But Wrobleski has already been sent back down, and while Knack will stay with the team for at least one more turn in the rotation, a potential replacement has emerged: Tony Gonsolin was terrific tonight down at Triple-A, and until Snell returns to the mound, Gonsolin could be given an opportunity.
The Dodgers played six of their worst games of the year. They still won two of them. The starting pitching woes should decrease as their arms get healthier, the defense and baserunning should improve. Los Angeles has newly acquired Esteury Ruiz stashed in the minor leagues.
Ruiz, who swiped 67 bags in 2023, could nab a bench spot in the coming days and weeks. In short, the Dodgers have plenty of options. What happened to the fundamentals in Philadelphia and Washington will not linger.
The Dodgers organization won’t let mental mistakes and miscommunication be their downfall. If all goes as planned, this road trip was a stumble you won’t see from the Dodgers for the rest of 2025.
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