The Dodgers swept the Rockies, which, TBH, was expected, and, while Game 1 wasn’t super inspiring, this team did win in three very different ways, and that, IMO, is a BIG positive takeaway.
The Dodgers leave the series at 36-20 and are 4.5 games ahead of both the DBacks and the Padres in the NL West, and showed power, late-game resilience, dominant pitching, defense, and bullpen depth throughout the sweep. Colorado, well, they’re terrible. Seriously, as someone who lives in Oklahoma, I’d rather have the AA & AAA affiliates of the Dodgers in-state than the Rockies. I’m not kidding!
Why the Dodgers Won the Series
The Dodgers outscored Colorado 24-10 over the three games, hit nine home runs, and capitalized on the mistakes of the Rockies’ pitchers. Some were forced, others, like in Game 1, were just gifted.
The Dodgers showed their typical discipline of not swinging at pitches just off the plate, and that was the kryptonite for a Rockies staff that wasn’t good enough to beat the LA hitters in the zone. The Dodgers forced the Rockies’ pitchers to throw the ball over the plate, then once they did, they did damage. The Rockies lack swing-and-miss arms, and the Dodgers feasted on that. The Dodgers struck out just 14 times total in the 3 game series.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers pitching completely overwhelmed Colorado’s lineup for most of the series.
Outside of a sloppy ninth inning in the 15-6 blowout, Dodgers pitchers allowed just four runs in the first 26 innings of the series. Colorado hitters struck out 29 times in three games and managed only one hit through the first seven innings of the game last night.
The series also highlighted the depth of the Dodgers as well. Even when players like Max Muncy and Kyle Tucker had quieter offensive series, the Dodgers still produced runs everywhere else in the order. Muncy, of course, is still trying to get fully healthy, and Tucker was given a workload management day off throughout the series as well.
Andy Pages Continues His Breakout
Pages was the best player in the series, going 10-for his last 21. He wasn’t just good, he was clutch, and delivered in key situations while also playing great defense and being aggressive on the bases. It was cool to see him in the 2-hole, which gave Mookie something else to look at, and he responded with a 2-home run day.
Pages hit an eighth-inning home run last night, and it effectively ended any thoughts the Rockies might have had of getting back into the game. His two-run double and RBI single in the comeback win in Game 1 flipped the momentum of that game and kept the series from getting off to a bad start.
Pages is now hitting .303 with 13 home runs and 50 RBIs on the season with an .899 OPS. More importantly, he has evolved into one of the Dodgers’ most reliable run producers.
The quality of his at-bats also stands out. He is driving fastballs consistently, staying on breaking pitches longer, and punishing mistakes to all fields.
Freddie Freeman Is Heating Up Again
After a, I’ll say it, a slump, Freddie Freeman looked much more like himself during the series.
Freeman homered last night and also had the go-ahead double in the opener, and made a lot of hard contact throughout the series. His timing was better than when he was rolling over pitches and expanding the strike zone during his, again, I’ll say it, his slump.
Over the last week, Freeman is hitting .353 with a 1.203 OPS and has started driving the baseball again to left-center field, which is his trademark sign that his mechanics are synced up and he’s hitting “through” the ball.
When he is producing like this, like he always has, the offense becomes dramatically is becomes much harder to navigate.
Mookie Betts Still Isn’t Fully Locked In — But the Power Is Returning
One of the more fascinating trends from the series involved Mookie Betts.
Betts is still not hitting for average, consistently hitting just .190, and he’s hitting just .153 in his last 26 at-bats, but he has driven the ball on a couple of occasions.
He hit a couple of home runs on Wednesday after being moved to the 4-hole, and had five RBIs in that game, a game the Dodgers won 15-6. Even during his struggles,
The Dodgers do not necessarily need Betts to hit .320, they just need him to reach base and lengthen the top of the lineup.
The concern for him is whether or not he can make consistent contact against velocity, but the signs are more encouraging now than they were two weeks ago.
Shohei Ohtani Is Dominating in Every Role
Ohtani’s impact went far beyond the box score.
He homered to open the game last night, and for the pitcher, who had already thrown up a scoreless top of the 1st, he literally had outscored the Rockies by himself 1-0 at that point. He also doubled in the opener, scored multiple runs during the blowout win, and delivered on the mound again, although Wednesday seemed to be more laborsome, especially early.
The future Hall of Famer threw six innings of one-hit baseball with seven strikeouts and lowered his ERA to a ridiculous 0.82. Through 55 innings, Ohtani has allowed only five earned runs all season while striking out 61 hitters and holding opponents to a .147 batting average. How do you spell Cy Young? Oh, well, I actually just did.
His splitter and fastball combination completely overmatched the Colorado hitters!
What stands out most about Ohtani right now is efficiency. Earlier in the season, he occasionally relied too heavily on strikeouts. Against Colorado, he worked quicker, generated weaker contact, while still missing bats. That, IMO, allowed him to create length despite laboring in early parts of the game.
Emmet Sheehan’s Development Remains One of the Biggest X-Factors
The Dodgers continue to try to figure out what they have with the current version of Emmet Sheehan.
Sheehan was not dominant in his outing against the Rockies, but he did show some maturity after allowing two early runs. Instead of unraveling, he made some adjustments and created some efficiency as he went on.
His final line:
6 innings, 2 runs, 8 strikeouts, 1 walk
His fastball command looked sharper at times, and his season ERA still sits at 4.70, His raw stuff is very good, and when he commands the fastball and throws strike one, his slider becomes significantly more effective.
For the Dodgers, his development could determine how aggressive they need to be at the trade deadline, ahem, Tarik Skubal.
The Bullpen Continues Its Domination
Outside of the garbage-time disaster inning from Miguel Rojas pitching in the 15-6 game, the Dodgers’ bullpen was excellent all series.
Key trends:
Tanner Scott continues looking like one of the most dominant relievers in baseball with a 1.19 ERA.
Will Klein has become a trusted leverage arm, lowering his ERA to 1.93.
Kyle Hurt, despite the home run he gave up, continues emerging as a reliable late-inning weapon with a 1.06 ERA.
Alex Vesia and Blake Treinen both delivered clean, high-pressure outs.
The Dodgers’ bullpen attacked the zone, and, beyond the home run they hit off of Hurt, Colorado rarely threatened late in games, again, until the mop-up inning in Game 2.
The Dodgers’ Offensive Identity Is Starting to Return
Perhaps the most encouraging overall trend was the offensive approach.
Earlier this month, the Dodgers’ lineup occasionally became overly dependent on home runs and struggled with stringing together rallies. During the Rockies series, however, they showed a good combination of power, situational hitting, aggressive baserunning, opposite-field approaches, and lineup depth.
They scored in multiple ways instead of waiting for one massive inning.
Examples included:
Mookie Betts’ sacrifice fly in the comeback win
Hyeseong Kim’s situational at-bats
Alex Call’s quality plate appearances
Freeman’s sacrifice fly
aggressive extra-base advancement throughout the series
That balanced offensive style is a GREAT version of this Dodgers team.
Concerns Fans Should Still Watch
Even during a sweep, there are still a few warning signs.
Is Max Muncy’s wrist affecting him?
Muncy went hitless in the 2 games he played in and has struggled badly over the past week. And now, Kiké is hurt, so he may not have time to nurse his wrist like he’d want.
His OPS is still good because of earlier production, but his timing looks off, and he has been expanding the zone more frequently.
Kyle Tucker still hasn’t fully broken out
Tucker contributed defensively and with situational baseball, but the superstar-level offensive consistency has not fully arrived yet. He’s blending in just fine, but that’s not what he was brought here to do, nor is that what he’s getting paid to do. It’s likely just a matter of time before he does break out, but his impact still feels below expectations offensively.
Defensive inconsistency remains
The Dodgers committed several defensive mistakes during the series, including errors from Betts and Muncy.
The Biggest Takeaway
The Dodgers looked like a complete team again.
They won a comeback game.
They won a blowout.
They won behind dominant pitching.
That balance is what separates championship-caliber clubs from simply talented ones.
With Ohtani dominating on the mound, Freeman heating back up, Pages emerging as a star, and the bullpen stabilizing, there’s a lot to be happy with to this point in the season.
