The Los Angeles Dodgers' dominant starting rotation overshadowed the fact that their vaunted lineup full of stars really hadn't done much in the NLDS or NLCS. Well, their starting pitching, with one exception, hasn't been quite as good in the World Series, and as a result, Los Angeles' season is on the brink. Don't get me wrong: The rotatoin has still been good for the most part, but this team's lineup, again, has really struggled, even with Dave Roberts trying his best to provide a spark.
Roberts made a slew of changes ahead of Wednesday's crucial Game 5, hoping it'd lead to a night of offense you'd expect from this Dodgers team. But those changes did nothing: The Dodgers recorded series lows in runs (1) and hits (4) in Wednesday's defeat. Now, with L.A. down 3-2 in the series, what else can Roberts conceivably do but hope and pray?
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Dave Roberts left no stone unturned in Game 5
I honestly don't know what else there is for the Dodgers to do. It felt like Roberts pushed every button he could, for the most part.
Roberts finally opted to bench Andy Pages, who has gone 4-for-50 in the postseason, in favor of Alex Call. He rewarded Will Smith, one of their best hitters in this series (not that that's saying much), by bumping him up to the No. 2 spot right behind Shohei Ohtani. He moved the struggling Mookie Betts to the No. 3 spot after hitting him second exclusively all year. Max Muncy hit seventh, after hitting fifth and sixth previously in this series. It felt like everyone other than Ohtani was moved around in hopes of finding a spark.
Yet, even with all of that lineup tinkering, the result was somehow worse. Sure, they could've moved Betts down lower, as he looks as bad as he ever has right now, but that wouldn't have changed anything. At some point, the Dodgers need their star players to, you know, play like stars.
Dodgers need their non-Ohtani stars to step up
I'd say Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Max Muncy are the Dodgers' best hitters not named Shohei Ohtani. They've combined to go 16-for-84 in the World Series, good for a .190 average.
- Mookie Betts: 3-for-23
- Will Smith: 5-for-21
- Freddie Freeman: 5-for-20
- Max Muncy: 3-for-20
If those guys aren't going to do anything, who is? Teoscar Hernandez has had a nice offensive series, and Kiké Hernandez homered in Game 5, but everywhere you turn, it feels like this lineup is just full of guys who are all struggling at the same time.
How do you bounce back from that? Are the Dodgers supposed to play Miguel Rojas over Mookie Betts? Should Ben Rortvedt be catching in Will Smith's place? They need good hitters to actually hit.
The New York Yankees were in a similar spot against these Blue Jays, as Aaron Judge finally had a Judge-like showing in the postseason just in time for the rest of their lineup to completely disappeared. That series, as is this one, is proof that one player cannot singlehandedly carry a team in the entire postseason.
Smith was the one who hit the go-ahead home run in Game 2. Freeman's 18th-inning home run won Game 3. These supporting cast members have stepped up before, and are obviously more than capable of it. If they won't do that in Games 6 and 7, though, the Dodgers won't win, regardless of where they bat.
Ohtani can only do so much. Dave Roberts can only do so much. The Blue Jays deserve credit for how they've pitched, but it's time for the Dodgers' stars to act like stars and win the Dodgers another title.