There isn’t a Dodger fan on the planet who isn’t fully aware that their beloved team struggles against left-handed pitching. In fact, there isn’t anyone in the entire Dodgers organization who isn’t aware of this. It is the very reason why Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi went out and acquired veteran outfielder Franklin Gutierrez during the off-season.

“Gutie,” as he is affectionately called by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, has a career slash-line of .288 / .350 / .492 for an impressive OPS of .842 in 1,182 career plate appearance against southpaws. This is a very substantial sample size, to say the least.

The problem is, Gutierrez has only two hits against lefties in his eight at-bats through the Dodgers first six games of the new season. And while you can certainly argue that 2-for-8 equates to a generally accepted .250 batting average and that eight at-bats is an insanely small sample size – and it most certainly is – Gutie has struck out in four of those eight at-bats against lefties thus far. This probably isn’t what Friedman and Zaidi had envisioned when they signed the 34-year-old Caracas, Venezuela native.

Franklin Gutierrez – the guy who the Dodgers specifically signed this off-season to hit against lefties – has struck out in four of his eight at-bats against them thus far this season.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

There is another fly in the ointment when it comes to guys who supposedly hit lefties well. Dodgers utility outfielder / first baseman Scott Van Slyke – who former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly often proclaimed “punishes lefties” – is 1-for-7 (.143) against left-handers in the early goings of the 2017 season. And though the extremely popular 30-year-old Chesterfield, Missouri native and six-year MLB veteran still maintains a career .261 batting average against left-handers, he has struck out in three of his seven at-bats against lefties thus far this season.

Scott Van Slyke, who was once said to “punish left-handers,” is 1-for-7 against them thus far this season with three strikeouts. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

The very obvious problem with the inability to hit left-handed pitching is that there is no easy fix to it. Oh sure, you can log into Fan Graphs or Baseball Reference and identify guys with a favorable history against lefties, but they A) Have to be available, and B) Might not work out as hoped if acquired – such as Franklin Gutierrez thus far.

The only real fix will have to come from within the Dodgers’ existing left-handed-heavy 25-man roster. Guys like Andrew Toles, Corey Seager, Joc Pederson and Chase Utley will simply have to have more success against left-handed pitching. The problem is, Roberts (probably under orders from above) has been keeping these guys out of his starting line-up whenever his team is facing a starting left-hander. Granted, you can argue that these guys haven’t had much success against left-handed pitching, but how will we know if they can hit lefties or not if they are not given the opportunity to do so?

To his credit, Roberts kept Toles, Seager, Adrian Gonzalez (who has always hit lefties well), Pederson and Utley in his starting line-up even after Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black brought in a series of left-handers from his (very good) bullpen in Saturday night’s 4-2 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field. But as the game labored on, Gutierrez replaced Toles, Van Slyke replaced Pederson and Logan Forsythe pinch-hit for Clayton Kershaw (who was 1-for-2 at the plate) in the seventh inning.

Adrian Gonzalez has always hit lefties well. He is currently 2-for-5 (.400) against left-handers this season. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Speaking of Forsythe, a right-handed hitter, he is a dismal 3-for-19 (.158) on the season with nine strikeouts. On the bright side, he is 2-for-7 (.286) against lefties, so there’s that.

The point to all of this is that opposing teams have and will continue to exploit the Dodgers’ struggles against left-handed pitching – both starters and relievers – whenever possible. In fact, Cubs manager Joe Maddon announced more than a week ago that he was adjusting his starting rotation so that two of the three upcoming games against the Dodgers will feature lefties Jon Lester on Monday and former Dodger Brett Anderson on Wednesday when the defending NL West champions roll into the friendly confines to face the defending World Series champions for their home opening series Monday through Thursday, with a scheduled off-day on Tuesday.

It is extremely difficult – if not impossible – to find anything negative to say about defending National League Manager of the Year Dave Roberts, and I mean extremely difficult. Anyone (if not everyone) who has had the pleasure of meeting Roberts absolutely loves the second-year Dodgers skipper, especially his players. However, Roberts’ willingness to quickly dismiss his team’s known struggles against left-handed pitching leaves Dodger fans with an uneasy feeling in their stomachs.

“Last year, yeah, we didn’t hit lefties, but this year we have a completely different mindset,” Roberts told reporters last week. “I get it. I guess it’s up to us to go out there and change the narrative. We’re going to have our opportunities.”

Although it is unclear exactly what ‘narrative’ Roberts is speaking of, he has pretty much kept his left-handed-hitting sluggers out of his starting line-up whenever there has been a left-hander on the hill for the opposition. That said, and to be honest, there isn’t really much more that Roberts could say to reporters when asked about his team’s struggles against left-handed pitching. But comments such as this pretty much play right into the hands of Joe Maddon and every other MLB manager who are fortunate to have a stable full of left-handed pitchers when facing the Dodgers.

…and thus far – albeit only six games in – it seems to be working.