The Los Angeles Dodgers offense is slumping at the absolute worst time.
The Dodgers scuffled through another dormant offensive performance by recording just four hits — and five base runners — in their 6-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night.
The Dodgers boasted the National League’s best offense, leading the Senior Circuit in runs (825) and finishing behind only the New York Yankees across the majors in that stat. Yet, LA only managed to score on Kiké Hernández’s third-inning solo home run, and it has crossed home plate just just four times in in its past 27 innings.
LA can even the best-of-7 series with a win in Game 6 of the World Series against Toronto at Rogers Centre on Friday. The Dodgers are likely to send Yoshiobu Yamamoto to the mound.
The Dodgers Tweaked Their Lineup; It didn’t Work
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts likes to write in a lineup card and stick with it — particularly in the postseason, where every decision is magnified, especially in a massive market like LA.
So it was news when Roberts flipflopped catcher Will Smith and infielder Mookie Betts and removed outfielder Andy Pages, calling on Dodgers outfielder Alex Call.
Yet, those tweaks didn’t work either, since LA went 4 for 30 (.133) on Wednesday and two of LA’s hits didn’t get out of the infield. It went just 0 for 1 with runners in scoring position, and not even the great Shohei Ohtani could save LA, since he has gone 0 for 7 since reaching base nine times in Game 3 — while the Blue Jays have continued to put pressure on LA.
Part of it was Yesavage, but another big part is the Dodgers’ ongoing struggles — they are hitting just .201 with 55 strikeouts in the World Series.
“It doesn’t feel great,” Roberts said. “You clearly see [the Blue Jays] finding ways to get hits, move the baseball forward, and we’re not doing a good job of it. I thought Yesavage was good tonight mixing his fastball, slider, and the split.
“You still have to use the whole field and take what they give you, and if they’re not going to allow for slug, then you’ve got to be able to kind of redirect and down club — or club down to take competitive at-bats.”
Mookie Betts’ Slump Is By Far The Worst
Mookie Betts was an MVP, and he had a .951 OPS in the postseason in 2024 while carrying the Dodgers offense.
But this year he has been a shell of himself, especially in the World Series. Betts is 3 for 23, with three singles, in the Fall Classic and has not protected Shohei Ohtani — who has been walked in every reasonable situation from Schneider, especially in Game 3.
Betts’ may be slump worst, but it’s hardly the only one. Betts, Pages and infielder Max Muncy are all hitting under .200, and each has a negative win-probability created in the series –with the trio averaging minus minus-10.9 percent cWPA, according to Baseball Reference.
Plus, with the Dodgers about to meet Toronto ace Kevin Gausman — who gave up three runs and four hits and didn’t walk a batter in Game 1 — who should be more comfortable in Game 6.
Luckily, Roberts feels like the Dodgers can still rebound and force a Game 7.
“We have that ability,” Roberts said. “We’ve got to make some adjustments. We have seen Gausman a ton, a lot of our guys have seen him, so we just got to continue to — I just think we just got to come in fresh, and we’ve been — again, like I said, we’ve been in elimination games, a core group of these guys, and we got to find a way to win a game.”
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