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We talk a lot about how much the Dodgers are missing Cody Bellinger, who last played on April 5 and is still likely at least two weeks away from returning from his fractured fibula, having still not run at full speed during rehab at Camelback Ranch.
There are more injuries, including utility man Zach McKinstry in the same sort of limbo with waiting for his right oblique to heal. Gavin Lux missed 10 days and only recently started hitting. Edwin Ríos was placed on the injured list after an 0-for-32 skid. All were expected contributors in some capacity this season, and certainly part of the reason why the Dodgers haven’t hit much for going on three weeks.
But focusing on the various injuries obscures an also large, and even more obvious truth: the Dodgers need Mookie Betts and Corey Seager to get going again for the offense to hum.
Both Betts and Seager played in 13 of 14 games in the recent stretch of two weeks straight of schedule games. Neither hit much:
Two weeks of struggle
| Player | PA | BA/OBP/SLG | wRC+ | wOBA | xBA | xSLG | xwOBA | BB rate | K rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | PA | BA/OBP/SLG | wRC+ | wOBA | xBA | xSLG | xwOBA | BB rate | K rate |
| Betts | 65 | .211/.308/.333 | 83 | 0.284 | 0.273 | 0.399 | 0.332 | 9.2% | 21.5% |
| Seager | 60 | .208/.300/.340 | 85 | 0.287 | 0.255 | 0.430 | 0.336 | 8.3% | 20.0% |
In the last two weeks, both are striking out more and walking less than their full-season numbers, including Betts’ first three-strikeout game of the season on Wednesday, when he was 0-for-6.
Last year, including the postseason, when Betts and Seager batted first and second in the lineup, the Dodgers were 40-13 (.755), averaging 6.28 runs per game. This year the team is 9-13 (.409) in games when Betts and Seager are 1-2, averaging 5.18 runs.
That’s a perfectly acceptable offense in total, as are Seager (119 wRC+) and Betts (118 wRC+) overall this season. But the last 14 games have been bad all around.
Betts and Seager have batted the most of anyone on the team over the last two weeks, which goes a long way in explaining why the Dodgers are 3-11 in that span. Max Muncy is third in plate appearance since April 22, and is hitting .132/.421/.316 in that span. He had a three-week extra-base hit drought that ended in Chicago, with Muncy hitting two home runs and a double in the last two games.
Fixing the Dodgers offense really is as simple as having the people who bat the most actually hit. Track records suggest they will, but that doesn’t take the last two weeks any easier to swallow.
Game info
- Teams: Dodgers at Angels
- Location: Angel Stadium, Anaheim
- Time: 6:38 p.m. PT
- TV: SportsNet LA, Bally Sports Southern California (Angels broadcast)