TORONTO — The Dodgers’ winning streak was halted at six in The 6. A torrent of offense since leaving home came up dry in Sunday’s series finale against Kevin Gausman, and Max Muncy’s best shot with the bases loaded in the eighth inning settled harmlessly into Daulton Varsho’s glove a couple of feet shy of the wall.
“Max needed to do one more bicep curl today,” Freddie Freeman deadpanned after.
“Felt good,” Muncy said. “Hit it good. Just hit it too high. … Good at-bat. Got a pitch to hit. Can’t really say I missed it. Just hit it too high.”
Even after their 3-1 loss Sunday, the Dodgers are off to a strong start at 18-12. That’s a 97-win pace, something difficult to do without a few things standing out.
1. Tyler Glasnow has been ‘everything and more’
At least during the seventh inning of Saturday’s 4-2 win, no one wanted to see Yosuke Nakajima. The Dodgers’ longtime assistant athletic director they’ve nicknamed “Possum” is a popular figure, but watching him stride from the dugout to the mound meant the possibility of danger. Tyler Glasnow was in the midst of another masterful performance in this young season but signaled alarm when he flexed his right hand after Blue Jays outfielder Davis Schneider’s ringing double pushed across a run.
Both Dave Roberts and Tyler Glasnow didn’t seem all that concerned postgame after Glasnow complained of cramping in his calf and later in his hand today. Glasnow said he’s dealt with it before – Rogers Centre was more humid than he anticipated.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) April 27, 2024
It was the last pitch Glasnow threw in his latest brilliant outing (six-plus innings, one run, nine strikeouts), though he and Roberts were quick to dismiss any long-term concern. Glasnow’s right calf had cramped up. So too had his hand. The longtime Tampa Bay Ray had visited Rogers Centre often yet underestimated the humidity within its concrete walls.
“I think I sweat so much … there’s stuff to mitigate it so I’m good to go,” Glasnow said.
The pitcher didn’t report any symptoms when he arrived at the ballpark on Sunday. So perhaps a case of dehydration served as another reminder of how much the Dodgers are relying on Glasnow, who Roberts said has “done everything and more” of what the club hoped for.
What has made Glasnow excellent is clear.
“When he’s throwing strikes, it’s just hard to hit his stuff,” Mookie Betts said. “You don’t know what’s coming. It all looks the same coming out of his hand. It’s just tough to hit.”
Through Sunday, Glasnow — who has a career-high of 120 innings — ranks:
- First in the majors in innings pitched (43)
- First in strikeouts (53)
- Has a 2.72 ERA
Yet …
“I still think there’s more in there,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers will need it. Walker Buehler still needs another rehab start. Bobby Miller has just started a throwing progression. Their pitching depth was always going to factor after a swell of injuries, but there were a few extra surprises.
Will Smith continues to produce
Will Smith hasn’t been talked about much, which is how he prefers it. He’s hosting a comedy show charity event next month, an extension of a joke the Dodgers’ social media team put on where the idea of him telling jokes was actually the bit all along.
Whether or not his jokes land, he’s been a hit at and behind the plate. A quick look at the top of the league’s leaders in batting average will, of course, include Betts. It’ll also include Smith, who has gotten off to a torrid start after a broken rib hampered his offensive upside last year.
“It’s still April,” Smith warned, but it’s been a heck of an impression to make on the heels of signing a decade-long extension.
It helps to hit fourth in a lineup that includes Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, but the batting line remains impressive: .367/.404/.520, with a pair of home runs through 109 plate appearances.
The key?
“I’m just trying to focus on hitting the heater right now,” Smith said. “Last year I really wasn’t hitting it. Earlier this year I really wasn’t hitting it.”
He’s right. Last year, Smith hit worse against fastballs than he ever has (.241), swinging and missing more frequently at the types of pitches he usually does damage against. While his ability to slug off those pitches remains unchanged, his contact rate has gone up against the pitch this season and he entered Sunday hitting .318 off fastballs.
It’s come with some tradeoffs. Friday’s solo home run was just Smith’s second of a season that is now 30 games old. Instead, as Roberts noted, the line-drive-centric approach has resulted in more doubles (and, actually, a slugging percentage better than his best home run-producing seasons).
“I don’t want Will to chase homers,” Roberts said. “And slug is more than just homers. He’s hit some doubles. He’s driving in runs. He’s getting on base. I think there’s more value in him taking a quality at-bat with runners in scoring position, to get a base hit to drive a run in versus get bigger with his swing and hit a couple more homers. The slug is going to be there.”
The offense flashes a little balance – but needs work
The Dodgers have spread the wealth on offense lately. The top-heavy unit saw all nine starters record a hit in Friday night’s 12-2 victory in Toronto. Then, a day later, they did it again. They’ve recorded double-digit hits in three of their first five games this road trip. For the first time this season, some semblance of balance in this group.
“For me, one through nine, I see there’s more intent as far as the hit tool, getting a hit, finding outfield grass,” Roberts said. “I think our swings are getting shorter. We’re controlling the zone significantly better. And with that, we’re still finding ways to slug, putting guys on base and drive them in.”
Andy Pages looks like a real contributor, with hits in his past five games. Gavin Lux has started collecting hits in his starts. Miguel Rojas has continued to be effective. Kiké Hernández is finding his way.
There remains room for correction. Muncy’s near-miss at the wall extended a maddening trend.
“All the games we’ve lost, we’ve had a chance or opportunity to come back and win,” Muncy said. “The games we’ve lost, we just haven’t had that big hit. Kind of the same thing today. We hit a lot of balls hard. Just a couple good plays by them. Just couldn’t get it done.”
The Dodgers are now 4-for-27 (.148) with the bases loaded this season. No team in baseball has stranded more runners (240). Such an issue has felled talented clubs in years past, even one that seemingly generates as many chances as this year’s Dodgers.
“That’s a part of it. We’re whatever with guys left on base, but the other part of it is, yeah, we create a lot of run-scoring opportunities,” Roberts said. “(Standing runners) is going to happen when you do that.”
(Photo of Tyler Glasnow: Chris Young / The Canadian Press via Associated Press)
