Much has gone right of late for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They’re 9-3 in their last 12, and have gone 3-0-1 in their last three series matchups. Squaring off most recently against the Rockies, Angels and White Sox certainly helps, but the team is hitting and pitching at an impressive clip.
The Dodgers have scored 5.0 runs per game in that span, with 18 homers and an OPS of .771. The pitching staff has struck out 98 batters in its last 108 innings and has a 3.23 ERA in that time. The Dodgers’ lead in the NL West has held strong at 8.5 games.
They’ve done this, of course, with a roster pocked with injuries—to MVP candidate Mookie Betts, to Rookie of the Year candidate Yoshinobu Yamamoto, to pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Michael Grove, Walker Buehler and so on. Those guys will, with a bit of luck, get healthy again and probably will only add to the Dodgers’ dominance in their division.
But the weak spot on this team remains obvious. It’s the outfield. And as the MLB trade deadline creeps nearer, expect that Dodgers to weigh their options at making an addition to that struggling unit. ESPN’s Jeff Passan writes that the ideal fit for L.A. could be scuffling along in Tampa just now: outfielder Randy Arozarena.
Dodgers Have Options to Boost Outfield
Now, Passan does throw out the more eye-catching option for the Dodgers, which would be to make a truly high-profile move for Blue Jays star shortstop Bo Bichette, which would allow Betts to move back to the outfield and give the Dodgers what Passan calls a “Death Star” lineup.
But Bichette will be costly and might not even hit the market. Arozarena, on the other hand, figures to be eminently available.
“They could take the risk on Arozarena — in the midst of the worst season of his career — and figure joining a lineup with Betts, Hernandez, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith would help him find his mojo,” Passan wrote this week in an article titled, “2024 MLB trade deadline: Passan’s top additions for contenders.”
“Following a dreadful April and May, Arozarena has looked like his typical self in June, and with Tampa Bay open to exploring deals, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman could turn to his old stomping grounds to round out a team that even without Arozarena looks the part of World Series contender.”
Randy Arozarena Coming Around After Rough Start
It could well be an understatement to say Arozarena is having his worst season. He has been absolutely awful, batting .198 with a .303 on-base percentage and a .344 slugging percentage. This from a guy who was an All-Star last year, slugging 23 homers with 22 steals and was the Rookie of the Year in 2021.
But Passan is correct in that whatever was hampering Arozarena early in the year seems to have eased, because he is hitting .279 with a .425 on-base percentage in 22 Junes games.
The Dodgers would gladly take those numbers.
For the season, the Dodgers have two of the least-productive outfield slots in baseball. Their centerfielders have hit .191, second-worst in baseball, and produced an OPS of .571, third worst this year. In left field, they’re getting a .214 batting average, which is seventh-worst, and an OPS of .650, also seventh-worst.
