The Dodgers lost the first two games of this series against the Atlanta Braves in the home team’s last at-bat, which has been a trend of late, with five of their 12 losses in August including the winning run scored in the eighth inning or later.
We’ve talked a lot about how the Dodgers went from the best-hitting team in baseball through the end of June to a very ordinary team since July 1, just 24-23 over the last two months. In the last two weeks the Dodgers have lost five of six games to the other division leaders in the National League, scoring only 10 runs in four games against the Milwaukee Brewers and eight runs in the first two games in Atlanta.
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The five runs the Dodgers scored on Wednesday represented their most in five games against the Braves this season.
Against the Brewers at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers trailed in 76 of their 135 plate appearances (56.3 percent)
In the first two games against the Braves, the Dodgers trailed in 35 of their 84 plate appearances (41.7 percent). But they only batted six times when leading, once in the third inning and five times in the fourth inning, and they stranded runners on second and third base.
In August the Dodgers are averaging only 4.13 runs per game, with their 94 wRC+ ranking 20th in MLB. Now they will be without Andy Pages for several weeks. They technically have the other two regular outfielders still active, but you wouldn’t know it from the August performances by Kyle Tucker (.192/.267/.308, 58 wRC+) and Teoscar Hernández (.247/.276/.384, 80 wRC+).
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They aren’t alone in suffering, as Freddie Freeman has no home runs and a 77 wRC+ this month, and Tommy Edman has an 80 wRC+ in August even after his home run and double on Wednesday.
To show the difference from the first three months of the season — when the Dodgers were a high-functioning offense — let’s see how the teams with the top seven records in the National League put themselves in good situations.
|
Team |
Ahead |
Behind |
Tied |
|
Dodgers |
50.2% |
26.8% |
23.0% |
|
Brewers |
44.4% |
29.5% |
26.0% |
|
Braves |
38.7% |
34.9% |
26.4% |
|
38.1% |
38.0% |
24.0% |
|
|
37.4% |
33.3% |
29.3% |
|
|
33.6% |
41.1% |
25.2% |
|
|
Padres |
29.7% |
40.6% |
29.7% |
Through the end of June, the Dodgers led baseball in plate appearances batting while ahead, and had the fewest PA while trailing. They batted while ahead nearly twice as much as when they were tailing.
The numbers since July 1 tell a different story.
|
Team |
Ahead |
Behind |
Tied |
|
Dodgers |
35.8% |
38.5% |
25.7% |
|
Phillies |
43.1% |
31.3% |
25.6% |
|
Braves |
41.7% |
29.7% |
28.6% |
|
Cubs |
41.5% |
31.5% |
27.0% |
|
Padres |
39.7% |
35.2% |
25.1% |
|
Brewers |
39.2% |
34.9% |
26.9% |
|
D-backs |
38.1% |
36.2% |
25.7% |
through August 26, 2026
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In their last 47 games, the Dodgers have batted more often when trailing than when having a lead. They are the only team among the top seven teams in the NL not to bat more often when ahead then behind.
The irony of this is the Dodgers are actually doing quite well situationally, even accounting for stranding Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff triple in the ninth inning on Tuesday. In August the Dodgers are hitting .287/.368/.453 with runners in scoring position with a 121 wRC+ that ranks third in MLB. But their 209 plate appearances — 9.09 per game — ranks just 21st in baseball.
That’s no way to live, and while the Dodgers have four playoff-capable starting pitchers on the mound in the next four games, the offense needs to do some of the heavy lifting, too.
