TORONTO — It was a bitterly cold, rainy and gray day outside the Rogers Center on Thursday.
However, inside the stadium Dodgers found rays of emotional sunshine.
No, this is not where the team wanted to be, facing a 3-2 deficit in the World Series enters Game 6 on Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.
And no, after a terrible 48 hours in Games 4 And 5 classics this fallin which the Dodgers relinquished control of the series and allowed their title defense campaign to be placed on life support.
But during a weekend training session the club tried to bounce back from that disappointment and rethink the downtrodden mentality that had permeated the club since Game Five.
All players showed up at the stadium, although attendance was optional after the long overnight journey.
“It was very exciting for me and it just shows where these guys are,” manager Dave Roberts said. “They realize the job isn’t getting done.”
Roberts also brought some lightness to the start of practice by challenging the speedster. Hyesung Kim to race around the bases – only to stumble face first into turn two while trying to maintain his comically large lead.
“Turn off the cameras,” Roberts shouted to the media as he playfully grabbed his hamstring and wiped dirt off his sweatshirt.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts reacted after the fall while challenging Hyesung Kim to race on the base paths during team practice at Rogers Center on Thursday.
(Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
The Dodgers then got to work on their main task: trying to synchronize an offense that had looked lost the last two games and had been struggling throughout much of October.
“I've been thinking about it a lot … and I can get lost in my thoughts,” Roberts said of the team's offensive struggles, which he noted could include another lineup change for Game 6.
“But I think at the end of the day,” Roberts continued, “they just need to compete and fight in the batter's box. It's one-on-one, hitter versus pitcher and that's it. Really. I mean, I think that mindset is all I'm going to look for. And I expect good things to happen from that.”
In losses to Chavez Ravine, the majors' second-best offense struggled to hone that spirit. The Dodgers scored just three runs, collected an abysmal 10 hits, and looked more like the version of themselves that faltered for much of the second half of the season before making the playoffs late in the season.
Their biggest stars stopped appearing. Their team approach has gone by the wayside. And after Game 5, they seemed almost to be searching for their identity as a team at the plate – trying to balance their naturally gifted hitting abilities with the need to be more competitive with at-bats and earn productive innings first.
“We're just not very good at bats,” third baseman Max Muncy said.
“We've got to figure something out,” repeated shortstop Mookie Betts.
Take a look at the numbers in this World Series and you'll see that the Dodgers' hitting problems are relatively easy to explain.
Shohei Ohtani (who went through another round of batting practice Thursday) hasn't had a hit since reaching base nine times in the 18-inning Game 3 marathon. Betts (who spent as much time hitting as everyone else on Thursday) bottomed out at 3-for-25.
Other important bats, including Muncy and Tommy Edman, are hitting below .200. And as a team, the Dodgers have 55 strikeouts (11 more than the Blue Jays), a .201 overall average and just six hits in 30 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
“We have a lot of guys that aren't happy right now and aren't feeling their best,” Edman said Wednesday night. “But we need to turn the page and hopefully we can do it better in the next couple of days.”
“As a group,” Kike Hernandez added, “it's time for us to show our character, put up a fight and see what happens… It's time for us attackers to shine.”
A better production from Betts would be a good start.
The shortstop didn't mince words Wednesday night about his recent offensive struggles, saying he's “just been terrible” after batting .164 in 13 games since the start of the National League Division Series.
Roberts tried to take the pressure off the former MVP in Game 5 by moving him from second to third in a shuffled order. But after it brought another poor performance, Roberts made it even easier for his 33-year-old star.
“Focus on one game and be good at one game,” Roberts said. “Go out and compete.”
That was Betts' focus Thursday, and many people on the team noted the calm and renewed confidence he brought into his off-day practice session. He had long conversations with hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc, special assistant Ron Roenicke and Roberts around the batting cage. He was looking for answers to problems that had recently generated too many superficial pop-ups and erroneous messages.
Dodgers teammates Mookie Betts (left), Max Muncy, Tommy Edman and Freddie Freeman wait in the infield during a pitching change in the seventh inning of Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night at Dodgers Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“He looked great,” fellow hitting coach Aaron Bates said. “Actually, his head was in a good place. Good mood. The whole group, the guys were great. Everybody came, showed up, hit and got to work.”
For the Dodgers to save their season, Betts won't be the only one who will have to find a turning point.
While Blue Jays starters Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage pitched well in Games 4 and 5, the Dodgers also seemed to struggle to adapt their offensive plan – stuck in an “in-between” state, as Roberts and several players noted, while simultaneously trying to attack fastballs and defend against the secondary.
“Sometimes we're too aggressive,” outfielder Teoscar Hernandez said. “Sometimes we are too patient.”
“It feels like the bats are snowballing on us right now,” Kike Hernandez added. “We're getting balls to hit, we're missing them. And we're expanding the zone with two strikes.”
Being in between was a problem for the Dodgers late in the season, when they ranked just 12th in the standings in scoring after the All-Star break. That this is happening again raises a familiar question about the club's identity.
Do they want to be an aggressive, powerhouse lineup that lives and dies by home runs? Or rather, a contact-oriented unit capable of sharpening bats and emphasizing the opposing pitcher's innings. Roberts' emphasis on improving “competition” signaled the need to do more of the latter.
Freeman repeated the idea before Game 5.
“If we go out there just trying to hit a home run, that's not the point,” Freeman said. “We just need to check and have an almost 0:1 mindset. Just create opportunities, extend them, work matters, be who we are.”
So how do they actually do it heading into Game 6 with pitcher Kevin Gausman who combines his fastball and splitter perfectly?
“Basically, you need to maintain your strengths,” Bates said. “And we’ll see what the next pitcher brings to the table.”
The only positive: The Dodgers have been in this place before.
Last year, early in their World Series, they faced a similar situation in the NLDS against the San Diego Padres, winning back-to-back games with strong offensive outbursts that helped them ultimately capture the World Series title.
“We can do this again,” Freeman said.
“I think we are a more talented team than last year,” added Quique Hernandez.
They will have to prove it with two games on Friday. It's now or never. Do it or watch their dreams of strengthening the dynasty die.
