The Dodgers’ lineup is turning into a nightly puzzle, and Dave Roberts sounds ready to keep treating it that way.
With Teoscar Hernández back from the 10-day injured list, Roberts said the bottom half of the order is now something the club will handle “day-to-day.” The manager pointed to the stretch from five through nine as the area most likely to change, especially with right-handed pitchers on the mound and the Dodgers trying to sort out where to slot Hernández, Max Muncy and Kyle Tucker.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s sort of kind of a day-to-day thing from five through nine, essentially,” Roberts said on SportsNet LA.
“With Teo in there, he’ll probably hit five [Tuesday] as well. And then with the right-handed pitchers, just trying to figure out where to put Teo, Muncy and Tucker.
That’s kind of the decision point every day.”
That flexibility looked a little different before Hernández returned. Without him, the Dodgers had more room to play the matchups, with Ryan Ward and Alex Call sharing left field and Tommy Edman picking up several starts after coming back from the injured list.
Ward was sent back to Triple-A Oklahoma City to clear a roster spot for Hernández.
The tradeoff is obvious: adding another right-handed bat makes the lineup a little less adjustable in terms of handedness. But the Dodgers are clearly betting the upgrade in talent and experience is worth that loss of flexibility.
Roberts, at least, has the résumé to back up the juggling act. Tuesday’s win made him the 69th manager in MLB history to reach 1,000 career victories, and he did it in fewer games than anyone before him at 1,606. He became the fourth Dodgers manager to get there.
The previous mark belonged to Cap Anson, who reached 1,000 wins in 1,641 games. Joe McCarthy had held the Live Ball Era record since 1920, getting to the milestone in 1,648 games.
There’s also encouraging news on the other side of the order. Mookie Betts, who was moved out of the No. 2 spot earlier this season because of his struggles, has put together a strong June and is beginning to resemble his old self again. Betts still isn’t declaring his season fully back on track, but he says he’s feeling more comfortable in the box.
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The broader picture is what makes him worth tracking now. Zazueta has piled up 82 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings this year, and performances like his four-inning outing against Wichita, when he allowed one run and struck out eight, only sharpen the attention around him. For a Dodgers organization that is always weighing present needs against future value, a pitcher trending this well tends to draw notice fast, whether the conversation stays internal or starts to spill into the trade market. [Read more 🡒]