Dodgers’ slumping left-handed hitters look to bounce back

LOS ANGELES — Not all left-handed swings are created equal.

The energy created simply in anticipation of a Shohei Ohtani at-bat is enough to prove how much the Dodgers’ left-side production matters.

Yet, heading into Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, it had been the Dodgers’ left-handed hitters who had been creating wild swings of inconsistency in the offense.

The Dodgers are far from worried about Ohtani, even as he took a 1-for-16 slide into Saturday’s game. The three-time MVP has shown that a massively productive night is always right around the corner.

There are other concerns, like Max Muncy’s lack of a home run through his first 24 games, with an OPS of .510 that was not only last among all of the team’s regulars, it was more than 300 points under his career average.

Michael Conforto’s .650 OPS through 24 games was 250 points under his career average. Conforto had two home runs over his first eight games in a Dodgers uniform but did not have an extra-base hit over his next 16 games, with a .406 OPS in that stretch.

“Just trying to get back on the heater, use the whole field, use the opposite-field gap,” Conforto said. “It’s just a little bit of timing right now. But again, we’re hard at work at it. And it’ll work itself out. I’m very confident in that.”

Confidence in Muncy remains high as well. Slow starts are nothing new for a player who has seen time in parts of 10 major-league seasons, including eight with the Dodgers. Muncy’s career .213 batting average and .772 OPS in April/March is his lowest of any month.

“I would say that (concern) would be higher if he hadn’t done this seemingly every single year,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “It seems like he goes through stretches where he’s really scuffling, and he always finds a way to get out of it. But when you’re in it, it certainly doesn’t feel good, and Max feels it more than anyone.

“And you know, I know our hitting coaches, Max himself and myself, are trying to find ways to try to expedite this slumber (or) struggle he’s in right now.”

And if history is indeed the best indicator, better days could be less than a week away for Muncy, whose .248 batting average and .865 OPS in May are his best marks for any month.

“Yeah, you know what it’s interesting is, there’s some balls that are barreled, that aren’t going out, but also there’s still a lot of swing and miss,” Roberts said. “It’s all sort of pretty puzzling, but I know he’s trying to find his way out. To think (in) April he hasn’t hit a homer, I think that surprises everyone.”

TONY THE STARTER

Roberts all but admitted that right-hander Tony Gonsolin will make his first start since August of 2023 against the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. Gonsolin missed all of the 2024 season following Tommy John surgery.

“He threw a ’pen today and so he is in line to start here this week, and that makes a lot of sense,” Roberts said in reference to a potential Wednesday start.

The last time Gonsolin was on the mound was also against the Marlins when he was roughed up for 10 runs on eight hits and four walks in 3⅓ innings. He had been pitching through elbow discomfort for much of the season.

The current rotation opening came about when left-hander Blake Snell went on the injured list. Success has been hard to come in games not started by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Tyler Glasnow or Dustin May.

In four starts made by Justin Wrobleski, Landon Knack and Bobby Miller, the trio has put up a combined 10.80 ERA in 16⅔ innings.

TWO MORE MONTHS

While there remains no set timetable for Shohei Ohtani to make his Dodgers debut as a pitcher, his return to the mound figures to be either just before or after the All-Star break. But the Dodgers had earlier made estimates of May and possibly late April, with those no longer a possibility.

Ohtani has not pitched since late in the 2023 season when he was a member of the Angels.

The right-hander threw a 31-pitch bullpen session Saturday while using all of his pitches, including two-seam and four-seam fastballs along with a splitter.

“You just kind of look at the natural progression on what it entails and understanding that we need to build him up as a starter as well, which takes time,” Roberts said. “So I know right now, we’re certainly being very methodical with it.”

WELCOME ABOARD

After he was claimed off waivers from the New York Yankees on Friday, right-hander Yoendrys Gomez was added to the active roster on Saturday, while Noah Davis was optioned.

Gomez, 25, was 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA in six relief appearances this season and had a 3.09 ERA in 12 appearances for New York over the past three seasons.

Davis, 28, had a 10.13 ERA in three starts with the Dodgers since Tuesday. The Huntington Beach High and UC Santa Barbara product has a 8.83 ERA in 21 career appearances (six starts) with the Colorado Rockies (2022-24) and Dodgers.

UP NEXT

Pirates (LHP Bailey Falter, 1-2, 5.19 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Tyler Glasnow, 1-0, 3.71 ERA), Sunday, 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 830 AM