The Los Angeles Dodgers had one clear issue that led to an early postseason exit at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers: the offense.
Over the course of the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers offense hit a collective .185 compared to a .257 mark during the regular season, which was the third-highest in baseball. The Dodgers were even worse with runners in scoring position as they hit just .148 in the NLCS.
During an end-of-season press conference at Dodger Stadium, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spoke on focusing on the crucial aspects of the team, and those worth investing time into this offseason.
“What’s important for us is to be able to sift out the noise and isolate what’s real and what things we can improve upon,” Friedman said of the struggling offense. “We’ll spend a lot of time really focusing on that in the offseason.”
The offensive problem is something that presented itself in the months leading up to the postseason as the Dodgers hit just .249 after the All-Star break (which hovered right at the .244 league average) compared to a first-half batting average of .262
A major piece of the Dodgers offense had an injury-riddled second half of the season that led to a dip in production in superstar Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani notably dealt with a knee injury that sidelined him from pitching past early-July and a biceps injury.
His personal output went from a first-half slash line of .293/.403/.549 and an OPS of .953 to a .245 average with a .772 OPS. He had 22 first-half home runs and 58 RBIs to eight home runs and 23 RBIs post-All-Star break.
It wasn't just Friedman that identified the issue as executive vice president and general manager Brandon Gomes echoed the point.
“[We’re] appreciating the good from this past year, [but] our mindsets are always figuring out how to improve upon the previous season, whether win or lose, and try to move forward to put the best possible team for the following season,” Gomes said.
Perhaps one of the ways the Dodgers can improve offense is already on the roster. Though it was an 11-game sample size, 21-year-old standout Josue De Paula had 10 hits in 31 at-bats, but was rarely used in the postseason due to his lack of experience on defense.
It would be wise for the Dodgers to utilize De Paula — and inject some more youth into the lineup — as they look to have an offense capable of carrying them not just into October, but through it.
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