I wholeheartedly agree with Jeff's blog yesterday, entitled "So you don't think the Dodgers have a run-scoring problem?" Even Ray Charles can see that they do. Here's my theory as to why: Opposing pitchers now have a customized blueprint for each hitter, and the Dodgers’ power-oriented philosophy can become vulnerable when hitters refuse to take what the pitcher is conceding. Let's dig in...

THE PITCHERS HAVE ADJUSTED. HAVE THE DODGERS?

Baseball has always been a game of adjustments.

Pitchers adjust to hitters. Hitters adjust to pitchers. Then pitchers adjust to the adjustment.

Around and around it goes.

But I am beginning to wonder whether something different is happening in Major League Baseball in 2026. I think the pitchers, aided by an astonishing amount of information, may have gotten ahead in the arms race.

And some of baseball's biggest hitters haven't caught up.

Look around.

Mookie Betts is hitting .239 with a .705 OPS.

Austin Riley is hitting .222 with a .659 OPS.

Ronald Acuña Jr. is hitting .228 with a .732 OPS.

These aren't utility players trying to hang onto roster spots. These are some of the most talented hitters on the planet. Riley has struck out 168 times. Acuña, the 2023 National League MVP, is hitting just .119 against four-seam fastballs this year.

Meanwhile, plenty of hitters are doing just fine. Yordan Alvarez has been having an MVP season. Shohei Ohtani has a .927 OPS. Junior Caminero, at just 23, has an .895 OPS and is closing in on another 40-home-run season. James Wood has become one of the game's best young hitters, and Jackson Chourio continues to look like a budding superstar.

So this isn't simply a case of "pitching is dominating hitting."

Something more interesting is happening.

THE PITCHER KNOWS WHERE YOU WANT THE BALL

Think about the fundamental advantage the pitcher possesses.

The hitter doesn't know what's coming.

The pitcher does.

More importantly, in 2026 the pitcher also knows an extraordinary amount about the man standing 60 feet, 6 inches away.

He knows where that hitter does damage.

He knows where his bat slows down.

He knows which pitches he chases.

He knows his swing path.

He knows his launch-angle tendencies.

He knows which velocity bands give him trouble.

He knows where his barrels occur.

He knows what he does on 0-0, 1-0, 1-1, 0-2 and 3-2.

And somewhere in the clubhouse is enough video and Statcast data to practically perform an autopsy on every swing the hitter has taken for the past several years.

That has changed pitching.

Here's an amazing statistic: Earlier this season MLB reported that four-seam fastballs and sinkers combined were being thrown only 46.8% of the time, while averaging 94.4 MPH.

Both are extreme marks for the pitch-tracking era.

In plain English:

Pitchers are throwing fastballs harder than ever while throwing fewer of them than ever.

What's replacing them?

Sliders. Sweepers. Cutters. Splitters. Changeups. Curveballs.

Movement.

Movement.

And more movement.

WELCOME TO THE PITCHING LAB

Pitchers aren't merely being told, "Keep the ball down."

Those days are over.

Now it might be:

"Betts handles velocity, so don't feed him fastballs. Spin him."

And there's evidence for exactly that.

Betts has remained very good against four-seam fastballs, but sliders have increasingly bothered him. Earlier this season, he was slugging just .308 against sliders with a 28.6% whiff rate. Pitchers aren't stupid. If one door is locked, they stop knocking on it and walk around the house looking for an open window.

Austin Riley presents another interesting example.

Against sweepers this year, Riley has hit only .163 with a .279 slugging percentage. Against sliders, his slugging percentage has also been just .283.

So what do you suppose opposing pitching departments are telling their pitchers?

"Here's a fastball, Austin. See if you can hit it 450 feet?"

Probably not.

They are attacking the weakness.

Over and over and over again.

Until the hitter makes them stop.

AND THAT BRINGS ME TO THE DODGERS

The Dodgers have built an offense around controlling the strike zone and doing damage.

Generally, I love that philosophy.

I don't want nine David Ecksteins slapping singles to right field.

Home runs are enormously valuable because nobody can throw the runner out at home when the ball is sitting twelve rows deep in the pavilion.

But there can be a dark side to a power-oriented approach.

If hitters begin trying to hit home runs rather than trying to hit baseballs hard, pitchers can use that swing against them.

The pitcher doesn't have to throw you a pitch you can drive.

He can elevate.

He can bury a breaking ball.

He can sweep something away from your barrel.

He can tie you up inside.

And perhaps most importantly, he can pitch around the small section of the strike zone where your swing produces maximum loft and maximum damage.

If you refuse to adjust, he owns you.

And I think the Dodgers occasionally fall into that trap.

STOP LOOKING FOR THE THREE-RUN HOMER WITH NOBODY ON BASE

There are times when I watch this Dodger lineup and it appears everybody is trying to do damage.

Not get a hit.

Not move a runner.

Not shoot the ball through the opposite side.

Damage.

That's wonderful when you get your pitch.

It's disastrous when the pitcher refuses to give you your pitch.

The Dodgers' offense has fallen off considerably since its early-season performance. In August they have averaged about 4.1 runs per game with a 94 wRC+, ranking them in the bottom half of baseball offensively for the month. Interestingly, they have actually hit well with runners in scoring position. The bigger problem has been creating enough of those opportunities.

That distinction matters.

Maybe "clutch hitting" isn't really the disease.

Maybe getting traffic on the bases is.

A single.

A walk.

A double the other way.

A ground ball through the vacated hole.

A line drive over the second baseman.

Make the pitcher come back into the strike zone.

And suddenly that hanging slider you wanted three hitters ago appears with two men aboard.

Now hit it to Pasadena.

CHRIS SALE JUST GAVE THEM A MASTER CLASS

Thursday night's 1-0 loss in Atlanta was almost the perfect illustration.

Chris Sale threw a complete-game shutout.

Five hits.

No walks.

Eleven strikeouts.

He mixed overwhelming velocity with sliders and location, and when Shohei Ohtani was looking to do damage, Sale even struck him out chasing a 99.6 MPH fastball well above the strike zone.

Sale didn't spend nine innings challenging Dodger hitters to hit home runs.

He spent nine innings making sure they couldn't.

That is modern pitching.

It isn't cowardly.

It isn't nibbling.

It's intelligent.

Your strength is irrelevant if I never allow you to use it.

THE YOUNGER HITTERS MAY HAVE AN ADVANTAGE

This brings up another possibility.

Maybe some younger hitters are adapting more easily because this is the only version of baseball they've ever known.

Junior Caminero grew up in the Statcast world.

James Wood grew up in it.

Jackson Chourio grew up in it.

Pete Crow-Armstrong grew up in it.

They trained against high velocity, breaking-ball machines, pitch recognition technology and sophisticated data from the time they were teenagers.

They don't have to unlearn 15 years of Major League hitting.

That doesn't mean young players can't be exploited. Give Major League pitchers enough film and they will eventually find everyone's soft underbelly.

But the younger hitter may initially be more comfortable living in this world of 98 MPH fastballs followed by an 87 MPH sweeper disappearing toward the camera well.

The older veteran has another challenge.

He has to continually reinvent himself.

DON'T ABANDON THE HOME RUN

I'm certainly not suggesting the Dodgers start playing 1982 baseball.

I don't want sacrifice bunts in the third inning and announcers celebrating "productive outs."

The Dodgers should hit home runs.

Ohtani should try to destroy baseballs.

Muncy should punish mistakes.

Betts should drive pitches he can drive.

But there is a difference between hitting a home run and trying to hit a home run.

The home run should be the result of getting a pitch you can hammer.

It shouldn't dictate how you attack every pitch.

If pitchers won't give you the launch pitch, take the single.

Take the walk.

Shoot the outside pitch into right field.

Stay through the breaking ball.

Make them defend the entire strike zone.

Because once pitchers discover that you are willing to take what they give you, something wonderful happens.

They have to give you something else.

And eventually that something else might be the pitch you can hit 430 feet.

BASEBALL IS CHESS AT 98 MPH

Maybe that's what we're watching in 2026.

Not the death of hitting.

Not suddenly washed-up superstars.

Not necessarily bad hitting coaches.

We're watching another turn in baseball's never-ending evolutionary cycle.

The launch-angle revolution taught hitters how to do unprecedented damage.

Pitching departments responded.

They developed better pitch shapes. They learned which fastballs play upstairs. They created sweepers that disappear sideways. They optimized arsenals. They mapped hitters' swings down to inches.

The pitchers adjusted.

Now it's the hitters' turn.

And in the case of the Dodgers, I think the postseason may depend upon how quickly they figure that out.

Because October pitching isn't going to throw the Dodgers the pitches they want to hit.

October pitching is going to identify exactly what they don't want to hit...

…and throw it until they prove they can do something about it.

The Dodgers don't need to stop hitting home runs.

They need to stop letting pitchers know that home runs are all they're looking for.

You don't beat the algorithm by swinging harder.

You beat it by making the algorithm wrong.

There are no excuses, Dodger Blue Glasses, or spin here. As fans, we expect more. In about three more days, Will Smith will (allegedly) return, but Andy Pages will likely not return until the playoffs. The Dodgers need Pages, and they need Teoscar Hernandez and Kyle Tucker to return to a general facsimile of MLB-caliber players.

Teo and Kyle occupy typical power positions, and combined, they are Punch and Judy!

I do not have any confidence that Tucker and Hernandez will be anything but what they currently are... NOTHING! Bringing up DePaula on September 1st smacks of desperation, but it needs to happen. The lineup needs to get longer. It may all come down to the playoffs.

Yes, I am fully aware that the regular season doesn't mean everything... but it does mean something. If you aren't one of the Top Teams, you will go home. The Dodgers will be in the playoffs, but I have to wonder what the team will look like.

Can they adjust? The league has adjusted... can the Dodgers do the same? A Championship turns on EXACTLY that!

OKC Comets 5 – El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego) 4 – 10 innings 

OKC broke through first in the 4th.  CF Zach Ehrhard singled with 1 out.  He proceeded to steal 2nd and scored when LF James Tibbs III hit the RBI single.  JT III scored on DH Ryan Ward’s 2nd triple, for a 2-0 lead. 

LHSP Jackson Ferris was pitching effectively for 5.1 IP allowing 3 hits and 3 BB, and 7 K.  With one out in the 6th, he allowed a single, who was then caught stealing for the 2nd out.  That was followed by three additional singles and a run. 

But Ferris’ night was not done.  He set EL Paso down in order in the 7th to reach 7.0 complete innings for the 1st time this year.  In his last 3 starts, Ferris has completed 17.0 IP.  He has allowed 2 runs in those 17 innings.  Ferris finished 2025 well, and it looks like he is on his way to finishing strong again. 

After LHRP Garrett McDaniels pitched a scoreless 8th, OKC called on RHRP Jerming Rosario to close it down.  The 2nd batter Rosario faced hit a game tying HR.  After a 2nd out, El Paso hit another HR taking a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 9th. 

In the bottom of the 9th, RF Ryan Fitzgerald hit a 1-out single.  3B Noah Miller followed with a single.  After the 2nd out, 2B Alex Freeland clutched up and singled to tie the score and sent the game into extra innings. 

RHRP Nick Robertson entered the 10th.  He got the 1st out, but the next batter singled home the placed runner.  Robertson walked a batter but struck out the last two batters. 

In the bottom of the 10th, PR Austin Gauthier was the placed runner.  Ehrhard reached 2nd and Gauthier moved to 3rd on a FC and E5.  JT III was IBB to load the bases.  With 1 out, SS Hyeseong Kim also clutched up and singled in the tying run.  Fitzgerald followed with the walkoff single and an OKC win. 

·      James Tibbs III – 2-3, 2 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI

·      Ryan Fitzgerald – 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI

·      Ryan Ward – 1-5, 1 RBI, Triple (2) 

Will Smith went 0-3 but also did this: 

 Box Score 

Tulsa Drillers 5 – Midland RockHounds (As) 3 

Tulsa scored 1st in the 2nd.  With two outs, SS Elijah Hainline drew a BB, stole 2nd, and scored on DH Joe Vetrano’s double (10). 

RHSP Christian Zazueta was on the mound to start this game.  He threw 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one base runner.  In the 3rd, Christian gave up a BB, a SB, and a run scoring double, before getting the final 2 outs of the inning. 

Tulsa put up a crooked number in the 5th.  2B Taylor Young led off with a triple (1).  With one out, LF Josue De Paula reached on a fielder’s choice as Young was scoring the go-ahead run.  After JDP was picked off, 1B Griffin Lockwood-Powell singled and moved to 3rd on 3B Jake Gelof’s 20th double.  Both runners scored when CF Chris Newell slugged his 22nd HR and a 5-1 lead. 

Zazueta pitched two more additional innings, allowing just 1 runner.  

RHRP Christian Ruebeck relieved Zazueta in the 6th.  He pitched 2.0 scoreless innings, with 3 BB and 3 K. 

Continuing the game with pitchers named Christian, LHRP Christian Suarez entered in the 8th.  First two batters reached on singles. A WP moved the runners up.  The first run scored on a throwing error, and the 2nd run scored on a GIDP.  Suarez allowed 2 runs, but only one was earned. 

RHRP Carson Hobbs followed Suarez.  He pitched a scoreless 9th, allowing 1 base runner, earning his 2nd save. 

·      Griffin Lockwood-Powell – 2-4, 1 run, double (13)

·      Chris Newell – 1-4, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (22)

·      Taylor Young – 1-3, 1 BB, 1 run, triple (1)

·      Doubles – Joe Vetrano (10), Jake Gelof (20) 

Box Score 

Great Lakes Loons 3 – Lansing Lugnuts (As) 2 

RHSP Cam Leiter was making his 2nd Midwest League start, and it was not what he expected.  The first batter he faced reached 1st on E3.  The second batter reached on catcher’s interference.  A strike out, walk, strike out loaded the bases with 2 outs.  Of course, the run scored on a WP. 

Leiter allowed a one out walk and single, but then dialed up a GIDP in the 2nd.  He retired the side in order in the 3rd, and his night was done.  He was at 57 pitches, so he wasn’t really efficient. 

The Loons did not have a hit in the 1st three innings.  In the 4th, CF Eduardo Quintero drew a 1-out BB and scored on SS Emil Morales’ 2-run HR (19). 

With RHRP Robby Porco taking the mound for a 2nd inning, the first three batters in the 6th reached base on a walk, double, and a walk to load the bases.  Porco struck out the next batter. Porco was lifted for LHRP Matt Lanzendorfer with the bases loaded and 1 out hoping to nurse the 2-1 lead.  The first batter grounded softly back to the pitcher, and all Lanzendorfer could do was to get the out at 1st, and the score was tied.  

In the 7th, DH Jaron Elkins doubled and moved to 3rd on a sac bunt from 2B Eduardo Guerrero.  Elkins scored on a single from 3B Mairo Martinus, taking a 3-2 lead. 

RHRP Davis Chastain pitched a clean 9th with 2 K for his 9th save. 

Great Lakes had 3 hits.  2 of them were XBH.  Jaron Elkins double (4) and Emil Morales HR (19).  Okay, Martinus had the third hit, and RBI single.    

Box Score 

Stockton Ports (As) 6 – Ontario Tower Buzzers 0 

RHP Joel Cruz was the opener for this bullpen game.  The first batter he faced reached base on an error. The next batter singled, and after the first out, the next batter hit a 2-run double.   Cruz walked two more batters before getting the final out. 

In the 2nd, Cruz allowed a 1-out single, and a 2-out BB.  He thought he got the third out, but the team’s 2nd error scored another unearned run.  

RHRP Accimias Morales followed Cruz.  He finished 2.0 innings, allowing 1 unearned run on 3 hits, 1 BB, and a 3rd error. 

RHRP Dailoui Abad relieved Morales in the 6th.  The first batter singled and stole 2nd.  With one out, Abad hit a batter.  The two runners pulled off the double steal.  Abad walked the next batter to load the bases and struck out the next batter.  He was about to get out of the mess he created, but RHRP Camden Wimbish was brought in.  Unfortunately for Abad and Ontario, Wimbish walked the first two batters he faced scoring two more.  

After Wimbish got the 1st two outs in the 7th, RHRP Jose Vasquez replaced Wimbish, and got the final out of the inning.  Vasquez pitched a scoreless 8th. 

Ontario loaded the bases in the 9th with nobody out, but a strike out and a GIDP kept the shutout intact. 

Catcher Francisco Espinoza was the only Ontario batter with 2 hits.  3B/SS Caleb Johnson doubled (5) for the only XBH. 

Box Score