The Dodgers suffered a close 3-2 loss against the Padres Tuesday night in a game that they probably should have won. Blake Snell entered the game with a 5.72 ERA and was coming off a 2 game stretch where he had surrendered 10 earned runs over 7.1 innings. The Dodgers managed to score zero runs off him. In three starts against the Dodgers, Snell has managed to average five innings an outing, while posting a 2.35 ERA and 19 total strike outs. Against the rest of the league, Snell has 6.30 ERA, while averaging roughly four innings per outing. For the Dodgers this has to be incredibly frustrating because they now trail the season series 6-3 against the Padres. However, the root of the loss mostly boils down to one cause that seems to have been haunting this organization for years, and that is this team continues to struggle against left-handed pitching.

Entering Wednesday June 23, the Dodgers are 14-9 in games started by left-handed pitchers, and 30-20 against right-handers. As a team the Dodgers are tied with the Detroit Tigers for 23rd in MLB against lefties by hitting .224. For reference some of the teams hitting worse against south paws are the Pirates, Rays, Indians, Mariners, and Brewers. Not exactly good company to be with. Meanwhile the Dodgers are actually a lot better at drawing walks to get on base because they rank 14th in MLB with a .317 OBP, but they fail at getting those big hits. The Dodgers OPS ranks 19th at .707. Against right-handed pitchers are 6th in MLB by hitting .251 and 3rd with a .773 OPS.

Individually the Dodgers have had some exceptional performers against left-handed pitchers including Chris Taylor who is slashing .297/.388/,595 with 4 home runs and the team lead 18 rbis. One of their saving graces has been Albert Pujols who leads the Dodgers in OPS and overall is slashing .364/.404/.750 with 5 home runs and 13 rbis over just 44 at bats in Dodger Blue. Max Muncy has also been tremendous with a .286/.467/.571 slash line in those splits. Finally Justin Turner is tied for the team lead with 5 home runs and also has a .912 OPS. This Dodgers team has a few excellent hitters versus lefties, so how exactly are they performing so bad this season against this particular arm angle?

Unfortunately Will Smith has struggled versus left-handed pitchers all season. He’s now down to a .200/.288/.329 slash line over 70 at bats with just 2 home runs and 5 rbis, while leading the team by grounding into three double plays. Dave Roberts made the mistake of batting a hitter with a .129 ISO in front of Max Muncy who has a .286 ISO versus lefties, and it unfortunately cost them in a bases loaded situation. This offseason the Dodgers had hoped maybe Sheldon Neuse would’ve been a utility right-handed bat to rake against lefties, but he’s only managed to put up a measly .081 batting average against them, while drawing one walk. Mookie Betts has been inconsistent himself by batting just .222, but has made himself serviceable by having a .748 OPS and 2 home runs. Just 16 at bats, but Cody Bellinger is only batting .167, while Matt Beaty is 1-10. AJ Pollock has been pedestrian, while he’s batting .273, he only has a .700 OPS overall. Finally Gavin Lux has also been a disappointment, the left-handed hitter is batting .158 with a .193 slugging.

The Dodgers have been beaten by some really bad left-handed starters this season, some of which feature Blake Snell, Jose Quintana, and Eric Lauer.  The Dodgers against left-handed starting pitchers by batting .217 with just a .305 on base percentage. They’ve also struck out 120 times over 492 plate appearances allowing those starters to compile a 3.45 ERA against the Dodgers.

For the Dodgers to turn this around they may need to consider finding someone at the deadline who can help tackle this ongoing issue. The more patient approach might just be waiting for everyone to get healthy. The good news is that the Dodgers will be getting Corey Seager back very soon who has been one of their best hitters, not just overall, but also against left-handed pitching with his .296 average and OPS of .826. It’s been a roller coaster of a season for the Dodgers who have a tough week ahead that includes one more against the Padres and then consecutive series with the Cubs and Giants.

Author: Kevin Klein
Twitter: @Klein25
photo credit: Getty Images
podcast: the Incline: Dodgers

🚨NEW🚨#Dodgers vs #Padres Round 3
⚾️Julio Urías slump
⚾️Must win game vs Snell?
⚾️Why Josh Reddick sucks
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