Cold bats, a blowout loss to the Giants, and suddenly everybody's reaching for the panic button. Welcome to May. This is Dodgers Daily. We've got the offensive slump, some roster shuffling, and Dave Roberts explaining himself again. A blowout loss to the Giants. The Giants. Give me a second. You do not need a second. It's May 12th — let's get into it. From Fredo Cervantes at Yahoo Sports:
The Dodgers have now scored three runs or fewer in nine of their last 12 games. Monday’s lineup once again struggled to produce meaningful pressure outside of a brief middle-inning surge carried almost entirely by Muncy, who continues to be one of the few consistent offensive threats in the lineup.
Three straight losses, 13 of their last 23, and now a 9-3 beatdown from the Giants at home. The cold-bats story after the Braves series didn't go away — it turned into a real skid. And it had to be the Giants. Of course it did. They stroll into Dodger Stadium and make this lineup look like it's 2013. I am not okay. Three runs or fewer in nine of the last 12. That's a pattern, not a bad night. Ohtani's struggles are starting to drag the whole offense with him. Max Muncy's basically carrying a one-man show, and the guy calls it a "funk" — fine, honest. But that word barely starts to cover how ugly this looks against a Giants team that should not be doing this to us. Blake Williams, writing in DodgerBlue:
With that, the Dodgers will need to make room on their active roster, and the decision on who to demote to Triple-A Oklahoma City is likely to come down to Hyeseong Kim or Alex Freeland. Both players have performed well as of late, but with Betts back, they also fill the same role as a left-handed hitting option at second base.
Good problem to have. Mookie's back Monday, and now Dave Roberts has to tell one of two guys who've been playing well to head back to Oklahoma City. Mookie Betts is back, and we're talking about a roster crunch. This is what winning looks like, baby. Kim and Freeland have both been solid, so now the Dodgers are just deciding which one goes down. Roberts called it a good problem, and he's right. Espinal is basically locked in because of the contract situation, so this really is Kim versus Freeland. Same left-handed platoon spot, and someone has to go. Whoever goes down is not getting cut — they're going to Triple-A OKC on a contender. Five years ago that spot would've gone to some guy hitting .210. I'm not stressed about this at all. Dodgers Beat, with Zach Hiney:
Before their series finale against the Atlanta Braves, Dave Roberts announced that Wyatt Mills is being recalled from Triple-A. To make room for him, Paul Gervase has been optioned back to Triple-A, and Edwin Diaz was moved to the 60-day injured list.
Bullpen shuffle in LA. Wyatt Mills is back in the majors for the first time since 2022, Edwin Diaz goes to the 60-day IL, and Paul Gervase heads back to Oklahoma City. Mills had Tommy John in 2023, missed all of '24, and has been solid in Triple-A this year with a 3.26 ERA and a sub-1 WHIP. Diaz to the 60-day is basically just making it official at this point, so fine. But Mills? The guy hasn't thrown a big league pitch in four years. This is really the bullpen depth right now? It's a banged-up roster. You work with what you've got. Mills put up good numbers in OKC — let him get a look before we start writing the eulogy. From r/baseball (51 upvotes):
Gotta love when a team with multiple MVPs and Cy Young candidates rebrands to the Los Angeles Punters for the late innings
Okay, "Los Angeles Punters" is a little harsh. This is a depth call-up in May, not a white flag. No, I get it. When you've got Ohtani and Yamamoto at the top of the card and then you're handing the seventh inning to a guy who's been in the minors for three years, that's a vibe check. From r/Dodgers (6 upvotes):
6’10 throws low 90s but the extension to home plate plays up closer to mid 90s. Hopefully he comes back up and relieves our short kings like YamaGOATo as major contract for opposing batters
Six-foot-ten, low 90s, and the extension plays it up to mid-90s? I'll take that. Tall relievers with extension are sneaky effective. Don't sleep on the guy. Also, "YamaGOATo" is going to live rent-free in my head now, so thanks for that. Yahoo Sports writes:
Scoring has been an issue for a while now for the Dodgers, with three or fewer runs eight times in their last 11 games, and 12 times in their last 21 games. That’s the recipe for going from a 15-4 start to the season to just 9-12 since.
Week 7 for the Dodgers: a 3-3 split, eight home runs, and somehow still only scoring in the final innings of three losses. Two hits on Sunday against Atlanta — that's a season low, and the Braves have the best record in baseball for a reason. Nine and 12 since that 15-4 start. Nine and 12. I watched Strider and Bryce Elder completely shut this lineup down on back-to-back days, and I need somebody to explain what happened to this offense. Three runs or fewer eight times in the last 11 games. It's a real slump — I'm not minimizing it. I'm just saying May slumps happen, even to good teams. Ask anybody who lived through the McCourt years what a real crisis looks like. Oh, here we go with the McCourt years. Cassidy, that is not the bar. The bar is the rotation is elite and the lineup is supposed to be historic. Here's one from r/baseball (93 upvotes):
We also lead the league in losses. 1st place! 🥇
Some r/baseball fan dropped the "we lead the league in losses" bit with a gold medal emoji. I'll admit it — that one landed. That's exactly the kind of tweet a Giants fan bookmarks and prints out. Don't hand them ammunition! Over on r/Dodgers (292 upvotes):
Shohei: What the hell guys, I could've used a couple of these runs yesterday
Shohei checking the iPad in the dugout like he's filing a formal complaint with HR — yeah, that photo tells the whole story. The guy throws seven shutout innings and gets zero run support. When your best player is visibly auditing the offense from the dugout, that's the politest possible version of an intervention. r/Dodgers (84 upvotes), weighing in:
Sasaki throws 6.2 innings of 2 ER baseball Yamamoto drops a run and strands a runner in 3rd and 1st base in the 2nd inning but cruises to 7 innings 2 ER afterwards Ohtani throws 7 innings of shutout baseball with 2 walks and 1 hit Sheehan perfect game I believe
Sasaki, Yamamoto, Ohtani, Sheehan — somebody on Reddit laid out the rotation and just said "I believe," and honestly, that's where I'm at too. The arms are there. The bats have to wake up. That rotation is legitimately special. If the offense finds itself, this team is going to be very hard to beat. May is not October. Here's Michael Whitaker at ClutchPoints:
Since April 21, the Dodgers' offense has been limited to four runs or fewer in 13 of 18 games, during which they've lost 10 times. In the mind of manager Dave Roberts, they're clearly in a funk right now, as demonstrated by Sunday's offensive struggles.
Dave Roberts said it plainly — the Dodgers are in a funk. Thirteen of 18 games with four runs or fewer since April 21, and on Sunday they dropped a 7-2 decision to Atlanta at home. At 24-16, they're still second in the NL West, but the offense has gone quiet. Four runs or fewer in 13 games? That's not a blip, that's a blackout. And losing to the Braves at Dodger Stadium — I do not want to hear about the record right now, Cassidy. You absolutely will hear about the record, Devin. They're eight games over .500 in May. I lived through the McCourt era — this fanbase forgets what bad actually looks like. I'm not saying they're bad. I'm saying something is off, and hearing the manager say "we're in a funk" does not exactly scream confidence. If Dodgers Daily Podcast is part of your routine, take a second to subscribe wherever you're listening. And if you can leave a quick review, it really helps other Dodgers fans find the show.
You'll find links to every story we covered today in the show notes, so if something caught your ear, you can dig in there. That's Dodgers Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.