Sports
News Analysis: 'We need them.' Why it's crucial for Dodgers to find 'spark' from bottom half of lineup
It was a postseason flashback, in all the worst ways.
The Dodgers’ superstar hitters weren’t at their best. The lineup’s supporting cast offered little actual support. And, suddenly, a high-priced offense expected to fuel a World Series pursuit this year, instead flashed potential weaknesses Octobers past have seen exploited.
“It felt a lot like last year’s playoffs,” infielder Miguel Rojas said, “when we couldn’t get it going.”
Rojas was referring to the team’s recent offensive slump, a two-week malaise in which the Dodgers averaged just 3.5 runs per game while losing nine of 16 and, prior to a series sweep over the New York Mets this week, five contests in a row (the club’s longest losing streak in the last five years).
In the big picture, it may be no more than a regular-season blip for the Dodgers.
They’re still in first place in the National League West.
They’re still a near-lock to make the playoffs.
They’re still top three in the majors in scoring, batting average and OPS on the season.
Yet, as Rojas noted pointedly, the recent skid included hallmarks of last year’s National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, when the Dodgers’ offense disappeared in a decisive three-game sweep.
“We can’t just rely on Shohei [hitting a] homer, Freddie [hitting a] homer, Mookie being on a tear,” Rojas said. “We have to find a way to do it with small ball, too. The small ways of playing the game. On defense. Running the bases.”
And, as the first two months of the season have exemplified, getting more production out of the bottom half of the lineup.
To this point, the Dodgers couldn’t have asked for much more from their top-of-the-order bats — a group including Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and, depending on the handedness of the opposing pitcher, either Teoscar Hernández or Max Muncy.
From the Nos. 1-5 spots of the lineup, the Dodgers are a distant first in batting average (.299, 18 points better than any other team) and OPS (.902, 87 points better than the next closest club). They are second in RBIs (185) and third in home runs (52). They have the best walk-to-strikeout ratio. They are a headache to pitch against every time the lineup turns over.
Get past the first five spots of the order, though, and the firepower starts to cease.
On any given night, the Nos. 6-9 spots in the Dodgers order will be occupied by a combination of Kiké Hernández, Gavin Lux, Andy Pages, Jason Heyward, Chris Taylor, Austin Barnes and Rojas.
The hope was for that group to provide enough positional versatility, platoon advantages and timely offense to buttress the star-studded core the Dodgers built them around.
Instead, they’ve performed like one of the weakest offensive units in the majors.
The Dodgers’ Nos. 6-9 spots have batted a collective .200, fourth-worst in MLB. Their .586 OPS ranks only one spot better. They strike out a lot (26%, 10th-highest). They rarely walk (7%, 10th-lowest). And outside of Rojas (who is batting .284 with a .790 OPS) no one else among the group is providing much consistent offense.
There are top-heavy lineups. And then, there are this year’s Dodgers.
The team’s recent 16-game lull illustrated the consequences such shortcomings can create.
During the stretch, the Dodgers’ top half slipped out of top gear. Betts and Ohtani cooled off slightly. Freeman and Smith battled mini-slumps. Muncy was sidelined with an oblique strain.
The bigger problem, though, was that the bottom half provided virtually no production to support them. The Dodgers’ Nos. 6-9 hitters batted .187 over that period. At one point during the losing streak, they were on a combined 0-for-34 skid, going almost three whole games without a single hit.
As a result, the team’s offense came screeching to a halt (they surpassed four runs in just six of the 16 games). Troubles that had doomed them in last year’s playoffs (and, at times, the two postseasons before that) were abounding again.
“We need them,” manager Dave Roberts said last week of the bottom-half’s struggles. “I just don’t want to pin it on those guys down there. But we’re trying to find somebody that’s gonna spark us.”
That’s why, as MLB’s July 30 trade deadline creeps into focus, the Dodgers’ most basic need is already clear.
Either their current cast of bottom-half hitters finds some sort of breakthrough. Or the Dodgers will likely have no choice but to seek an impact bat or two, potentially requiring further roster reinforcements even after their $1.4 billion of spending over the offseason.
“I do think those guys at the bottom, outside of probably Miguel Rojas, are just underperforming,” Roberts said. “Now is the time, guys have had enough at-bats, where there needs to be some adjustments and certainly [better] performance.”
This week’s series in New York offered some hope.
Heyward, Lux and Taylor (on a bunt squeeze play) all hit late singles Tuesday afternoon in the Dodgers’ skid-snapping, come-from-behind win. Knocks from Pages, Vargas, Rojas and Barnes in the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader keyed another victory.
Wednesday was one of the best games the Dodgers’ bottom half put together all year, highlighted by four hits from Rojas, a home run from Vargas and two-hit efforts from Heyward and Kiké Hernández.
Even on a day Betts and Freeman went hitless, the Dodgers’ 16 total hits (10 of which came from the Nos. 6-9 hitters) tied for their third-highest total of the year.
“There’s been a lot of talk, obviously, about the bottom of the order,” Roberts said Wednesday. “But today, you can see when they’re taking productive at-bats, getting hits, taking walks good things happen.”
Still, that was just one strong game, one bounceback series.
Two months into the season, bottom-of-the-order production remains a major, deja vu-inducing issue.
And, as the Dodgers chart a course from now to October, it is becoming perhaps the biggest problem they’ll have to get fixed.
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Napoleon Solo took home the 2026 Preakness Stakes on Saturday, the 151st running of the race.
The favorite in Taj Mahal, the 1 horse, was in the lead from the start until the final turn until Napoleon Solo made his move on the outside and took the lead at the top of the stretch. As Taj Mahal fell off, Iron Honor, the 9 horse, snuck up, but the effort ultimately was not enough.
Napoleon Solo opened at 8-1 and closed at 7-1. Iron Honor, at 8-1, finished second, with Chip Honcho fishing third after closing at 11-1. Ocelli, one of just three horses to run both the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and Saturday’s Preakness, finished fourth at 8-1.
A Preakness branded starting gate is seen on track prior to the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, 2026 in Laurel, Maryland. For the first and only time, Laurel Park is hosting the Preakness Stakes which is the second race of the Triple Crown jewel due to the traditional home of the race of the Pimlico Race Course undergoing complete renovations. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
A $1 exacta paid out $53.60, while a $1 trifecta brought in $597.10. But someone out there is very lucky, as a $1 superhighfive – picking the top-five finishers in order – paid out $12,015.70.
Even moreso, a 20-cent Pick 6 – picking the winners of the six consecutive races, with the final being the Preakness, paid out $33,842.34.
The race was run without the Kentucky Derby winner for the second year in a row. After Sovereignty did not run the Preakness last year – and wound up winning the Belmont Stakes – the training team of Golden Tempo opted to skip the Maryland race.
From 1960 to 2018, only three Derby winners did not run in the Preakness. Three Derby winners have skipped the Preakness in the last five years, and for the sixth time in eight years, for various reasons, the Triple Crown had already been impossible to accomplish by the time the Preakness even rolled around.
“I understand that fans of the sport or fans of the Triple Crown are disappointed, but the horse is not a machine,” Golden Tempo’s trainer, Cherie DeVaux, told Fox News Digital earlier this week.
Paco Lopez, right, atop Napoleon Solo, edges out Iron Honor, ridden by Flavien Prat, to win the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
CHERIE DEVAUX REFLECTS ON MAKING KENTUCKY DERBY HISTORY AS FIRST FEMALE TRAINER TO WIN THE RACE
Only three horses from two weeks ago – Ocelli, Robusta, and Incredibolt, were back at the Preakness. Corona de Oro, the 11 horse on Saturday, was scratched well ahead of the Derby, and Great White, who reared up and fell on his back after becoming startled shortly before entering the Derby gate, took the 13 post on Saturday.
The Preakness went off roughly 24 hours after a horse died following the completion of his very first race.
Hit Zero, trained by Brittany Russell, came into the race as the favorite. However, he finished last in the race, which was won by another one of Russell’s horses, Bold Fact — and upon crossing the finish line, Hit Zero reportedly began coughing, dropped to his knees, then put his head down and died.
The Preakness took place at Laurel Park as Pimlico undergoes renovations. It was the first time ever that Pimlico did not host the race, moving roughly 20 miles south.
Paco Lopez, atop Napoleon Solo, wins the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
The Belmont Stakes, the final Triple Crown race, will take place on June 6. The race will return to Saratoga for a third year in a row as Belmont Park continues to be renovated.
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HIGH SCHOOL BOYS VOLLEYBALL
CITY SECTION FINALS
FRIDAY
At Birmingham
DIVISION I
#1 Taft d. #3 Cleveland, 25-23, 25-14, 25-21
DIVISION IV
#7 Maywood CES d. #4 Math & Science College Prep, 25-17, 25-17, 25-23
At Venice
DIVISION II
#4 Marquez d. #6 Narbonne, 23-25, 25-19, 29-27, 25-16
DIVISION III
#13 Birmingham d. #2 Legacy, 25-20, 17-25, 31-33, 25-21, 15-10
SATURDAY
At Birmingham
OPEN DIVISION
#3 Chatsworth d. #1 Granada Hills, 24-26, 25-21, 25-14, 25-18
DIVISION V
314 Franklin d. #13 Rancho Dominguez, 25-18, 25-19, 25-16
SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS
THURSDAY
At Home Sites
DIVISION 9
Vasquez d. Tarbut V’ Torah, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-10
FRIDAY
At Cerritos College
DIVISION 1
#1 Mira Costa d. #3 Loyola, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22
DIVISION 4
Sunny Hills d. Royal, 24-26, 25-22, 27-25, 25-23
At Home Sites
DIVISION 5
Bishop Diego d. St. Anthony, 25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23
DIVISION 8
Temescal Canyon d. West Valley, 24-26, 25-16, 25-19, 25-23
SATURDAY
At Cerritos College
DIVISION 2
Orange Lutheran d. Edison, 3-1
DIVISION 3
Windward d. St, John Bosco, 24-26, 25–21, 25-22, 25-20
DIVISION 6
Culver City d. Garden Grove, 27-25, 25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 15-9
Sports
It’s Game 7, and we have a bet locked in as the Cavaliers and legacies are on the line against the Pistons
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The NBA takes a lot of flak for having meaningless games, and I can definitely understand it, watching on a random Wednesday in January. However, the playoffs have delivered over and over to viewers and rewarded us for putting up with garbage regular-season games.
This will be the fourth Game 7 of the playoffs. Three series have been sweeps, and the other three have been six games. That shows competitive hoops. Now, how do we bet this Game 7 in the Eastern Conference?
The Cleveland Cavaliers blew it. After not winning a road game all postseason, they took Game 5 in surprising fashion. It looked like they were going to win in six games. After all, they hadn’t lost a game at home in the postseason.
Instead, Detroit came out and blitzed the Cavs, never giving them a chance to get their footing. They lost in an ugly fashion and now have to figure out a way to win a game on the road.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden drives to the basket against the Detroit Pistons during the second half of Game 5 in the second-round NBA playoffs in Detroit on May 13, 2026. (Duane Burleson/AP)
It isn’t just the Cavs’ fate that rests in this game. It is also the legacy of James Harden and, to a lesser extent, Donovan Mitchell.
We know that Mitchell is a very good player, but he isn’t regarded as one of the best players ever. Harden is. Unfortunately, Harden has struggled in Game 7s. He’s averaged 19.1 points, 7.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds. That’s not terrible, but looking at his shooting percentages, he is at 35.3% and 22.2% in those games. He actually is 4-4 overall in the games, but in his past three, he has scored a combined 34 points over 113 minutes.
The Detroit Pistons seem to like playing with their backs against the wall. They are a gritty team, so I suppose it makes sense.
Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren reacts after allowing a pass to go out of bounds in the second half of Game 4 of the second-round NBA playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland on May 11, 2026. (Sue Ogrocki/AP)
Cade Cunningham continues to deliver for the team, and he finally got some help in Game 6 from Jalen Duren. This was never going to be an easy series for Duren, but it feels like he is taking more time to mature than others. He definitely improved this year, but the consistency they need from him just isn’t there yet.
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Now as the team goes home they will need Duren to be a beast on the glass. If he can keep the Pistons in the rebounding battle, they should win this game with ease. They won Game 6 by just three rebounds, but that takes away a big dimension of what Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley do for the Cavs. It isn’t everything, though, as the Pistons won the rebounding battle in both losses in Cleveland.
I don’t see this being a runaway game for the Pistons. Mitchell and Cunningham likely will cancel each other out with scoring. Harden needs to establish himself as the third-best player on the floor. I haven’t seen him do that in the postseason, yet.
Cleveland Cavaliers All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and James Harden talk during Game 2 in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs vs. the Toronto Raptors at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Ohio. (David Dermer/Imagn Images)
This is the second Game 7 of the playoffs for both of the clubs, so it isn’t like either will be caught off guard about what this entails.
If I look at it objectively, I think the Cavs have the better players. However, the Pistons have looked significantly better this season, and definitely in the playoffs overall. Both are prone to issues and slipping. The Cavs shouldn’t be as they are a veteran team.
This game has to be won by Cleveland, though. There is too much riding on the franchise and legacies of guys for them to not prepare properly for it. Maybe that’s weak analysis, but I’m taking the Cavs with the points and I do think they win outright. I expect a monster game from Mitchell, and Harden should get 10+ assists.
Either way, whoever wins will lose to the New York Knicks.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
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