p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> <\/p>\n
There are myriad questions for the rest of the Dodgers\u2019 lineup, too, where first-half performances ranged from unexpectedly spectacular to unimaginably difficult.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers leaned heavily on Will Smith<\/a> and his NL-best .323 batting average to provide consistent production. Can he replicate that in the second half of the season? Or will he fall victim to the late-summer slides that have plagued him throughout his career?<\/p>\n For large stretches of the opening half, Andy Pages<\/a> looked like an All-Star and one of the most trustworthy run-producers in the middle of the order (an important role for a Dodgers team that always generates ample opportunities, but can struggle to capitalize upon them). But he also entered the All-Star break in a two-week slump. If he can revert back to being a near .300 hitter, it could significantly help lengthen a sometimes top-heavy lineup.<\/p>\n Conversely, Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> has looked out of sync ever since returning from a groin injury in May, batting just .209 since then. As one of the most clutch performers during last year\u2019s World Series run, there are real questions about whether he can regain enough health and consistency to replicate such heroics this fall.<\/p>\n Tommy Edman<\/a>, meanwhile, has been valuable defensively, and was a surprise early-season slugger with eight home runs in March and April. Since then, though, he has posted below-league-average numbers, and entered the break in a two-for-32 rut.<\/p>\n One X-factor could be Hyeseong Kim<\/a>, who turned heads in limited early-season playing time (.339 average, .842 OPS and 11-for-11 on steals in 48 games) and figures to get more everyday opportunities in Max Muncy<\/a>\u2019s absence in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Muncy himself poses another big unknown. Roberts said the early reports on his recovery from a bone bruise in his knee have been encouraging. But, the Dodgers have not looked the same since losing him from the lineup. And though he is expected to return, just how limiting the lingering effects of his injury will be could have important implications on the state of the Dodgers\u2019 offense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> There are myriad questions for the rest of the Dodgers\u2019 lineup, too, where first-half performances ranged…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":73481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[45914,51380,27043,19497,2442,51381,1266,8328,51384,51382,5950,51379,62,19593,51383,3007,6601,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-73480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-all-star-break","9":"tag-batting-average","10":"tag-blake-snell","11":"tag-bullpen","12":"tag-dodgers","13":"tag-good-first-half","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-ohtani","16":"tag-plate","17":"tag-qualified-hitter","18":"tag-season","19":"tag-second-half","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-stretch","22":"tag-tanner-scott","23":"tag-team","24":"tag-tyler-glasnow","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114875982396350431","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}