Dodger Details: Offense is 'getting there,' even after an ugly homestand

AL EastBlue JaysOriolesRaysRed SoxYankeesAL CentralGuardiansRoyalsTigersTwinsWhite SoxAL WestAngelsAstrosAthleticsMarinersRangersNL EastBravesMarlinsMetsNationalsPhilliesNL CentralBrewersCardinalsCubsPiratesRedsNL WestDiamondbacksDodgersGiantsPadresRockiesScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsThe Windup NewsletterFantasyMLB ProspectsMLB OddsMLB PicksPower RankingsStarting Pitcher RankingsMLB Season The Dodgers posted their highest run total in more than a week in Thursday's win over the Giants. Kirby Lee / Imagn Images Share articleLOS ANGELES — Dave Roberts wanted to give his designated hitter a day off, so he didn’t see Shohei Ohtani until around 4 p.m. PT on Thursday. A complete day off is a rarity for Ohtani, who, until this week, had not missed consecutive days in the lineup due to rest since becoming a Los Angeles Dodger. “I think he had a good spa day,” Roberts said. Not having even a scuffling Ohtani or Mookie Betts is hardly a remedy for a “clogged up” offense. Still, Roberts was curious to see what the rest of the group could provide. Maybe it would spark something, he figured. Then Will Smith, his leadoff hitter and designated hitter for the day, started the game with a home run. The backed-up Dodgers offense erupted again in the middle innings. A 5-2 win over the San Francisco Giants felt cathartic at the end of a frustrating homestand, where Los Angeles lost a series to the Atlanta Braves and split a series against a Giants team that entered eight games below .500. Thursday marked the Dodgers’ highest run total in more than a week. The offense is not fixed, but there are positive signs. They hit the ball over the fence. They built innings. This time, they made the most of them. Alex Call came off the bench and smacked a Matt Gage fastball into right field for a two-run single to take the lead in the sixth inning. Call didn’t even realize he had a hit at first, darting his head around before he found the baseball. “Sometimes you hit the ball, and you don’t know where it is, but it finds some grass,” Call said. Miguel Rojas, who didn’t have a hit in two weeks before Wednesday, saw nine pitches from Gage before scooping the 10th pitch of the at-bat into center for a run-scoring single. There are good feelings to go around. “Getting there,” Roberts said. “I think there’s still more in there offensively. But I think we’re getting there.” That includes Smith, who had not hit a home run since April 24 and had just one since March 28. It includes Hyeseong Kim, who had his best swing in a week when he lined a base hit in the second inning that expanded the Dodgers’ early lead. Same for Kyle Tucker, who went hitless Thursday but entered the day hitting .312 (12-for-38) with a .990 OPS since the calendar flipped to May. “I see it once in a while where I think he’s locked in, got his legs under him,” Roberts said. “It’s a hyper-controlled strike zone. You have to get him out in the strike zone, which a lot of pitchers don’t have the ability to do. Values the walk. He’s a doubles machine. I think the last couple weeks, we’ve seen that.” The good feelings also extend to Ohtani, who said Wednesday night he felt he found something in his swing the night prior. Be it his second on-field batting practice session in a week or something he tweaked Tuesday, Ohtani has sorted through a lot of what he called “trial and error” in his swing. It was notable that Tuesday’s home run, his first in 52 plate appearances, was hit the other way against a sinker on the outer half of the plate. That is Ohtani when his swing is right. Ohtani was laughing in the ninth inning Thursday. After all, Smith was fitting eight pieces of gum into the hood of Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s sweatshirt next to him. Roberts hoped that Ohtani would not only relax but also spend his usual pregame time hammering home the adjustment he found this week. Time will tell if it sticks. “Really drill it in in terms of what I found the other day,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “Tomorrow’s a day for me to work on that and make sure that that’s really my body, and to make sure that I can do that during a game.” Not everything is fixed for the Dodgers’ offense. There are gripes and frustrations to be had, even on a good day like Thursday. When the Dodgers looked to expand their early lead in the second inning, Rojas bunted. The safety squeeze might have worked, had Rojas not bunted the ball right back to pitcher Landon Roupp and hung Teoscar Hernández out to dry between third base and home. When Smith struck out to end the inning, Rojas slammed his helmet at first base. Dalton Rushing, for his red-hot April, has cooled off in May. When he struck out looking and lost a challenge in the second inning, he shook his head. When he struck out on a Roupp curveball with a runner on second in the fourth, he snapped his bat over his knee and had to be consoled between innings by his batterymate and starter, Emmet Sheehan. Rushing struck out again with runners on second and third in the sixth, bashing himself on the helmet as he walked back to the dugout and letting out a scream that elicited some chuckles in the dugout. When Rushing finally drew a walk his last time up, he set the bat down and put his hands up in relief. Rushing is not one to hide his emotions, and Thursday was no different. Then there’s Hernández, who experienced both ends of the spectrum Thursday night. The Dodgers and Roberts have talked up Hernández’s strides defensively since moving back to left field this season. If you believe in defensive advanced metrics, the numbers back it up. He’s been flat average at 0 Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant, which is an improvement. He’s been a positive at 1 Defensive Runs Saved. Hernández is still liable to commit a gaffe like the one he made in the fifth inning. Jung Hoo Lee sliced a Sheehan fastball down the left field line, spinning away from where Hernández was slightly shaded towards the gap. The spinning ball stayed fair, and Hernández slowed up, assuming it would bounce into the seats for a double. Instead, it kicked off the angled wall and into the corner. Lee was already halfway to third base on what would be a two-run, inside-the-park home run by the time Hernández even got to the ball. Jung Hoo Lee hits his first @MLB inside-the-park home run pic.twitter.com/ODXgWrFiTo — SFGiants (@SFGiants) May 15, 2026 Hernández, who made a quick exit from the clubhouse postgame, said he expected the ball to kick out of play. “But it wasn’t the case,” Hernández said. “It just barely touched together with the wall, and unfortunately, the ball stayed in the ballpark.” Sheehan didn’t implode. After a quick visit from pitching coach Mark Prior, Sheehan got Luis Arraez to fly out to end the inning. Hernández found Sheehan in the dugout between innings to apologize. It wound up being the only Giants offense of the night, a relative afterthought on a good night. “It was just a play that we’d love to have back,” Roberts said. The Dodgers have lived with Hernández’s defensive shortcomings because his bat has often made up for it. However, Hernández’s prolonged offensive slump to start the season lasted long enough that, earlier this homestand, Roberts dropped him to the eighth spot in the order. Maybe things are coming around for him. Hernández doubled in the second inning, showcasing some of the opposite-field power he flexes when he’s at his best. In his next at-bat, he waited on a Roupp curveball and doubled to left. An inning after his defensive flub, Hernández connected on another breaking ball, lining a base hit to left and hustling in to second base to set up what would be Call’s go-ahead hit. “When I make those mental mistakes, I try not to think about it,” Hernández said. “Just move on right away. Because I know it can affect me for the rest of the game.” He’s started doing that more often. While much of the Dodgers’ offense sputtered on this homestand, Hernández went 9-for-20 with three doubles. His swing, he said, has been “feeling really good.” Given the lack of production the team has gotten from most of their right-handed hitters not named Andy Pages, it’s a welcome sight. Sheehan threw Lee a 95.2 mph fastball on the pitch before Hernández’s gaffe. That was notable. Entering Tuesday, Sheehan had thrown just eight fastballs all season in the fifth inning or later that were at least 95 mph. The right-hander has struggled to maintain his velocity this season, a perplexing trend largely stemming from an inconsistency in his mechanics. “It’s definitely nice to have that later in starts,” Sheehan said. “It’s pretty important to maintain it.” Correcting this has been difficult. The Dodgers have sorted through different mental cues to try to line things up. They have to be cautious with this. One tweak could spring a leak somewhere else, or perhaps flare up some of the issues Sheehan had last October when he was tipping his pitches. This week, strength coach Eric Yavarone suggested that Sheehan do some exercises with a medicine ball between innings to reinforce the things he needs to do in his delivery to keep him directed toward home plate rather than falling off to the first-base side when he finishes a pitch. Maybe it helped. Maybe this will continue to be a moving target. Sheehan’s eight starts are enough of a sample to show that, whether he can get this corrected or not, he will have to figure out how to use the stuff he’s got. Thursday was a good example of it. Even with the two runs that scored on Hernández’s defensive mistake, Sheehan turned in one of the best starts of his season. He went six innings, saw some improved fastball velocity (94.8 mph, up from 94.1 mph) and used the pitch to generate 10 swings and misses. The locations and misses were better. He looked a lot like the version of Sheehan who had a 2.82 ERA in 73 1/3 innings a year ago. “It seems like every time he’s been going out there, he’s getting better,” Roberts said. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms