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The Dodgers’ win on Monday night in extra innings brought them into a first-place tie in the National League West. The offense has scored six or more runs in five of their last six games.
They are fifth in the NL in runs scored (4.83 per games), and third in both OPS+ (115) and wRC+ (113). They lead the majors with 46 home runs. But not all cylinders are running among the hitters.
Max Muncy doesn’t have a home run in his first 100 plate appearances — the longest homer drought of his career — and is hitting .188/.300/.247 with a 64 wRC+. Michael Conforto is hitting .169/.303/.289 with a 76 wRC+. Both left-handed batters have started every game against right-handers, Muncy started seven of 11 games against lefties, and Conforto started six.
Andy Pages, who has started 26 of 29 games, had similar numbers eight days ago but was on fire enough to share NL player of the week honors, and now has an above-average batting line and a 140 wRC+ on the season.
Chris Taylor is on the roster but barely plays, with three starts and 14 plate appearances through 29 games. He pinch-ran on Monday night but was then replaced on defense, in line with his role so far. He hasn’t batted at all in 10 of his 16 games played this season.
Shohei Ohtani is tied for seventh on the team with runners in scoring position. Part of that is batting leadoff, but also the Dodgers haven’t batted much with RISP relative to other teams. Mookie Betts is down to a 103 wRC+ on the season even after hitting four home runs in his four games.
Today’s question is what changes would you make to the Dodgers position-player group? This could be a roster move, a lineup tweak, or whatever you might think would help.
For context, here are the position players on the 40-man roster currently in Triple-A Oklahoma City:
Hyeseong Kim has split his time almost equally between second base, shortstop, and center field, and is hitting .252/.316/.466 with a 97 wRC+.
James Outman is probably the Dodgers’ best center field defender, and is hitting .246/.314/.491 with a 101 wRC+ and a 36-percent strikeout rate. Those numbers improved during series in Salt Lake that on Monday earned him Pacific Coast League player of the week honors.
Catcher Hunter Feduccia is hitting .333/.436/.628 with a 169 wRC+ with nine extra-base hits in 16 games, and has already been called up once this season, though he did not start once he was with the Dodgers.
Outfielder Esteury Ruíz is hitting .296/.406/.482 with a 135 wRC+ and is 12-for-12 in steals in 16 games with the Comets.
Top prospects Dalton Rushing (.294/.398/.485, 127 wRC+) and Alex Freeland (.309/.382/.473, 119 wRC+) are also in Oklahoma City and doing just fine. They aren’t on the 40-man but that won’t be an impediment once the Dodgers feel they are ready.
Rushing has caught 12 games, played first base three times, and was the designated hitter in three games. After last year’s dalliance in left field for a potential major league role, with 31 starts between Double-A and Triple-A, this year Rushing has only played one inning in the outfield. The switch-hitting Freeland is a shortstop who has also shifted over to third base in the games Kim has played shortstop.
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