The Dodgers are struggling to gain dominant ground in the NL West division. Although the season is still early, it's time for a change of direction. They need to change things up because if they keep losing like this late in games, they will lose footing in the tough NL West division. Alluding to Roki Sasaki’s last start, in which they were leading the game on top of the ninth inning, a game in which they should have won, they ended up losing because they lacked speed and hitters who could hit and get on base at the bottom of the lineup in the April 19th game against the Texas Rangers.
On the April 22nd game against the Chicago Cubs, they squandered a 10-7 lead going into the 8th inning. Though the pitching staff was partly to blame—well, a lot of it to blame by allowing four unanswered runs—4 of the bottom 5 hitters of the Dodgers are hitting below .200. Kiki is hitting .130. Chris Taylor is hitting .250, and Michael Conforto is hitting .191. Andi Pages is hitting .179. Max Muncy is hitting .181. Of those usually making up the last 5 hitters in the lineup, only Chris Taylor is hitting over .200. Michael Conforto is the only player mentioned above with an OBP over .300. This is concerning because it makes the team heavily reliant on the top 4 hitters in the lineup. At the same time, they don’t get as many RBI opportunities. Now, put this in perspective: if the top four hitters don’t produce outstanding numbers, the Dodgers will have a difficult time establishing footing in the tough and rugged NL West Division. The Colorado Rockies is the only team that seems to be doing terribly. The Padres, Giants, and D-Backs are playing exceptionally great baseball.
As of April 22nd, the Dodgers are 21st in MLB in batting average, while the opposing team, the Cubs, are 3rd in BA. They are 18th in the league in OBP at .310, while the Cubs are 1st with a .344 OBP. Though the Dodgers are 7th in the league with a .732 OPS, the Cubs are even better with .806, good enough to be first in MLB. We all remember Shohei’s historic 2024 campaign with the first 50/50 season, but it appears he won’t be running as much this year, especially with the shoulder injury he suffered in the series against the Mets in the playoffs last year. This is understandable, as he completely had to undergo surgery in the off-season. It is unknown whether Shohei’s shoulder is 100% healed or not.
The Dodgers are losing games they should be winning; therefore, it is time to make changes. It is the right time to call up Hye-Seong Kim. He has cooled off for a couple of days, but he might just be the one the team needs to revamp the offense. I believe it will be a significant improvement over the current lineup. They will add speed, defense, and possibly a much better hitter in the lineup than at least three of the bottom hitters. Call up Hye-Seong Kim now!
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