Now is the time, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes, for his team’s intensity to rise.
And if the external pressures of a tight National League West race, postseason seeding implications and a looming World Series defense in October don’t do it, then maybe, he hopes, increased internal battles for playing time will.
For a while on Tuesday night, in a series opener against the perpetually rebuilding Pittsburgh Pirates, the Dodgers showed fight. Clayton Kershaw gave up four runs in an ugly first inning, but the lineup clawed its way back to even the score — thanks, in part, to a 120-mph rocket of a home run from Shohei Ohtani in the third, his 46th of the season and 100th as a Dodger and a tying solo blast from Andy Pages in the fourth.
Kershaw, meanwhile, settled down to get through five innings without any more damage, retiring 13 of his final 15 batters to salvage something from his start.
As the latter innings approached, it left the Dodgers in position to not only win, but build their division lead after the San Diego Padres’ loss on Monday.
Alas…
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The bullpen faltered, with Edgardo Henriquez (who hadn’t given up a run in his first 12 outings this year) and Blake Treinen (who had finally started looking like himself again after an early-season elbow injury) combining for three runs conceded in the sixth.
The lineup couldn’t overcome another big deficit, scoring twice in the seventh only for the Pirates to get the runs back in the next two innings.
And once more, the Dodgers lost to a team miles behind them in the standings, falling 9-7 at PNC Park to drop to 4-10 in their last 14 games against teams with losing records.
The Dodgers’ inability to beat bad teams has underscored a persistent issue with the team.
They’ve been inconsistent, struggling to stack clean performances or any semblance of an extended winning streak. They’ve at times lacked urgency, failing to pull away from the slumping Padres in the division or get back in position for a top-two NL playoff seed (which would give them an all-important first-round bye in the postseason).
For all their efforts to rally on Tuesday, they also saw each of their three outfielders fail to snag catchable balls, an eighth-inning wild pitch by Anthony Banda led to one key insurance run and a general lack of execution cost them in other key spots (like when they managed only one run from a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the second).
So far, neither a soft spot in the schedule nor the realities of the calendar have fixed such miscues.
Thus, Roberts highlighted another solution in his pregame address — acknowledging that players who don’t step up their performance soon could see their playing time get cut as the roster returns to full health.
On Monday, when MLB rosters expanded to 28 players at the start of September, the Dodgers activated two key pieces from the injured list: Infielder Hyeseong Kim, who had been out since late July with a shoulder injury; and reliever Michael Kopech, who had been limited to eight appearances this year because of arm troubles and a meniscus surgery in his knee.
Next homestand, more reinforcements could be on the way, with Max Muncy and Tommy Edman beginning rehab assignments with triple-A Oklahoma City this week.
And before long, the Dodgers’ long-shorthanded depth chart could suddenly be crowded, forcing tough decisions to potentially be made in left field, at second base and in the bullpen.
“I do think just kind of naturally it raises the level of performance and intensity,” Roberts said, pointing to veteran infielder Miguel Rojas as one example of someone who is “fighting for playing time” with recently improved play.
“I tip my cap to him,” Roberts said. “I’m expecting that from a lot of other guys as well.”
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Indeed, there are a number of underperforming players that could get squeezed out of their current roles as the roster gets healthy.
Roberts said Edman will play mostly center fielder during his rehab stint, something he had been unable to do earlier this season while battling an ankle injury. Once he’s back, that means someone such as Michael Conforto (who is still batting under .200 on the season) could drop to the bench, leaving the corner outfield spots for Pages and Teoscar Hernández.
In the infield, Kim will likely figure in at second base (though could also kick out to left field, where he saw time during his own recent rehab assignment). That will create one more slice in an infield pie that is already being divvied between Rojas, Kiké Hernandez and Alex Freeland. Once Muncy is back at third, at-bats will be at even more of a premium.
The same situation could unfold in the bullpen, which will also get Alex Vesia and Brock Stewart back this month from their own injuries. That will raise the pressure on struggling offseason signings Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to continue earning leverage opportunities.
How it all shakes out remains unclear.
But where there are more options, the Dodgers believe, better production — and intensity — will follow.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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