Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
The Los Angeles Dodgers have jumped out to a 4-2 start this season, but their offense is still trying to find some consistency.
After scoring eight runs on Opening Day, the Dodgers have tallied only 15 in their last five games. Despite the slow start, Max Muncy has been encouraged with the team’s at-bat quality.
“We’re still finding our stride a little bit,” he said after the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday. “We’ve had some opportunities that we haven’t cashed in, but we’re putting together really good at-bats.
“We’ve just been pitched really tough these first couple games, but I like the at-bats that everyone’s been taking. We’ve been having a couple results here and there, but that’s kind of baseball. You’re going to have stretches where you go off and stretches where you don’t.”
Muncy is among the Dodgers players finding success in the early going.
Will Smith has also put up solid numbers and echoed a similar sentiment that the Dodgers offense will eventually begin to click.
“If you actually look at our at-bats, we swing at the right pitches,” the All-Star catcher said. “We’re hitting the ball hard, some misfortune. But, yeah, it’s baseball. We’re not going to go out there and score 10 runs every night.
“We have to find ways to win. That’s done so far this year, even though we’re not putting up any 10 runs a game or whatever. But that’s who we are. We just go out there, we find a way to win and we did today.”
While the Dodgers offense has struggled to push runs across the plate, they are still getting plenty of scoring opportunities and generally not swinging at pitches outside of the strike zone.
As long as the Dodgers continue to stick to their approach, it should only be a matter of time before they start to find their offensive stride.
Dave Roberts confident in Dodgers lineup
Manager Dave Roberts admitted that he is surprised by the Dodgers’ offensive struggles thus far, especially when considering the team’s success in Spring Training. However, he expressed confidence that they will eventually right the ship.
“I mean, I am surprised that they got off to a slow start, but you just never really know,” Roberts said after the team’s loss to the Guardians on Monday. “Spring Training is just not predictive, it’s just not.
“So I think for me, the takeaway is we’re 3-1, and the guys that we expect to swing the bats aren’t swinging the bats right now, so that’s a good thing. So they’ll hit.”
After the Dodgers scored just one run in the rubber match against the Guardians, Roberts acknowledged the offense is prone to strikeouts at this time.
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