Considering the star-studded lineup, the Los Angeles Dodgers were expected to lead the division, and they are doing that with a 22-14 record. But what was not expected was their offensive struggles. In the last series against the St. Louis Cardinals, LA scored just 8 runs in 3 games. They are currently ranked 4th in hitting home runs (47). While this doesn’t mean that their entire lineup is faltering, manager Dave Roberts identified the loophole in their offense.

“I see that we don’t hit the fastball. It’s just a fact that teams in baseball that are offensive hit the fastball,” Roberts noted.

“When you’re passive, you’re late on the fastball. You’re not scaring pitchers out of the hitting zone. As opposed to being aggressive and scaring them out of the hitting zone. And that starts by getting on the fastball.”

While Roberts talked about their recent games, the Dodgers’ struggle against the fastballs goes beyond that.

During the 2025 World Series, Mookie Betts significantly struggled connecting with pitchers’ offerings, with a high percentage of his batted balls resulting in pop-ups or groundouts, often failing to catch up to high-velocity fastballs. It’s even worse for Shohei Ohtani.

Last April, he showed vulnerability to high-velocity, high-and-inside fastballs. In one instance, he chased a 2-and-0 fastball in that zone for a soft pop-out.

That struggle is crowding their 2026 season, too.

In their Tuesday game against the Houston Astros, LA could hit only two of 58 fastballs seen during their 2-1 loss, with 43 of those fastballs being strikes. This resulted in a .047 batting average on fastballs in that game.

Despite having a lineup with Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts, and Teoscar Hernandez, the Dodgers are not looking scary enough.

Entering Wednesday, Ohtani was 0-for-17 over his last five games. He saw his batting average drop 38 points from .278 to .240 over those five games. Ohtani has gone hitless in four consecutive games for the first time since 2022.

Last month, the Dodgers lost a game against the Miami Marlins 1-2. Their entire lineup faltered that day, but the most evident part was their struggle against the fastballs.

In that game, the Dodgers faced 37 fastballs. Thirty of them were strikes. And of those 30 fastballs, the Dodgers managed only three hits. That doubled down to a .100 batting average on those pitches.

For Roberts, it’s better late than never.

More than 120 games are left this season, and if acted on now, the Dodgers’ struggle against the fastballs could be contained. What the Dodgers are currently facing is not a slump but a pattern.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ pitching is showing nothing but dominance.

The Dodgers’ pitching is going opposite

Currently, they are ranked 2nd in terms of ERA (3.19) and 1st in terms of WHIP (1.11). Shohei Ohtani is the best example of this.

Ohtani is struggling at the plate. He is hitting .240 with six home runs. But he is as dominant as he could be at the mound with an ERA of 0.97 over 37 innings. But the talk of the town is Juston Wrobleski.

The 25-year-old is putting on a great show at the mound. Against the Cardinals, he delivered 6 innings, 6 hits, 1 walk, and no runs to lead the Dodgers to a 4-1 victory.

Currently, Wrobleski is leading NL in terms of ERA (1.25). His filthy four-seam fastballs remind shots of Clayton Kershaw.

Evidently, amid the struggle to hit fastballs, they are doing well in throwing them. But Tyler Glasnow’s injury could be a dealbreaker.

Glasnow was scheduled to start on Wednesday. After a few warm-up pitches, he was seen visiting with Roberts, and he walked off the field. Glasnow was later confirmed to have lower back pain reemerge for him.

In 2024, he spent nearly three weeks on the injured list with similar problems. Glasnow was doing well this year with a 2.72 ERA, and Roberts thinks “It shouldn’t be too long.”

The San Diego Padres are just 1 game behind the Dodgers in the division, and one more loss means losing the podium for now. Doc knows that, and hence he is more focused on correcting their struggles against the fastballs. Hopefully, the clubhouse will be alarmed by his wake-up call.