The Los Angeles Dodgers’ struggles at the plate have returned, as they lost again to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday. The team now has a four-game losing streak and ranks near the bottom of the league in runs scored in July.The Los Angeles Dodgers’ struggles at the plate have returned, as they lost again to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday. The team now has a four-game losing streak and ranks near the bottom of the league in runs scored in July. Despite maintaining high walk rates and isolated slugging numbers, the Dodgers have been unlucky in batted balls. They rank 19th in BABIP this month and have a low HardHit% and high ground ball percentage. The lack of length in the Dodgers’ lineup has made these offensive struggles more noticeable. With Mookie Betts and Max Muncy still out, the team has relied on players like Chris Taylor, Miguel Vargas, and Gavin Lux, who have struggled to make quality contact. However, there is some good news for the Dodgers. They will face a weaker pitching staff in Detroit to close out the first half, and the MLB Draft will take place before the All-Star break. The team can then focus on adding bats through trades in July. The Dodgers’ offensive struggles show the importance of adding another hitter before the end of the month. The team needs to find a way to compensate for the length they are missing in their lineup.
The Los Angeles Dodgers lost yet again to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night. The sweep against a National League powerhouse resulted in the team’s fourth straight loss. While the NL West is still well in hand given the inconsistency of the teams behind them, there is another problem that is starting to manifest itself for this team that we haven’t seen in weeks.
By the end of May, the Dodgers had lost five games in a row. In three of those games, they scored one or no runs. They seemed to shake off that misery by the end of the month and parlayed it into a very strong performance in June. But now that we’re approaching two weeks of games in July, those problems are starting to show up again.
Even before Thursday’s 5-1 loss, the Dodgers ranked 23rd in the league in runs scored in July, with 32 in eight games. Despite maintaining top-10 walk rates and isolated slugging numbers, they’ve run into a lot of bad luck in batted balls. A .283 BABIP ranks just 19th this month.
Part of that is due to a lack of quality contact combined with poor ground ball percentages. Their 36.8 HardHit% ranks 20th this month, while putting the ball on the ground 47 percent of the time during that span.
There are a couple of realities here. The first is that every team in baseball is susceptible to periods of offensive incompetence. Related to that is that these periods will be more noticeable for the Dodgers because of the lack of length in their lineup. It was already a problem, but with the continued absences of Mookie Betts and Max Muncy, the team will have a hard time compensating for it in the long run.
Many of the culprits of questionable contact against high ground ball percentages are those who are forced into increased service because of it. Chris Taylor. Miguel Vargas. Enrique Hernández. Gavin Lux, too, with a ground ball percentage of nearly 69 percent.
There is at least some good news for the Dodgers. First, they will get a chance at a much more average pitching staff in Detroit to close out the first half. Second, the MLB Draft will take place as we approach the All-Star break. The team can then immediately turn its attention to available bats for this month’s trade deadline.
But such a challenge for the Dodgers clearly shows the importance of adding at least one more hitter before the end of the month.
