The Los Angeles Dodgers have one of the best offenses in Major League Baseball, trailing only the Texas Rangers (648) in runs scored with 624, thanks to their mix of stars at the top of the lineup and role players who are contributing on a consistent basis.
Of course, the offense is led by Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, but players such as David Peralta and Jason Heyward have also had standout seasons. Still, the latter two have contributed so effectively partly because of their role as platoon players, yet prior to the trade deadline, the Dodgers were lacking bats to fill in against left-handers.
That led to the Dodgers acquiring Kiké Hernández and Amed Rosario at the end of July, and so far the early returns on both have been great. With both of them mixed in, the lineup has vastly improved against left-handed pitching, which was one of their flaws early in the season.
With the mix of talent available to him, Dodgers manner Dave Roberts is thrilled with different groups he can put out on a nightly basis, via Jack Harris of the LA Times:
“Just seems like everyone we run out there takes a professional at-bat, can take a walk, can slug if we need to, can hit to the other side of the field,” Roberts said. “I feel really good about where we’re at.”
Since being acquired by the Dodgers, Hernández is hitting .333/.343/.485 with five doubles in 33 at-bats. Prior to the trade, he was batting .222/.279/.320 with six home runs and 11 doubles in 297 at-bats.
Rosario has found the same success, hitting .296/.321/.593 with two home runs in his 27 at-bats after slashing .265/.306/.369 with just three homers in 385 at-bats for the Cleveland Guardians.
The Dodgers still have Miguel Rojas starting often, and Austin Barnes occasionally is in the lineup as well, but outside of them, all their hitters are performing at near or above league-average levels. That makes them a tough lineup to deal with for opposing pitchers, and even more so when the matchups are in their favor.
James Outman getting rhythm back for Dodgers
James Outman started off the year red-hot in April, but cooled down tremendously in May and June to results worthy of optioning him to Triple-A. However, the Dodgers stuck with him, and the results are paying off.
The rookie center fielder believes he’s found his rhythm at the plate, which has given the lineup an added boost with another formidable hitter near the bottom of their order.
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