The Dodgers were outclassed in virtually every way while being swept in a three-game series by the Phillies at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia. While the 19-5 aggregate score for the series isn’t pretty, the performance of the Dodgers’ four All-Stars who played in the three games highlights just how poorly Los Angeles played.
Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez are the four active Dodgers All-Stars, with Tyler Glasnow and Mookie Betts both on the IL.
That quartet managed only seven hits combined in the three games against the Phillies, which is the biggest culprit for LA’s overall lack of production. It’s also worth noting that none of the seven hits went for extra bases.
They combined to go 7-for-38 with five walks, one RBI, one run scored, and 16 strikeouts. Freeman along went hitless in 10 at-bats and reached only once via walk.
For those of you not wanting to do math on their batting average and such, never fear! We did it for you.
Ohtani, Smith, Freeman and Hernandez combined to bat .184 across the three games, and notched a paltry .279 on-base percentage. They had zero extra-base hits (worth reiterating), and struck out on a whopping 37.2 percent of their plate appearances. St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Nolan Gorman has MLB’s worst strikeout rate at 37.0 percent.
To be sure, the bottom of the Dodgers order is and has been a problem at points this year, but four players playing in the All-Star game can’t come up that small on the road against the National League’s best team. Game 1 was a 10-1 loss and probably always going to get away from LA, but 4-3 and 5-1 losses in Games 2 and 3 make the lack of production from those four less palatable.
The good news is none of those players are liable to slump for long periods of time, but they’ll certainly need to be better the next time they run into a World Series contender.
