Even Without Shohei, The Dodgers Hitters Look Ready For October

Mookie Betts

Let’s start with this tweet from ESPN’s Paul Hembekides:

On August 4^th, Betts went 0-for-3 against the Chicago Cubs, dropping him to season-low slash line of .223/.280/.390. He went 4-for-5 the next day, but settled back into mediocrity. When August ended, he was hitting just .239. But then the calendar flipped to September, and Betts remembered that he is one of the best to ever play the game. After Saturday’s game against the San Francisco Giants, Betts said “the main thing is doing it when it counts…I know I’m still capable of it. I know it was in there somewhere.” Whatever “it” is was clearly lying dormant waiting for the weather to change and the leaves to begin to fall.

Kyle Tucker

Tucker was a completely other story. Just last month former Dodger great Eric Karros suggested that Tucker be sent to the team’s spring training complex in Arizona to work on his issues before deciding if the player being paid nearly $60 million this season should be on the playoff roster.

When August ended, Tucker was slashing .228/.326/.357 with 11 home runs, just two of which happened at home. But there was hope that he could recover and make a run in the season’s final month. It didn’t start that way. In the first eight games of the September, he went 2-for-24. But then he flipped the switch. Since then, over the last ten games, he is slashing .429/.512/1.000, with five homers and 11 RBI. This is the player that the Dodgers thought they were acquiring when they outbid the Mets for his services, and the one that they hope will help carry them deep into October.

Teoscar Hernández

On June 29^th, Hernández was slashing .280/.349/.435. And then his stats went down every day over the next 11 games. On July 12^th he was slashing .243/.319/.387. It didn’t change all that much for the rest of July.

It got to the point that Hernández told manager Dave Roberts to bench him if that would be better for the team. “I’m a player that, if I’m not doing what I’m supposed to do, and somebody else is doing the job and helping the team win – I told Dave, ‘If you feel like you have to use somebody else in there, just do it.’”

But then the outfielder got going. On August 1^st against the Boston Red Sox Hernández went 3-for-4 with a home run. And since August 1^st (including the above-referenced game), he is slashing .291/.359/.470, with six home runs and 25 RBI. Having started the month batting eighth in the lineup, he has now moved back up to his customary five-hole, with an occasional start batting third or fourth.

Will Smith

On June 5^th, Will Smith went 0-for-2 with a walk against the Angels. That was the last game he would play for nearly three months, as he dealt with an inflamed disc in his neck. There was worry within the organization that Smith would not make it back in time for the playoffs, such that the Dodgers signed both Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia as back-up catchers at the trade deadline. But Smith was able to recover, and came back to the lineup on September 1^st. Since his return he has played in 16 games and is slugging .521 with an .883 OPS. He has six hits in his last three games. The Dodgers, and their fans, know that they would not have won the World Series last year without Smith, so there is hope and optimism that a healthy Smith behind the plate – whose legs got an additional three months of rest – will help propel them to yet another championship.

Search For October

Earlier this week Roberts said that Ohtani is feeling “normal…ish.” Ostensibly, the Dodgers will need the four-time MVP in the lineup – even if not at his best – to win another World Series. But, if Betts, Tucker, Hernández, and Smith keep hitting as they have recently, they can collectively make up for any lack of production from the Japanese superstar.