Sunday, August 31, 2025

Post-Game 137 Thread: Will Smith Slaps One Out Of Here

DODGERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4

Look, you can revel in the majesty of Will Smith's walk-off pinch hit home run to lead off the ninth (his fourth PH HR of his career). It was pretty awesome, and just what the Dodgers needed after blowing the three-run lead late.

But don't let that take your eye off of how bad we looked all weekend long against a fourth-place, sub-.500 team after we narrowly avoided the sweep today. The offense was horrible for the first two games of this series, compounding yet another non-quality start from Blake Snell (5.1 IP, 3 ER) and as well as a mediocre start from Tyler Glasnow (7.0 IP, but also 3 ER).

The Dodgers' relief additions to the squad this year, which looked good on paper, continued to underperform. Kirby Yates came in yesterday to give up a three-run jack to Arizona's nine-hole, Ildemaro Vargas; and then Tanner Scott came in today to give up the lead on a three-run jack to Corbin Carroll. Scott, who has been awful for us all year, has already ceded three times the number of home runs this year than he did last year--and this year isn't over yet.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a solid seven innings of one-run ball today (1 ER, 10 Ks with 0 BBs), and we couldn't even hold on to give him a win. Unacceptable.

Let's also talk about the drop off in offense beyond our top four hitters, and that's even with Teoscar Hernandez benched today. Michael Conforto was 0-for-1 and batting .190 on the year before being removed for Kiké Hernandez in the fifth; Kiké promptly GIDPd on the first pitch to end a threat. Alex Call went 0-for-4 and has cooled off, as has Alex Freeland (he went 2-for-4 today but is bating .208). Both Alexs had two Ks each. Dalton Rushing is lost, 0-for-3 with 2 Ks. And Miguel Rojas had a nice day, 2-for-3 with a RBI, providing some hope from the depths of our lineup.

The losses of Max Muncy, Tommy Edman, and even Hyeseong Kim, coupled with the year-long impotence of Conforto, are just glaring holes in this lineup. We've got a day off Monday to think about this further, but honestly, do we really think this team, with this lineup, has legs in the postseason?

Smith can't save us every time.

1 comments:

QuadSevens said...

Exactly right! Need Muncy and Tommy Tanks to get healthy quick. Kim will be a good option off the bench. Kopech back today. Hopefully he’s right. Bullpen needs all the help it can get.