They’ve underperformed relative to preseason expectations, but worked around serious roster limitations.
They’ve wowed with an undefeated start, a high-scoring offense and a comfortable division lead. And yet, they’ve left so much to also be desired, both on the mound from their injury-plagued pitching staff and at the plate amid uncharacteristic slumps from several veteran stars.
No, the Dodgers have not played like “The Greatest Team Ever” in the first half of the season. Their record-setting $400-million payroll is not bidding for any all-time wins mark.
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But, after grinding out a 5-2 extra-innings win over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday to enter the All-Star break with a key divisional series victory, their first half has been a quiet success nonetheless, concluding with the Dodgers (58-39) holding a 5 ½-game lead in the National League West, the top record in the NL and still the best odds of being baseball’s first repeat champion in a quarter-century.
Sunday epitomized the duality of the Dodgers’ first 97 games.
Their starting pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, completed his stellar start to the season with a seven-inning gem, keeping the Giants (52-45) off the scoreboard while yielding three hits, two walks and striking out seven batters.
If the Dodgers were to pick a first-half MVP, perhaps only Shohei Ohtani would outpace Yamamoto, who enters the break as a first-time All-Star thanks to his 9-7 record, 2.59 earned-run average and six separate outings of six or more scoreless innings (tied for second-most such starts in the majors this season, behind only Tarik Skubal).
“He’s been really good,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game, wholly convinced the 26-year-old Japanese right-hander would bounce back from his ugly five-run first inning in Milwaukee last week. “Even now, having a rough one the last one, he’s just to the point where he knows he’s a really good pitcher, he’s an All-Star and he has high expectations for himself. He’s just been very valuable.”
Miguel Rojas gestures after hitting a home run in the fifth inning for the Dodgers on Sunday. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
However, the back end of the bullpen remained a problem, with closer Tanner Scott blowing a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth by giving up a two-run home run to pinch-hitter Luis Matos.
Scott, a $72-million signing this offseason, has converted only 19 of his 26 save opportunities. He has a 4.09 ERA and eight home runs given up. And his struggles have made the bullpen a prime area of need for the Dodgers entering the trade deadline.
The Dodgers’ offense has been equally quixotic.
Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman both hit the midway point mired in extended slumps — though Freeman contributed a couple times Sunday, lining an RBI double in the fourth inning before putting the Dodgers back in front in the 11th with a bloop single that dropped in center.
Freddie Freeman hits a run-scoring single in the 11th inning Sunday against the Giants. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
While Ohtani has pitched superbly in his limited action on the mound, his offense has declined since resuming a two-way role. When he singled in the fifth inning Sunday, it marked his first hit this season to come on the day immediately following one of his pitching starts.
And though catcher Will Smith has a healthy lead for the NL batting title, earning his third-straight All-Star nod with a .323 mark, others toward the bottom of the lineup have been cold, from Teoscar Hernández (who is hitting barely .200 since returning from an adductor injury in May; though added an infield single in Sunday’s 11th inning rally) to Andy Pages (whose All-Star candidacy fizzled with a .220 average in his past 16 games, despite also chipping in with an RBI single in the 11th) to Tommy Edman (whose defensive versatility has been valuable, but finished the first half in an 0-for-23 slump).
Such struggles are reminders of how the Dodgers remain fallible in their pursuit of another World Series.
Their banged-up pitching staff remains another wild card in their pressure-packed title defense (though Tyler Glasnow has already returned, Blake Snell and Blake Treinen should be back shortly after the All-Star break, and Roki Sasaki is on track for a late August return after throwing a long-awaited bullpen session this week).
And for large swaths of the first half, it all made the Dodgers look exceedingly mortal; none more so than during the seven-game losing streak that preceded their back-to-back wins against the Giants to close out this weekend’s series.
However, those issues have still done little to no damage to the team’s long-term chances, with a frustrating but fruitful opening act to this campaign leaving the Dodgers right where they want to be — even if, as Sunday epitomized, they haven’t gotten there the way they would have hoped.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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