The Dodgers offense is finally coming alive

They've been heating up

Remember when we were all panicking last week? Well, maybe it was just me.

The Dodgers offense looked like it was broken. After scoring 5+ runs in 10 straight games to begin the season, the Dodgers scored 5+ runs only four times over their next 13 games. Something was just off.

They lost three consecutive home series and were on the verge of getting swept by the Mets. Everything changed on Sunday and this offense looks like the offense from a few weeks ago.

LA erupted for 10 runs on Sunday and 11 runs last night. Over their last three games, the Dodgers have scored 25 runs. To put that into account, the Dodgers scored 26 runs over their previous seven games.

Yesterday was quite the showing from the bats, as LA scored 11 runs and recorded 20 hits. With the exception of one player, everyone recorded at least one hit in the lineup. This is what we all expected from the Dodgers’ offense to begin the season.

We know what we’re getting at the top of the lineup. Both Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani are off to insane starts. They’ve managed to exceed our expectations. They’ve been the two best hitters in all of baseball.

During this recent run, Freddie Freeman has been producing as well. It’s no coincidence that the offense was quiet while Freeman was struggling. Hell, just last week I wrote about Freeman’s struggles early in the season and why I’m a little concerned. He had only a few extra-base hits and his slugging percentage was a career low.

Well, if you’ve been reading my articles for some time, you’d know I have this incredible power where I can jinx players, both positive and negative. It turns out my powers worked on Freeman because he’s looked like his old self since my article. Over his last four games, Freeman is hitting .467 with a 1.246 OPS. He has three extra-base hits and seven RBI. For reference, Freeman had only five extra-base hits and eight RBI over his previous 22 games. He nearly matched that production since my article!

I think what has really helped this offensive turnaround has been rookie Andy Pages. Since making his debut last week, he’s been a spark the Dodgers have desperately needed at the bottom of the lineup. I don’t have the exact numbers, but before Pages debuted, the Dodgers’ 7-8-9 hitters had the second worst combined batting average in the majors. The offense was struggling because they essentially had three pitchers hitting at the bottom of the order.

Since being called up last week, Pages has two home runs and four RBI while posting a .903 OPS and 148 OPS+. In just seven games, Pages has more home runs than Gavin Lux, Chris Taylor, Austin Barnes and Kiké Hernández combined. He’s doing what those players have struggled to do…. bring runners in.

I’ve written a lot about Pages over the past week, but I think he’s been a huge reason for this turnaround on offense. They have a guy with legitimate power hitting in the bottom of the order. Having him produce has been huge for the guys at the top of the order.

Sure, you have all those names mentioned struggling still, not to mention James Outman and Teoscar Hernandez having cold stretches, but this offense is finally looking like the billion dollar lineup we all expected.

It’s impossible for all nine guys to be hot at the same time, but as long as you have 6-7 guys you can count on, this should be a team that scores enough runs to win on a consistent basis.

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