Dodger Offense Showing Its Age?

On the Dodgers last road trip, they first went to Colorado, a team with the worst record in the majors. They got a stellar starting performance from Tyler Glasnow who went 7 innings and allowed just one run on two hits and two walked. Dreyer then came in and pitched two innings striking out 3 and walking just one. Glasnow struck out 7.

On the offensive side, in extreme cold in Denver, (the field had to be cleared of snow, and it took 5 hours), they managed to get 13 hits and 7 runs, Muncy hit 2 solo homers on a 3-4 night and drove in 3 runs. Smith was 2-4 driving in 2, Pages and Freeland drove in the other 2. Ohtani and Freeman had 2 hits each.

In game 2, Tucker gave LA a 2-0 lead with his 3rd homer. Colorado got one back in the bottom of the frame. LA scored in the 2nd to take a 3-1 lead. Rushing’s 5th homer bringing the run home. They would not score again. Sheehan allowed a 2nd run in the bottom of the 2nd and left after 5 innings with a 3-2 lead.

Feltner left in the top of the 6th with 2 outs, the Rockies pen would shut down LA on just 3 hits and 1 walk the rest of the way. In the bottom of the 6th, Klein came in and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits. LA’s offense was 0-7 with RISP, a familiar problem that they also had last year.

Game 3, LA again jumped out to a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the 4th. Sasaki gave up a single, hit batter, he struck out Freeman, and then Rumfield singled making it 3-1, a double play got him out of the inning. In the bottom of the 5th, he gave up a homer to Karros, then a double to McCarthy and Julien singled to tie the game. He got Moniak to fly out, then uncorked a wild pitch, he struck out Goodman and walked Freeman. Vesia relieved him and got the last out.

LA got a run back in the top of the 6th. They had a 4-3 lead. Klein made up for his bad outing in the bottom of the 6th. LA was held scoreless in the 7th. Treinen came in and had his worst outing of the year. Double-homer-double-single and Colorado was up 6-4. Dreyer relieved and got out without any more damage. Diaz came in for the 8th and just like Treinen, he did not record an out. Rockies scored 3 more to make it 9-4. LA scored 2 in the 9th for the final 9-6. LA was 4-14 with RISP.

On Monday, LA found its offense again with a 12-3 drubbing of the Rockies. Muncy and Rushing hit 2 homers each, Rojas added a fifth LA homer, and they got a split of a series against a really bad team. Even at that, they were just 3-15 with RISP. Not very good.

So now they go to SF and score just 1 run in the first two games. Ohtani was 1-8 in those first two games with 3 Ks. He pitched brilliantly in game 2, but Dreyer gave up a 3-run homer to a guy hitting .140. LA lost 3-0. Glasnow righted the ship with a solid 3-0 win on getaway day, and the Dodgers headed home after a 3-4 road trip against two of the NL’s bottom dwellers.

So, what went wrong? First off, neither Tucker, Ohtani, nor Teo are hitting right now. Ohtani’s BA is down to .237. His OPS is under .800 at .794. He struck out 3 more times last night bringing his season total to 31 in 97 at bats. Even by his standards, that is not going to cut it. He is hitting just .207 in his last 15 games with just 2 homers and 4 driven in.

Age is not his problem. According to Doc, he has not felt comfortable at the plate, and he is also swinging wildly again, going after that low and away pitch way too often. Freeman is hitting right at .290. He was hitting the ball really hard early in the year, and the problem was many were atem balls. Now he has been getting hits on a lot of dunkers. Once again, his hard-h balls are being tracked down by the fielders.

All of this is heightened by Tucker not hitting his stride yet, Pages cooling off, Betts missing out of the lineup, and Teo going ice cold. Teo is back to his old habits too. He has been chasing a lot of bad pitches, and like many of the Dodgers, taking balls right down Broadway for strikes and putting himself in a hole. Ohtani has done the same thing. He had several pitches thrown by Talion that were center cut and he missed them totally.

Many posters here, and other places, believe Betts will never be Mookie again. One never knows, but, except for Freeland, Pages, Kim, Rushing and Tucker, the entire Dodgers starting 8 is 30 or older. When Betts, Edman and Kike return, the roster will get older. My guess, Freeland, Kim and Espinal hit the road.

I am not big on Kike during the season since he has never been great in that role except his first year in Boston. He has had some success with LA in that role, but never as a starter. Edman is a gamer; his grit and hard-nosed play make the team better. With Mookie, we will have to wait and see how his time on the IL has affected him.

Don’t get me wrong, age is going to be a factor for this team, now and for the next several years. They are in a win-now mode. With a work stoppage highly likely in 27, they want that third title. Unless several key players come out of the funk they are in, that is not likely to happen. Just being realistic. The starting pitching is the strongest part of this team, along with the power the lineup has. They can bludgeon the opposition when they get hot, and maybe, just maybe, this is nothing but a glitch in the season.

But remember, 2025 had a stretch where they were absolutely brutal, and lost a ton of games they should have won. And this year, their main competition comes from down south, and lately, the boys over in Arizona. The Phillies and Mets are having their own problems. The NL Central right now is the best division in baseball. Hopefully, the Dodgers will become a more consistent offensive force. Unless that happens, the three-peat is much less likely to happen.

MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORT

Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle) 8 – OKC Comets 6

LHRP Garrett McDaniels started in what figured to be a bullpen game. He got the first two outs of the inning, but then a double, BB, RBI single, and a 2 run double gave Seattle an early 3-0 lead.

OKC got two back in the 2^nd.  1B James Tibbs III drew a BB, stole 2^nd, and RF Jack Suwinski walked.  SS Noah Miller singled home Tibbs III and Suwinski moved to 3^rd.  Suwinski then scored on a C Eliézer Alfonzo sac fly.

RHRP Griff McGarry loaded the bases in the 2^nd but none crossed the plate.

RHRP Brock Stewart looks to be getting closer, retired the side in order in the 3^rd with 2 Ks.

RHRP Nick Frasso pitched a scoreless 4^th with a BB.

In the bottom of the 4^th, Tibbs III hit his PCL leading 11^th HR to tie the score.  After one out, Suwinski slugged his 5^th HR to take the lead.

Frasso came back out in the 5^th.  He walked the first batter, and followed that with a strike out.  LHRP Antoine Kelly relieved Frasso.  After getting a force out, he allowed a game tying double.

OKC took the lead back in the 5^th.  CF Mike Siani drew a BB.  He was balked to 2^nd, and moved to 3^rd on a WP.  DH Zach Ehrhard hit a sac fly and the lead.

RHRP Wyatt Mills surrendered the tying run in the 7^th after 2 doubles.

OKC got the run back in the bottom of the 7^th. Siani drew a leadoff BB.  With 2 outs, Siani moved to 2^nd on a WP and scored on double (7) by LF Ryan Ward.

Keynen Middleton gave up a game tying HR in the 9^th.  OKC did not score in the 9^th, and the game went into extra innings.

With a runner at 2^nd, RHRP Jordan Weems gave up a run scoring double.  A sac bunt, put the runner on 3^rd.  The runner scored on a sac fly for a 2 run lead.

OKC was in a position to tie it back up.  With Ward the placed runner at 2^nd, Tibbs III reached on a BB.  Austin Gauthier sacrificed the runners to 2^nd and 3^rd with one out.  Suwinski struck out. With 2 outs, Miller walked to load the bases.  Alfonzo grounded out to 1B to end the game.

Box Score

Frisco RoughRiders (Texas) 8 – Tulsa Drillers 0

LHSP Christian Suarez gave up a single to the leadoff hitter.  He promptly stole 2^nd and 3^rd, and scored on a second single. 

Suarez and three other relievers kept Frisco off the board through 6.0 innings.

RHRP Kelvin Ramirez surrendered 3 runs (1 earned) on 1 triple, 1 BB, and 2 errors.

Frisco blew it open with 4 in the 8^th off RHRP Carson Hobbs and :LHRP Evan Shaw.  They issued 3 BB and allowed 4 hitters to plate 4.

Meanwhile, Tulsa was held scoreless for 8 innings on 3 hits.  They got a BB and single in the 9^th, but the “threat” ended with a ground ball DP.  This was the first game Tulsa has been shutout in 2026.

Tulsa got four hits, two by LF Zyhir Hope, and a double (4) by CF Kendall George.  Okay, the other single came from SS Sean McLain.

Box Score

Beloit Sky Carp (Miami) 7 – Great Lakes Loons 6

That will teach me to talk effusively about pitcher.  After speaking about RHSP Christian Zazueta in glowing terms, he went out and put up a stinker.  He was hit hard his first two innings.  He gave up a HR, double, and triple in the first inning for 2 runs.  A HBP, double, and single put up 2 more in the 2^nd.

Great Lakes began their climb back into the game in the 2^nd.  SS Eduardo Guerrero hit a 2-out single followed by a BB to CF Mike Sirota.  Both runners pulled off a double steal putting runners on 2^nd and 3^rd.  2B Nico Perez singled home 2 to tie the score. 

After Beloit scored a pair in the bottom of the 2^nd, Great Lakes went back to work in the 3^rd.  3B Logan Wagner led off with a single.  C Victor Rodrigues drew a 1 out BB.  LF Samuel Munoz then had a 2-out run scoring double (2).

The Loons tied it up in the 4^th on Wagner’s 6^th HR of the year.

With Zazueta still on the mound in the 5^th, he retired the first batter, but surrendered a single and BB to the next two batters.  RHRP Accimias Morales relieved Zazueta after 83 pitches (56 strikes).  Morales walked two batters to force in a run. 

In the 6^th, the first two batters, Guerrero and Sirota, reached via BB.  They pulled off a double steal, and both runners scored on an errant throw by the catcher to take the lead.

The lead was short lived.  After Morales retired the first two batters, he gave up a single, BB, and 2-run double. 

RHRP Alex Makarewich and RHRP Davis Chastain shut down the Sky Carp in the 7^th and 8^th.  However, they could not take advantage with a lot of traffic in the final three innings.

Logan Wagner was the sole Loons batter with 2 hits. DH Eduardo Quintero walked 3 times, while Sirota and Guerrero walked twice.

Box Score

Ontario Tower Buzzers 18 – San Jose Giants 9

Quite the pitching contest in this one.  27 runs on 28 hits, 13 BB, and 5 HBP.  There were 9 XBH, including 3 HRs.

There really was not a lot of quality pitching here.  I would still like to focus on RHP Brady Smith.  He was a 3^rd round pick in 2023, but did not pitch until June 19, 2025, due to injuries.  He amassed 21.0 IP last year, so this was supposed to be his breakout year. He allowed 3 hits in his 3.0 IP.  Unfortunately they all were hit in the 2^nd inning.  A single, double, and single scored 2.  He went back out and struck out the side in the 3^rd.  He did not walk a batter, and struck out 6.  He turned 21 in January.  There is still a lot of time for Smith to develop.

Every Ontario hitter had at least 1 hit, and only 1 Tower Buzzer did not score.  The big bat for Ontario was catcher Anson Aroz.  He grew up and went to high school in Auburn, CA, about 10 miles from my home.  He went to Oregon and was the 19^th round pick by LAD last year as a 5^th year senior.

Aroz is a switch hitting catcher.  He went 4-4, including his 1^st double, and was HBP twice.  He scored 4 runs.  He is now hitting .412 with a 1.061 OPS.  He is not a prospect.  He is 23 in the California League, and was a 5^th year senior.  Because I love underdogs, he will be a favorite for me, but I will not expect to see him in MLB.

• SS Emil Morales – 2-5, 1 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (3)
• LF AJ Soldra – 2-4, 1 BB, 0 runs, 2 RBI, double (1)
• RF Ching-Hsein Ko – 2-5, 1 BB, 3 runs, 0 RBI, double (3)
• 1B Jose D. Hernandez – 1-3, 3 BB, 3 runs, 4 RBI, double (2)
• DH Easton Shelton – 1-5, 1BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI, HR (2)
• CF Jaron Elkins – 1-5, 2 BB, 1 run, 5 RBI, HR (5)
• 2B Joendry Vargas – 2-7, 1 run, 2 RBI, double (8)

Box Score