The Los Angeles Dodgers headed to Colorado after coming off the high of sweeping the sworn rival San Diego Padres. They extended their first three-game winning streak, which they hadn’t seen in nearly two months. Hoping to keep the momentum going, the Dodgers’ costly errors led them to unravel in a 4-3 walk-off loss to the Rockies. It was “a hard one to kind of put into words” for Dave Roberts.
Throughout the game, it was defense in the right field that was magnified.
Two hits that fell in front of Dodgers’ $66 million star Teoscar Hernandez proved costly, handing the Dodgers their first loss to the Rockies since September 21, 2024.
The Dodgers were at 2-0 during the third inning when Rockies rookie Kyle Karros drew a leadoff walk against starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Then, batter Brenton Doyle hit a soft fly ball into shallow right field. Karros rounded the bag at second and made it to third before Hernández’s throw got there, which ultimately allowed Doyle to move up to second.
In the post-game media appearance, Roberts was asked if he thought Hernández could have made a play on it.
“You know, I felt he had a chance to get it. It got off his glove, and fortunately we didn’t come up to play. So and unfortunately, Tovar, to his credit, ran hard out of the box and was on second base,” Roberts said. On the other hand, Hernández believed that it would have been a risky move to make that catch.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 26: Teoscar Hernández #37 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates his two-run home run as he runs the bases against the New York Yankees in the third inning during Game Two of the 2024 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 26, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Roberts further bluntly added, “[Hernández] has got to get better out there. There’s just no way to put it. I know there’s effort—it’s not a lack of effort. But the thing is, we’ve just got to get better. We do. I don’t know what else to say.” Unlike Boone, Roberts clearly never sugarcoats. Even in the ninth inning, Hernández failed to make the play.
Reliever Justin Wrobleski got the first out of the inning when Jordan Beck hit a fly ball to Hernández in right field. After that, Tovar came up to bat again and hit a soft blooper that landed in shallow right field. Statcast revealed the catch probability on that play, and turns out it was 99.4%. That means there was as little as a 0.6% chance that Hernández wouldn’t make it, yet that’s what happened ultimately.
Even then, Hernández is a crucial piece in the lineup. After hitting a career-high 33 homers last season, Hernández has already added 20 more this year with a .749 OPS. right now, his improvement is non-negotiable for the Dodgers, especially after the Dodgers’ nemesis issued a warning just a day before.
“A lot of baseball left. And with this team, we can do anything,” said Padres’ star Fernando Tatis Jr. Apparently, the division rivals will be meeting again by the end of this week at Petco Park. It will mark the last time they face each other in the regular season. Their catcher Freddy Fermin echoed the same confidence as Tatis Jr., saying, “This isn’t over yet.” All the upcoming Dodgers’ games suddenly feel even bigger.
Dodgers’ private meeting after 4-3 loss to the last-place Rockies
After the game, Mookie Betts, Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman (Dodgers’ president of baseball operations) held a meeting at Roberts’ office.
Betts, the right fielder and six-time Gold Glove winner, has held onto right field for so long. Clearly, the bullpen isn’t the only issue for the Dodgers. When Roberts said, “we’ve just got to kind of get better.” There is a way to do it. It was probably the agenda of the meeting.
It is to move Betts to where he belongs—the right field. He had won six Gold Gloves there across seven seasons as a right fielder.
Consequently, the Dodgers should use Alex Freeland and Miguel Rojas at shortstop. It makes sense because Freeland has played almost 300 games at shortstop in the minors and Rojas has played more than 940 games in the majors.
Meanwhile, Hernández is second on the team with 74 RBIs. He is tied for second with 20 home runs. The Dodgers require his offense in the lineup. However, it’s his defense that has become a source of disappointment for Roberts.
Roberts was frustrated because he believed it was a winning game. “We should have won that game,” Roberts said. “This is a hard one.” This also holds true because the Rockies are labelled as the worst team in the majors, and losing to them as a contending team is viewed as embarrassing.
However, on the pitching side, Yoshinobu Yamamoto helped the Dodgers with seven strong innings. On the other hand, the Rockies had to use their bullpen in the fifth after Kyle Freeland departed with a blister on his pitching hand.
Do you think moving Betts to right field will finally help the Dodgers?
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