Dodgers just got another brutal reason to end Michael Conforto experiment

For whatever reason, the Los Angeles Dodgers remain steadfast about using Michael Conforto and Alex Call as a platoon in left field. Given the former's overall struggles and the latter's offensive shortcomings this season, it doesn't feel like a merit-based decision. Continuously trotting them out there and expecting different results is not only insane, but the lineup fallout is costly.

As fans know, Conforto and the recently acquired Call's presence has shifted veteran slugger Teoscar Hernández from left to right field with Andy Pages in center. And as everyone except for Dave Roberts, MLB's highest-paid skipper, is aware, that's not the proper alignment. Meanwhile, this managerial malpractice is costing them prime opportunities to tighten their grip atop the division standings, most recently in their series opener against the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.

Dodgers continue to shoot themselves in the foot by using Teoscar Hernández at RF

A defensive miscue by Hernández allowed the game in the bottom of the ninth inning let the game-losing run on base. He failed to corral a shallow blooper hit his way off the stick of Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar. In fairness, it wasn't necessarily the easiest ball to get. Nonetheless, that doesn't change that it led to a double and a walk-off Warming Bernabel single the following at-bat.

The Conforto/Call problem is having a negative trickle-down effect on the Dodgers. They can't afford blunders with little separating them from the San Diego Padres in the race for the National League West crown. Especially in contests that should be no-brainer victories, like a showdown with the Rockies.

Moreover, it's not like the Dodgers don't have viable alternatives. They don't even need to use Conforto; Roberts is oddly doing it by choice. L.A. has several in-house solutions, particularly as eight-time All-Star Mookie Betts continues returning to form after a scary health situation early in the 2025 campaign.

A healthy Mookie Betts should make pulling the rip cord on Michael Conforto easy for the Dodgers

Put Hernández back in left field, where he primarily operated for the Dodgers in 2024, and Betts in right. There's no logical justification to keep playing Conforto, who's nearly a decade removed from his lone All-Star nod. The ex-New York Mets standout is slashing a woeful .190/.299/.326 with a below-average .626 OPS while posting a negative-five Outs Above Average (OAA).

It took time, but Betts is finally starting to look like himself again. He lost north of 15 pounds because of an illness and has consequently had an uncharacteristically disappointing year. The Dodgers have deployed him at shortstop, but Korean rookie Hyeseong Kim and utility man Tommy Edman give them the versatility to adjust accordingly once they return from injury. Let Miguel Rojas and Alex Freeland fill in until then and stop shedding outs in the outfield.