What is Wrong with the Dodgers’ Bats?

Posted By on August 24, 2025

Had a great wedding yesterday. A photo of my son giving the couple their vows is below.

We were staying at the hotel (Courtyard by Marriott) in Ft Wayne, Indiana, which overlooked the Tin Caps field. (Padres A+ Affiliate). I am most certainly staying here next year for the six-game series with the Loons! Downtown Ft Wayne is beautiful, not sketchy, and has no homeless camps. My daughter lives about 12 minutes away. My son-in-law grew up with Zach McKinstry and played baseball with him until college.

However, this is about the Dodgers Offense… or I should say, The Lack Thereof! Of course, they scored eight runs on Sunday as they beat the Padres and slid back into first place in the NL West, but scoring has been down for them lately. Many fans want them to fire Robert Van Scoyoc because, well, he seems to be the architect of the “Three Outcomes” offense, and they dislike it. In case you care, I think RVS’s offensive approach is just fine, but what I think has been happening is that the Dodgers are too dependent on analytics for their at-bats. Let me explain:

I will start with this caveat: I cannot prove any of this. So… there is that! BUT, here is what I think is happening: For the past several years, the Dodgers Analytics Department located deep in the Bowels of Dodger Stadium has been developing data on pitchers and hitters, but especially pitchers, which tells them what pitchers proclivities are in numerous situations, and what pitch they are most likely to throw in the following situations:

  • RISP, with a 1-1 count;
  • RISP with a 2-1 count;
  • RISP with a 1-2 count;
  • RISP with a 2-2 count;
  • First pitch with the lead;
  • First pitch being behind;
  • Bases-loaded;

And on and on. I think the Dodgers had a good idea of what pitch was likely in certain situations… UNTIL the other teams started getting wise. Then… they started changing it up so that the analytics were useless. Then, the pitch the Dodger batters were looking for was dramatically different. I think it started mid-season, and the Dodger hitters are having to change their approach. They no longer have a good idea of what is coming in most situations. The hitters are having to adjust. Baseball is a game of adjustments, and we all know how much Andrew Friedman likes analytics… and they are wonderful… until the other teams figure out what you are doing and stop doing what they do. I think that is where we are, and the Dodgers are now having to adapt.

This may take a little time, but the offense will be back! You can count on it. It was nice to see Dalton Rushing get a nice three-run bomb – he is still a better option than Barnes… even defensively!

X-CITES

This article has 34 Comments

  1. Before analytics they had scouting to try and come up with the same answers. We all remember Gibson knowing what pitch was coming in that WS game. So sure things may be more exact, but I don’t think things have changed that much. And certainly teams didn’t just get smart this year. Why couldn’t they figure it out last year? So I don’t agree all that much with your premise.
    For me I feel much of ‘slumps’ is the result of guys playing with injuries. Sure Conforto isn’t in a slump, he just sucks. But Mookie with his illness and broken toe, Freddie playing with 2 or 3 injuries, Teo still with groin issues. Kike and Edmond and Kim ‘slumped’ for a month or so before they went on IL.
    OK just my opinion

    1. Reading a scouting report is like comparing a paper airplane to a Stealth Bomber. Sure, Gibby was told that in a 3-2 count, he would throw a backdoor slider and was ready for it, but what would he throw in a 1-2 count if he had the lead… or was behind? I do know that several years ago, the Dodgers were at the forefront of developing this deep analytical surge. Many teams do not even use it, but I think human nature is that when you have something others don’t have, you can rely on it too much. As players get traded or moved (CT3, Barnes), other teams find out. Maybe that’s why the Angels owned the Dodgers. If Gibby were looking for a backdoor slider and Eck threw a curveball, history would have been altered. The premise is logical… hopefully that’s not the part you have a problem with.

      1. The premise may be logical, but why didn’t it work last year? Or the beginning of this year when everyone was healthy? And now Freddie and Mookie coming alive. And before he was hurt Max was hot. I don’t think anyone knows anymore in JUly and August than they knew in May and June

        1. Well, simply because it takes time to figure it out. The Angels sure figured it out. (CT3?).

  2. Max has been missed. It’s great to read that he’s expected back sooner than initially expected.
    The lineup in a few weeks…
    Shohei DH (NL-leading 50+ bombs and 1.000+ OPS and scoring nearly a run per game)
    Mookie SS (improving–still clutch)
    Freddie 1B (leading the NL in BA)
    Will C (leading NL in OBP)
    Max 3B (.950+ OPS since the new spectacles)
    Teo RF (25 + HRs)
    Pages CF (25+ HRs)
    Edman 2B (another late-season surge?)
    Kim/Call LF (sparkplugs at second lead-off)

    Bench: Rushing, Kike, Rojas

  3. Enough with batting Smith third, he’s not just in a slump, I think his hitting is already coming back down to Earth, I hope I’m wrong, as has happened many times, but I doubt Will Smith will finish the season batting 300. Besides the fact that he’s not a force at the plate, don’t bat him third anymore, leave him at sixth, but of course there’s also the problem of who to put in that spot?

    A question: How many times did Othani feel the pressure of hitting and pitching in a previous season? With the Angels, I don’t think he ever had that pressure since he never made the playoffs, so I don’t think he ever had it, or at least that’s what I think.

    And last season he didn’t pitch, he just hit, plus the Dodgers were the leader practically the whole season, at least that’s what I remember, so he never really had a strong pressure

    And this season after so many injuries and slumps, plus being in the middle of a close race for the lead with the San Diego Idiots, I think he’s feeling the real pressure and maybe it’s affecting him.

    Are we really sure that Othani can handle the pressure of playing for the Dodgers?

    1. We are judging him by his last bad outing, which was in Colorado. You have to be used to the thin air there, and it takes several weeks to adjust for new arrivals. I think Shohei was “gassed” after playing 3 games there and then having to pitch. He should NEVER pitch in Colorado again… and there is validity in what you are also saying. It’s different on a winning team.

    2. Yes, there’s pressure and these are truly young guys – something we don’t often note enough. We all handle things differently as they mature from “boys who have ALWAYS been better than everyone they played ball with” to men with new families and now everyone they play with is as good as they are….or better!

      But big league level players have been in pressure situations since they were Little Leaguers. I doubt pressure of the moment is responsible for much failure and a 162 game season is a LOT more responsible.

  5. Dave Roberts said Max Muncy will be facing pitchers this week at Dodger Stadium.

      1. Anyone else wondering if Max is noting how good Alex Freeland has been @ 3B – at least defensively – and Max is about to be a free agent. Today is his birthday so is he 35 or 36 today?

  6. Sand Dogs announcers begrudgingly said I guess when you hit four homers, you don’t need to play small ball. Yep!
    Freeland’s Off/Deff play, Rushing’s overall play and spirit and Pages’ new power are bringing new life to the team

  7. The famed Socratic Philosopher Yogi Berra was purported to have said “Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical.” Me thinks the scholar was onto something. Let us assume there’s a contingent of sports psychologists hard at work to assist the players as they deal with the subjective challenges thrust upon them during the grueling marathon that is a major league baseball season. I recall reading somewhere that Mookie has had middle of the night self doubts whisper to him that he may never get another hit! Damn, our heroes are at times just like the rest of us mere mortals as they go about the business of performing their insanely difficult craft.

    Psychological assessment and application of the latest research on performance is a subset of the overall analytics of the team’s approach and I’ll bet that AF et al are way ahead of the rest of the pack. The Dodger brain trust is something to behold: or as my grandfather might say if he was still around: “they are really good at picking the fly shit out of the pepper shaker.” GO DODGERS!!!

  8. Some idiot in SD called Tanner Scott a traitor, and he responded, “How can I be a traitor? I was traded here and only stayed two months?”
    Not only is that team full of idiots, but the city is also full of brainless shit!

  9. whoooaa! no need for that! can’t stand the guy, but not like that. and yes cronenworth. 9 out of of 13? pretty good season series huh? And conforto still there! …. please no buddy miller tonight!…. Freeland is damn sure a keeper!…. Dalton seems to be getting a rhythm at the plate! With Will struggling, maybe a little more playing time?…. Finally , what’s wrong with the dodgers bats? I don’t think 2or 3 of them are using bats when they hit!!!!!

      1. Agreed on Buddy Kennedy? I don’t mean to be insulting but why is the guy even on the roster? Yeah, he’s made some defensive plays but Freeland does too – at a higher level of profcieicny? – and still has some slug. Max needs to step it up when he gets back!

        Agree on a very hard pass on Tatis and for the same reason the Dodgers took a hard pass on Manny. Very talented players who conduct themselves like punks. Who needs them?!

  10. 10:10 PM ET

    Reds (68-63)
    Dodgers (74-57)

    SP Hunter Greene R
    5-3 2.63 ERA
    SP Emmet Sheehan R
    4-2 4.17 ERA

    Confirmed Lineup
    DH S. Ohtani L
    SS Mookie Betts R
    1B F. Freeman L
    C Will Smith R
    RF T. Hernandez R
    3B A. Freeland S
    LF M. Conforto L
    CF Andy Pages R
    2B Miguel Rojas R

    77° Wind 9 mph Out

  11. I was listening to MLB Radio today and the way they talked Cedric Mullins is a disaster in CF. I have not looked it up, but he is allegedly -17 DRS. Yikes. They are allegedly moving him to LF. Mullins would have done the Dodgers no good, and the Mets traded three prospects for him.

    Someone asked why the Dodgers did not trade for Ramón Laureano (who is RH – and the Dodgers did not need another RH bat). Well,the Padres traded 6 Prospects for him and O’Hearn. This is his career year, and he will be 32 next year. I think the Dodgers realize that their stash of prospects will start to pay off as Freeman, Betts, Smith, and Ohtani age.

    1. 2027:

      1. Betts 2B
      2. Ohtani DH
      3. Smith 3B
      4. Freeman 1B
      5. Pages RF
      6. DePaula LF
      7. Sirota CF
      8. Rushing C
      9. Freeland SS

        1. I see George as a 4th or 5th OF’er.

          I see the potential in Quintero, but I am worried about his body type. I can see him getting really thick in his lower half. Pages was also headed that direction but turned it around.

    2. “…and the Dodgers did not need another RH bat.”
      So is that why AF traded for Alex Call, an RH bat?
      Are you saying that your man AF screwed this one up?
      Laureano is, indeed, having a career year–and now he’s doing it for the Padres. Both he, Mullins, and Bader and a few other guys would have been upgrades over Conforto. Outman would have been an upgrade too, especially on defense.
      My guess is that Conforto will get DFA’d soon… unless an injury to somebody else gives him a reprieve.
      And I still hope Rushing sees some action in LF, just to get him more ABs.

  14. Yes, congrats on the nuptials!
    I can’t imagine my daughter would ever accord one of her brothers such an honor. The father of the bride must have done something right.
    But back to the Dodgers….

    Did Emmit Sheehan just produce the best performance by any Dodgers starter this season? I think so. Seven shutout innings with 10 Ks and only one walk and two hits. Yes, he got a little help from the defense… but he was dominant. Sheehan threw 96 pitches, and in the olden days he’d have probably notched the shutout?
    If he keeps this up, he might push on the big-bucks stars out of the playoff rotation. I’m rooting for him.
    Remember when Sheehan first came up? He was one of the “other” rookie pitchers after budding ace Bobby Miller. Now, of course, we’re hoping that Miller might succeed as a reliever.
    Next season, Stone, River Ryan, Frasso and Gonsolin should be in the SP mix, and let’s hope Sasaki returns to form. And will Jackson Ferris be ready?

  15. David Vassegh
    @THEREAL_DV
    Blake Snell is expected to start on Friday vs #DBacks. Snell was placed on Paternity List after his last start in San Diego. Snell’s wife gave birth to their second child. #Dodgers

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