PITTSBURGH — Perhaps the Los Angeles Dodgers can sleepwalk their way through September en route to their 12th NL West title in 13 years. But if the defending champions continue to play down to their competition and fail to live up to the caliber of talent on their roster, their chances of repeating as champs once October arrives might be unexpectedly flimsy.
Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat in Pittsburgh against the last-place Pirates clinched another series loss for L.A. amid a prolonged run of underwhelming showings. Since the start of August, the Dodgers have dropped series at home to the middling Cardinals and Diamondbacks, were swept in Anaheim by the crosstown-rival Angels and split four games in Colorado against the worst-in-baseball Rockies. Now, in order to avoid a sweep in Pittsburgh, they’ll need to beat Paul Skenes on Thursday.
Advertisement
Los Angeles’ saving grace throughout this subpar run has been a similarly discouraging stretch from their closest competition, as the Padres have played even worse recently, allowing the Dodgers’ division lead to remain at a reasonably comfortable 2.5 games entering play Thursday. The Padres were swept by the Orioles on Wednesday, presenting the Dodgers with a golden opportunity to grow their lead — one they failed to take advantage of.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
“I’m very much aware of that,” Roberts said postgame of Los Angeles’ inability to capitalize on their rivals’ recent skid. “But, you know, they’re feeling the same thing we are, and we’ve got to control what we can control. And we’re certainly not.”
After losing a sloppy slugfest 9-7 in Tuesday’s series opener, the Dodgers were scheduled to send Shohei Ohtani to the mound Wednesday for his 12th start of the season, with hopes the two-way superstar could help get the club back on track. Instead, right-hander Emmet Sheehan was announced as the starting pitcher about four hours before first pitch, with manager Dave Roberts revealing pregame that Ohtani had been feeling “under the weather” and his start would be pushed back to this weekend’s series in Baltimore.
Advertisement
Per Roberts, Ohtani reported feeling ill on Tuesday, which interrupted his normal throwing progression leading up to his start and forced the Dodgers to reconsider whether proceeding with his start as planned was worth the risk.
“We asked him if he could still hit. He assured us that he could, which proved to be the right call,” Roberts said, alluding to Ohtani’s three-hit game Tuesday, which featured a jaw-dropping home run that came off the bat at a career-high 120 mph.
“But when you’re sick and potentially dehydrated … the tax of pitching in a game, it wasn’t worth it. The toll of taking four or five at-bats versus pitching five innings — there’s no comparison. So we made the decision yesterday afternoon … that he was going to pitch sometime this weekend but still take on the DH responsibilities.”
“SHOHEI, I ONLY CAME TO SEE YOU!” a spectator in the upper deck belted as Ohtani settled into the batter’s box for his first at-bat Wednesday. Ohtani struck out to lead off the game, but even with his late change of plans, he managed to put on a show for the spectators who made the pilgrimage to PNC Park to see the sport’s biggest star.
Advertisement
Ohtani was the only Dodgers hitter with multiple hits in the game, recording the team’s hardest-hit ball of the night with a 108.7 mph double to right-center field to lead off the fifth and legging out an incredibly unusual infield single in the seventh, showcasing his blazing speed even while ill.
“Shohei’s doing anything he can, given the way he feels, his body feels right now,” Roberts said postgame. “He’s fighting in the batter’s box. He’s taking extra bases, whatever he can to help us win. And so we appreciate that. But it takes all of us collectively.”
Indeed, Ohtani cannot do it alone.
In the end, pitching was not the Dodgers’ issue on Wednesday. Sheehan was solid, and though he completed only 4⅔ innings — a 12-pitch, first-inning battle with Bryan Reynolds that ended in a home run proved especially costly — he racked up a whopping 21 swing-and-misses from Pirates batters, tying a season high for a Dodgers pitcher this season. Ben Casparius and Justin Wrobleski then combined to allow just one additional run the rest of the way.
Advertisement
But the collective offensive no-show rendered the efforts on the mound moot, as the Los Angeles lineup was unable to score, despite several chances throughout the game. Loading the bases with zero outs in the second inning but failing to get on the board set the tone for what would be a frustrating night at the plate.
[Get more Los Angeles news: Dodgers team feed]
“I think the thing that we’ve been talking about is your first at-bat could be your most important at-bat of the game, and it could determine the outcome of the game,” Roberts said of the Dodgers’ inconsistencies on offense. “And so we’ve got to collectively get all of us on board, understanding the magnitude of each at-bat, each situation. And right now, we’re not all there.”
Roberts’ discontent is rooted not just in Wednesday’s lackluster result but also in a run of underwhelming production for a unit that was frequently steamrolling opponents earlier this season. The Dodgers posted a 121 wRC+ through June, the top mark in MLB. But since the start of July, Dodgers bats have combined for just a 99 wRC+, which ranks 19th.
Advertisement
“Hitting is not easy,” Roberts said. “But I do believe that having the right approach, the right mindset, the right urgency in a particular at-bat lends itself to better results.”
Amidst the offensive woes Wednesday came another troubling sequence for Los Angeles, as star catcher Will Smith took a foul tip from Nick Gonzales off his right hand in the bottom of the second. Smith finished the inning behind the plate but was pinch-hit for by rookie backstop Dalton Rushing in the third. Roberts said postgame that X-rays were negative for Smith, lending optimism that he could avoid the injured list, but the swelling was bad enough to necessitate Smith’s removal from the game, and his manager deemed him day-to-day.
Advertisement
Assuming Smith is back in short order, the Dodgers’ lineup might soon start to resemble the full form we saw earlier this season. Tommy Edman recently began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City as he works his way back from a sprained right ankle, and Max Muncy is expected to join OKC this week following an oblique strain. While Edman’s and Muncy’s absences are not nearly enough to explain away the Dodgers’ languid production, their returns could certainly provide a boost.
For now, a crucial series finale awaits against the Pirates, a team full of young players still figuring out what it takes to win at the highest level. With Skenes and a host of talented hurlers beyond him, Pittsburgh has the makings of a playoff-caliber pitching staff but still has a long way to go on offense. It has been a decade since the Pirates qualified for the postseason, the longest drought in the National League — or the organizational opposite of what the Dodgers have become.
That larger context means little on any given regular-season night, when two major-league teams take the field with near-even chances at victory. Still, the vast variance in pressure that these rosters are facing at this time of year should not go overlooked and underscores why winning can seem so simple and enjoyable for an inexperienced team playing carefree, like the Pirates, while losing can be so maddening and frustrating for a high-stakes team, like the Dodgers.
Advertisement
Because for Los Angeles, the privilege of having such a talented roster and lengthy record of excellence comes with the burden of expectations and the standard that September marks not the end of the baseball calendar but the start of the season that truly matters. With that dynamic in mind, it would be understandable for the Dodgers to fall into a pre-postseason malaise and start counting down the days until the tournament begins.
But Roberts dismissed that notion.
“I’m not doing any countdowns,” he said postgame Wednesday. “I’m thinking about Skenes tomorrow, how we’re going to put some runs on the board to beat him, beat the Pirates.
”And I expect us to play with urgency from here on out.”
Read the full article here