Dodgers infielders struggle with rain-soaked conditions in loss to Cubs
CHICAGO — Even in normal conditions, the Dodgers’ infield defense has been a point of concern for the club this year.
Add in a wet, muddy infield at a rain-soaked Wrigley Field on Sunday, and the weakness was highlighted repeatedly before the team’s eventual 8-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs was delayed for nearly three hours in the bottom of the fourth inning.
“I think today is one of those days you have to wash,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The elements, they had to play in them too.”
In the first inning, an error by first baseman Freddie Freeman on a hard-hit one-hopper contributed to three unearned runs — all of them scoring on of a bases-loaded double from former Dodgers prospect Michael Busch.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto gives up three hits and strikes out eight over five shutout innings in a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.
“That’s a tough error,” Roberts said. “That’s a top-spin changeup or whatever it is, in-between hop, backhand. For me, that’s a tough error.”
In the third inning, a more routine ground ball that got past Mookie Betts at shortstop — where the former MVP has been playing regularly for the first time as a professional — led to another unearned run, the fourth in a five-run, three-inning start from right-hander Gavin Stone.
“I think Mookie’s ball, [he] just hasn’t played in conditions like this at short,” Roberts said. “It was a ball that just stayed down.”
The frustration ultimately peaked in the final moments of game action before the fourth-inning delay.
First, there was an extended mid-inning pause during which the grounds crew futilely tried salvaging the playing surface by spreading around several bags’ worth of fresh dirt — even as an overcast sky continued to drench a clearly compromised surface.
“The conditions on the field were improper to play a game [on] after I think the third inning,” said veteran infielder Miguel Rojas, who was playing third Sunday with starting third baseman Max Muncy off. “I feel like playing under those conditions later in the fourth, I think it was a little bit too much.”
Once the game resumed, Rojas experienced it firsthand.
Forced to go to his knees to field a ground ball that took a flat hop off a spot where wet soil and freshly poured dirt had just been mixed, Rojas fired an errant throw across the diamond that Freeman couldn’t scoop.
That led to yet another run, making the score 6-0 Cubs.
Only then did the umpires call for a delay, which lasted 2 hours, 51 minutes.
As Rojas was walking off the field after the stoppage, he traded a few choice words with the umpires, upset they let the game continue despite the poor conditions.
“[They said] they were trying to get through five [innings] so they can call it after,” Rojas said.
MLB rules allow games to be officially called in a rain delay if five innings have been completed.
“We’ve been playing the game of baseball a long time and we understand the business side of it,” Rojas added, acknowledging that no one wanted the game to be delayed until another day later in the season.
“But … we’re not trying to get just this game in. We’re trying to play 162 games, get through the season and be strong later in the year. No excuses. They played better baseball than us today. But I feel like sometimes you’ve got to understand a little bit more the conditions of the field or whatever.”
Though the rain might have affected the Dodgers (8-4) defensively Sunday, their play in the field has been inconsistent, as expected, through the first couple weeks of the year.
Even before their soggy series finale against the Cubs (6-3), the team’s seven errors left them ranked 17th in the majors in fielding percentage.
All but one of those miscues were committed on the dirt: Two from Muncy, one each from Freeman and Betts (who is playing shortstop regularly for his first time as a professional), and even a couple of catchers interference calls against Will Smith and Austin Barnes.
Now, the only infield starter without an error is second baseman Gavin Lux — who, ironically, was the biggest defensive question mark in spring training, leading to a switch between him and Betts at the two middle infield positions.
According to Sports Info Solutions, the Dodgers’ infield as a whole was worth negative-one defensive runs saved this year.
Roberts still put a positive spin on the club’s infield performance so far this season, arguing it has been “considerably better than it was a month ago, and I think it’s only going to get better.”
Rain or not, however, Sunday’s performance won’t help their defensive metrics — or ease the concerns they entered the year with.
“There were some plays,” Roberts said, “we just didn’t make.”
Pitching plans for Minnesota series
Before the start of Sunday’s game, Roberts said that newly acquired reliever Connor Brogdon will join the Dodgers during their series in Minnesota against the Twins this week.
That means the Dodgers will have to make a roster move before Monday’s opener, though Roberts wasn’t yet ready to announce who in the team’s current bullpen would be making way.
Brogdon, a 29-year-old right-hander the team got in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, has a career 3.88 ERA in 142 big-league appearances.
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The one thing the Dodgers won’t need in Minnesota: A bullpen game.
Unlike last week, when the Dodgers used a bullpen game to give their starting pitchers an extra day between outings, the team will pitch Bobby Miller on normal four days’ rest Wednesday, since he threw only 58 pitches in a 1 2/3-inning start on Friday.
“The way it played out, it just made a lot of sense,” Roberts said of pitching Miller twice on this week’s road trip. “Fortunately or unfortunately, we didn’t have to have that conversation” about another bullpen game.
Walker Buehler continues rehab
After pitching 4 2/3 scoreless innings for triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday, pitcher Walker Buehler will need at least one rehab outing, as expected, Roberts said.
Saturday’s outing was Buehler’s second minor-league appearance this year, as he continues to work his way back from a 2022 Tommy John surgery.
Roberts said Buehler “threw the ball really well” Saturday, when he struck out six batters while giving up two hits and issuing no walks.
“He came out of it really well,” Roberts added. “Really good outing for him.”
The Dodgers have been expecting Buehler to need four rehab starts before making his long-awaited return to an MLB mound. His next rehab outing will either be back with Oklahoma City or with single-A Rancho Cucamonga. After that, the Dodgers will evaluate where the two-time All-Star right-hander is at in his recovery.
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