Dodgers’ Dave Roberts struggles to find positives after tough Mets loss

Dodgers’ underwhelming start to 2024 season

While many MLB teams would take the Dodgers’ start to the season — the team is 12-10 and has a one-game lead on the San Diego Padres at the top of the NL West — the first nearly month of the season has been inconsistent and surprisingly drama-filed for the Dodgers.

Following an offseason during which the Dodgers committed to more than $1 billion in contracts, the team faced controversy just as the season was getting underway. MLB launched an investigation into Shohei Ohtani, the team’s crown jewel signing of the offseason, after reports surfaced that he may have paid off the gambling debts of his interpreter. While the story has seemingly become clearer — federal investigators say Ohtani was a theft “victim” of his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, who purportedly stole more than $16 million from Ohtani — suspicious eyes have followed Ohtani so far in his first season with the Dodgers.

On the field, the Dodgers, despite Ohtani initially struggling to find a groove, started the season by winning 10 of their first 14 games. Since their April 9 win over the Minnesota Twins, however, the Dodgers haven’t been good at all. Over the eight games since then, the Dodgers are 2-6 and have been on the losing end of back-to-back home series against the Padres and Washington Nationals.

Roberts, after the Mets loss, said the reason for the team’s recent skid is that the Dodgers haven’t played a “complete game” during that stretch.

“I think when you lose four out of five and play like we’ve played, it’s a combo, it really is. It’s hard to pick one thing ’cause each game you look at, it could be the starting pitcher, it could be the ‘pen, it could be offensively, we’re not putting up enough runs, so I think it’s collectively, I really do,” Roberts said. “Tonight was kind of a microcosm of what we’ve been through; all facets, we could’ve been better. About a week ago, I said we’ve only played about three games of a complete game, and I think we’re still there. We’ve got to put together a complete game as a team.”

The Dodgers will have two more chances against the Mets to right the proverbial ship. The teams play the second game of their series today and finish up tomorrow.