The Dodgers got out of August with a win in Detroit on Sunday, but the month itself was mostly a slog. The offense never really found a rhythm, and the numbers backed that up: a 13-14 record, 104 runs scored and 106 allowed.
That makes back-to-back months of being outscored for Los Angeles, after July ended with a 13-11 mark and a 113-105 run deficit. It’s the first time the Dodgers have been outscored in consecutive months since April, May and June of 2013. Even so, this year’s club is still on track for a 14th straight playoff trip, though the last two months haven’t exactly been a smooth ride.
The biggest development in August came on the pitching side, where Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow returned from long stays on the injured list and the Dodgers also settled on what looks like their postseason rotation, with Tarik Skubal joining Yohsinobu Yamamoto. Those four pitchers combined to post a 2.22 ERA across 16 starts, striking out 116 and walking just 26 in 97 1/3 innings. Their strikeout-minus-walk rate sat at 23.6 percent.
The other side of that coin was a rough run from Roki Sasaki, Eric Lauer, Justin Wrobleski and Emmet Sheehan. That group put together 11 starts and one relief appearance, but the results were shaky: a 6.83 ERA, 16 home runs allowed and a 9.9-percent strikeout-minus-walk rate. The Dodgers dropped eight of those 11 starts.
The offense never gave the staff much breathing room. In August, the Dodgers scored two runs or fewer nine times, and they managed six runs or more only six times, which was their worst such month of the season. A road trip through Atlanta and Detroit last week summed up the whole stretch, with Los Angeles scoring just 17 runs over six games.
Alex Call finished the month with the best OPS on the team at .830, though he only had 22 at-bats. The only other Dodgers hitters with an OPS beginning with an eight were Max Muncy, who posted an .828 mark with 19 RBI, and Andy Pages, who hit .802 in 19 games before a fastball broke his hand.
Freddie Freeman went through August without a home run in 26 games and finished with a 96 wRC+. Mookie Betts (97 wRC+), Teoscar Hernández (89 wRC+), Kyle Tucker (69 wRC+) and Tommy Edman (67 wRC+) were all below average at the plate.
Opposing starters also made life difficult. Leaving out the three games at Coors Field from August 17-19, Dodgers opponents’ starting pitchers posted a 3.29 ERA in August while averaging 5.58 innings per start.
The lack of big innings has been the theme over the last two months. The Dodgers scored six or more runs only six times in August, which was their lowest total of the season.
That kept a lot of games tight, and 15 of their 27 August games were decided by one run. Los Angeles went 7-8 in those contests.
By contrast, the Dodgers have been excellent in blowouts this season, going 29-14 in games decided by five runs or more, tied for the second-most blowout wins in MLB. But they only had two such wins in July and two in August, with those coming Aug. 17 at Coors Field and Sunday in Detroit.
Tommy Edman also had a notable month in a less common category. He was hit by 10 pitches this season, the most by a Dodger since Freddie Freeman in 2024.
Five of those came between August 17 and 28, after Edman had already been hit five times in July. Per the Dodgers, he’s the first player in franchise history to be hit by five pitches in back-to-back months since Dan McGann in May and June 1899 for Brooklyn.
The only other Dodgers player to have two five-HBP months in the same season was Justin Turner, in April and September 2017.
Now the focus shifts to September, with four weeks left in the regular season. The Dodgers have 25 games in 27 days starting Tuesday, including 15 of those final 25 at Dodger Stadium. Their September slate includes only two series against teams with winning records: the 69-68 Marlins from September 11-13 in Miami and the 72-65 Padres from September 22-24 in Los Angeles.
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New Padres Owner Just Added Heat To The Dodgers Rivalry
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Feliciano said he wants to build on Seidlers legacy and bring a championship to San Diego, but he also made clear he understands what comes with owning a club that shares a rivalry with the Dodgers. He even noted his connection to Dodgers owner Mark Walter, which only adds another layer to a matchup already loaded with tension, ambition and the kind of big-money ownership battle that now shadows the on-field one. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Just Watched A Proven Bat Land With Another Contender
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The decision fits the reality of Roberts season, which has been shaped by health issues and uneven availability even as his offensive upside remains the kind of thing contenders monitor closely. Baltimore gets the chance to see whether there is impact still to unlock, while the Dodgers are left to watch another proven bat land with a rival and wonder whether the risk was simply too steep for where they are right now. [Read more 🡒]