2025 World Series: Breaking down the Dodgers’ declining offense

With two on and two out in the fourth inning of Game 5, Tommy Edman swung under a Trey Yesavage slider that stayed above the zone and dropped his head in disgust. His batted ball sailed high and landed harmlessly into the glove of Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Andres Gimenez, stopping an early threat against a rookie who was just starting to find his rhythm.

For weeks, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been frustrated not only by a general lack of production but by an inability to close out rallies. Edman’s pop-up was just the latest example. The Dodgers didn’t put another runner in scoring position on Wednesday, continuing a prolonged trend that has kept their season on the brink and confounded many hitters.

“We have to figure something out,” Mookie Betts said.

With urgency and impatience growing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made relatively drastic changes to his lineup before Game 5. Will Smith became the first player in 90 years to reach second in a World Series game, dropping Betts to third place for the first time since 2021. Alex Call replaces No. 9 Andy Pages, who has managed just four hits in 50 at-bats in these playoffs.

The changes did not work. The Dodgers struck out 12 times and managed just three hits in seven innings against Yesavage, losing a crucial game and forcing themselves to win on back-to-back nights in Toronto to secure the championship.

Yesavage’s command was sharp on Wednesday, his passing was mighty, but the Dodgers’ struggles extended beyond him. Since getting past the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card round, their hitters have smashed a combined .214/.306/.360 in 13 playoff games, producing a .544 OPS with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers’ nine wins in this stretch are a testament to a starting rotation that is unfairly being asked to go it alone.

“It’s hard on the staff when they have to work so hard every game,” utility man Enrique Hernandez said. “We don’t make a lot of mistakes. Whenever we get a chance, we don’t take it. We’re going through one of those tough times right now; it’s really bad timing to have those in the World Series.”

The Dodgers suffered a similar midseason slump. From July 4 to August 13, when they went 12-21 and blew a division-leading eight games, they batted .235 and recorded the sixth-fewest hits per game. In the end, they were right. Although their regular season was generally disappointing, the Dodgers approached October believing their best baseball was ahead of them. It was a belief backed by their start, dominant enough to stifle any opposing lineup and deep enough to make up for most issues. But it was expected that the crime would be carried out.

It seemed like a given, until it wasn’t.

“We have a lot of guys who aren’t hot right now, and aren’t feeling their best,” Edman said.

It starts from the top.

In Game 5, the No. 1-4 hitters in the Dodgers’ lineup combined to go 1-for-15 with eight strikeouts. Shohei Ohtani put together three masterful offensive performances — he homered twice in the opener, had a bunt in a triple and reached base nine times in a marathon 18-inning inning earlier this week — but he went 6-for-48 in 12 other playoff appearances. Freeman is hitting .235 over the last three innings. Betts is 3-for-23 in the World Series.

“I was terrible,” Bates said. “I hope it’s a lack of effort, but it’s not.”

And it’s not just the three future Hall of Famers. That’s Max Muncy (.188/.339/.354 postseason slash line). It pages (.215 OPS, the lowest ever for a player who has made at least 50 plate appearances in a single playoff game). It’s Enrique Hernandez, one of the most popular October performers in history (.844 in his career postseason, but 4-for-26 over his past seven games).

In 123 innings since the Wild Card Round, the Dodgers have scored three or more runs just three times. Although batting becomes noticeably more difficult at this time of year, their opponent offers a glimpse of what is possible.

The Blue Jays have outscored the Dodgers by 11 points in this series and by a whopping 36 points in these playoffs, even though they have only played one game.

“It doesn’t look great,” Roberts said. “Obviously, these guys are finding ways to get hits, move the baseball forward, and we’re not doing a good job of that.”

After a night in which the Dodgers got a lone home run and nothing else, ultimately taking just one hit with a runner in scoring position, Roberts stressed to his team the importance of adapting — of shortening the ball, hitting the ball the other way, working on deep counts and getting opposing players more involved.

“We have to hit the ball,” Muncy said. “If you look at what they’re doing, they’re putting the ball in play a lot, and they’re finding spots. We’re not putting the ball in play a lot, and when we do, we seem to find the glove.”

The Dodgers are shooting 25.3% in this series, which is just over three percentage points higher than they did during the regular season. Their chase rate is 28.6%, compared to 25.9% from March to September. It’s a slight rise, but not seismic, especially when you factor in the added difficulty of facing several highly leveraged arms in October. The biggest problem, some of their players believe, is that they are stuck in the middle – passive at the wrong time, too aggressive on the pitch to hit slow, and generally not diligent enough in their approach.

“We just have to have a better set of pitches that we want to swing at,” Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez said. “We’ve just got to have a better plan, and not try to do too much with the pitches they throw. Every pitcher in the playoffs, they can create the best pitches and the best position they can do, and we’ve got to adapt to that and only try to do damage with the pitches we can handle.”

Late Wednesday night, as players packed their bags and prepared to board another cross-country flight to Toronto, many of them found hope in the renewal of the day off. They know Rogers Center will be rocking Friday night, eager to celebrate the Blue Jays’ first championship in 32 years, but they found solace in who they had to face — Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who just hit another nine-inning masterclass.

They also know that he can’t do it alone.

“We have a lot of confidence in him, but we have to hit him,” Betts said. “Yoshi will do his job. Obviously we need him. But we have to strike. There’s no way around this.”