Get ready to call the division.
Because the Dodgers are positioned to leave the other teams in the National League West behind between now and the end of next month.
Shohei Ohtani looks more like Shohei Ohtani in the batter’s box, Kyle Tucker is beginning to resemble Kyle Tucker, and if the two of them start producing at the levels they were expected to produce, who is going to stop this team?
The Dodgers are a consistent offense away from one of their trademark midseason surges, and the improved forms of their two prime-aged stars indicate such a run could be coming.
The numbers might point to Tucker still being in a slump, but a visual review of his recent at-bats suggests an entirely different conclusion: The Dodgers’ $60-million-a-year man is starting to figure things out in the batter’s box.
Tucker has looked as if he’s known what he’s wanted to do at the plate, as opposed to just reacting to whatever is thrown at him. His balance has been several orders of magnitude better, with a noticeable decrease in the number of ugly swings that characterized his slow start.
This was how Ohtani looked before his numbers started trending upward in recent weeks, which is why Tucker’s performance Sunday was the most promising development over the weekend in the Dodgers’ series win over the Brewers at American Family Field.
“I feel like my approach and swing has gotten a lot better recently,” Tucker told reporters in Milwaukee.
In the 5-1 victory over the Brewers in the series finale, the caliber of results matches the quality of his feel, as his two-run triple in the fifth inning broke open the game. Tucker also had a double.
The game was an example of how the Dodgers don’t require both players to be hitting at the same time. They just need them to both be dangerous at the same time.
Recent series wins against fellow championship contenders in San Diego and Milwaukee were signs their offense was starting to come around, with Freddie Freeman explaining that many of the hitters had found their swings, freeing them to compete rather than think about mechanics.
“I think guys are starting to feel better about themselves, hunting lanes, finding the right pitches to hit and taking the ones that are not,” Freeman said. “A lot of guys are feeling better about themselves, feeling better about their swings. That usually leads to swinging at good pitches.”
Ohtani and Tucker were the two most obvious examples.
While Ohtani hasn’t displayed the power he showed in his two previous seasons with the Dodgers, he has been reaching base. In his last 10 games as a hitter, he’s batted .432 while registering an on-base percentage of .551.
That alone can influence a game. When Ohtani is disciplined, he is feared. Brewers starter Brandon Sproat was clearly afraid of him, which is why he walked him on four pitches to start the game.
The walk created a run-scoring opportunity for the Dodgers, as Ohtani advanced to third base on a double by Tucker. Andy Pages lined out to end the threat.
Ohtani’s presence contributed to the Dodgers’ first run of the game, as Sproat uncorked a wild pitch to him with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth inning. Teoscar Hernandez scored on the play to level the score at 1.
With Mookie Betts and Freeman reaching base to start the fifth inning, Brewers manager Pat Murphy replaced Sproat with left-hander Shane Drohan. No matter. The left-handed-hitting Tucker lined a ball to right field for a triple.
“I feel like I’ve been taking good pitches, or close pitches, for balls, feel like I’ve had better at-bats overall, in terms of chasing,” Tucker said. “And whenever they kind of throw over the plate, I’ve been able to put it in play a little bit more.”
Tucker is batting only .251, but his OPS has increased from .684 to .767 over the last three weeks.
For a hitter, this is how it starts. And for teams with ambitions of competing with the Dodgers, this is usually how it ends.
The Dodgers have a 1 ½-game lead in the NL West over the second-place Padres, against whom they won two of three games earlier in the week. Manager Dave Roberts’ team has demonstrated the ability to turn a minuscule edge in the standings into an insurmountable one in a matter of weeks, and there’s certainly potential for that to happen here.
The schedule will factor in their favor. The Dodgers open a three-game series at home Monday against the last-place Rockies, the first of several awful-to-mediocre opponents they will play between now and the end of June. The two exceptions: the Rays, whom they will host from June 15-17, and the Padres, whom they will visit again from June 26-28.
The Dodgers continue to pitch well, the bullpen extending its streak of scoreless innings to a franchise-record 38 innings.
Now, eight weeks into the season, their two most expensive players finally look like their two most expensive players.
The Dodgers are still a first-place team while receiving underwhelming offensive contributions from Ohtani and Tucker, who will make a combined $130 million this season. They will be something considerably greater when the two of them start hitting. They will go back to being considered locks to win the World Series.