I like the Dodgers’ hitting strategy of relying on home runs. It won them back to back titles (along with great pitching)

[u/InvestigatorNo4189]

In this run from 2024 to now, the home run ball has been the difference in nearly every series.

2024 DS vs Padres:

• Game 1, Shohei hits a 3 run homer off Cease to pick the team off the floor and tie the game. Huge momentum shift.
• Game 4, Mookie homers off of Cease to start the scoring in what was an elimination game.
• Game 5, the Hernandez brothers score the Dodgers’ only two runs with solo homers off of a very good Yu Darvish.

2024 NLCS vs Mets:

• Dodgers banged the ball all around the yard in this series. Nearly too many homers to go through. But in the game 6, the series clincher, Edman hits a 2 run homer off of Manea to put them up 4-0.

2024 WS vs Yankees:

• Game 1, Freddie. Although even a single would have likely won the game or at least tied it. Side note, their first two runs both came via sac fly. So maybe this game isn‘t good evidence of the premise.
• Game 2, Edman, Teo, and Freddie homer, resulting in all of the Dodgers’ runs as they win 4 to 2.
• Game 3, Freddie hits a two run homer, Dodgers win 4 to 2.

2025 WC vs Reds:

• Shohei and Teo each had two homers. Reds were a bad team, no need to discuss that series.

2025 DS vs Phillies:

• Game 1, Teo hits a 3 run homer late in the game to put the team up 5 to 3. They steal that game.

2025 CS vs Brewers:

• Game 1, Freddie homers late in the game, they win 2 to 1.
• Game 2, Teo and Muncy both homer, they win 5 to 1.
• Game 4, Shohei’s greatest game. 3 home runs.

2025 WS vs Blue Jays

• Game 2, Will Smith and Muncy homer late in the game to get Gausman out of the game, and take the lead after trailing heading into the 7th.
• Game 3, Shohei homers twice, including a 7th inning shot that ties the game. Freddie walks it off again.
• Game 7, Muncy, Miggy, and Smith with the late game heroics. They’re back to back champs
  

2026 DS vs Braves

• Game 1, homers from Teo, Tucker, and Muncy prove to be the difference. They win 5 to 3.
• Game 3, Kike and Freddie score the Dodgers’ only runs with their homers as they beat Chris Sale.

The Dodgers won the majority of these series by out homering their opponent.

And when a team out homered them, they lost those games. The Blue Jays won three games in the WS by out homering the Dodgers. The Brewers out homered the Dodgers in all four games of this year’s CS.

So what’s a better hitting strategy in the postseason than hitting home runs? Please provide some evidence for the counter argument.

[u/weguccino]

It verifiably works BUT it doesn't work for every player. Their bat speed is so low that it narrows their launch angle and barrel to such a small window that the ball ends up being a pop out or fly out. I think the team needs to reevaluate who's job it is to do what with the bat.

[u/InvestigatorNo4189 → u/weguccino]

Yes.  I’m talking more about an overall team strategy.  Mookie is not the home run hitter of his earlier days, but he can be a good OBP guy.  Edman is a line drive guy (when he’s at his best,  which hasn’t been lately). But if a guy like Teo isn’t thumping the ball, what is his value?  

[u/Edsgnat → u/InvestigatorNo4189]

He brings the vibes

[u/GutsJA → u/weguccino]

And also they’re getting older, I’ve noticed the older players this year couldn’t consistently hit 95 mph fastballs that were well within the zone compared to years past. Narrowing the launch angle is also a good explanation

[u/FearsomeMudcrab32 → u/weguccino]

I think the team needs to reevaluate who's job it is to do what with the bat.

This is basically what is working for them earlier in the season. The top of the lineup (even with Mookie out and Tucker struggling), would be the power bat, then the middle is cleanup with Muncy and Tep. Then the bottom of the lineup, with Pages, Kim and Freeland/Rojas, were doing the little things like runs, steals, and singles.

It was so effective that the bottom of the lineup is the one carrying the team and the best bottom lineup in the league at that span (with the Dodgers leading in Offense too). It is not sustainable (with RVS changing Kim's mechanics mid-season for some reason, Pages went to 2nd at-bat, and Freeland regressed) but that should have been the blueprint for Dave and Friedman.

[u/numba1draftpick1]

I agree and I think people that talk about how the dodgers need to adopt small ball seem to ignore the results of slugging. However, these strategies are not mutually exclusive. To me small ball is just fundamental. When you aren’t swinging the bats well, and runs are at a premium in the postseason, you need to be able to manufacture runs. Especially for the bottom of the order where nothing is expected of them truthfully.

So my disappointment is that small ball isn’t even in their dna. When they had a runner on 3rd in three consecutive innings and could have tied the game…I would have tried at least a suicide squeeze in one of them. Yes, I would have had Ohtani bunt cause we all saw that K coming. The probability of him getting a hit was far less than him striking out against a lefty like Ashby. And I remember arguing about why the dodgers don’t ever practice these things in the last month once the playoff seedlings were wrapped up and the games were meaningless and just got the generic “they’re not built to do that” which is garbage.

Small ball is fundamental.

[u/Dalewyn → u/numba1draftpick1]

these strategies are not mutually exclusive. To me small ball is just fundamental. When you aren’t swinging the bats well, and runs are at a premium in the postseason, you need to be able to manufacture runs. Especially for the bottom of the order where nothing is expected of them truthfully.

So my disappointment is that small ball isn’t even in their dna.

Couldn't have put it better. Smallball is fundamentals, it's the thing homers are built off of. It was fucking asinine hearing Roberts in Game 2 dismissing smallball, because that was tantamount to saying we won't try to win or even play a good game of baseball.

[u/zzyzx85 → u/numba1draftpick1]

Small ball is fundamental.

100%. It's how they were able to turn it around in the Game 5 in 2024

[u/Elegant-Analysis5136]

Part of the reason we beat Milwaukee last year was that we outhomered them. Part of the reason that Milwaukee beat us this year is that they outhomered us. HRs and pitching, especially bullpen pitching, wins in the playoffs. We got beat in both of those areas pretty soundly

[u/vespamike562]

The team was built to slug. The prospects in the minors are trained to slug. If the Dodgers want to be the Brewers, then they would have to change out players on the major league team and draft minor leaguers differently. Does anyone want a complete overhaul that’s going to take a few years to complete?

[u/JushinThunderLiger → u/vespamike562]

No, but the Dodgers are 25th in sprint speed and 28th in stolen bases. They can take walks and slug. And when they don’t slug, they lose. We’re probably at the tail end of this core succeeding with that approach and the ability to slug will diminish from here.

[u/Agreeable_Mention963]

Live by the long ball…

[u/Partofla → u/Agreeable_Mention963]

This year it was just die.

[u/ChooseWhyZlee]

True but 2026 NLCS we just saw the  guys chasing and striking out badly. Hurt to watch at times when everyone was talking about “small ball” and it felt like they had our lineup figured out.  

[u/InvestigatorNo4189 → u/ChooseWhyZlee]

So in Game 3, the Dodgers struck out 8 times, the Brewers struck out 12 times. Game 4, it was 8 Dodger strikeouts to the Brewers’ 10. 

Edit: the Brewers struck out more than the Dodgers in every single game!

Game 1, it was 8 strike outs vs 13 Brewers striking out.  Game 2, it was 9 strike outs vs 10 Brewers striking out. 

[u/baribigbird06 → u/InvestigatorNo4189]

Yep, Brewers had the highest three true outcomes (HR, walk, strikeout) percentage of any team in a best-of-seven series in baseball history with 47%.

[u/TrashCompetitive8426 → u/InvestigatorNo4189]

Yes but they also hit/walked/stole bases when it mattered

[u/DoyersundGPG → u/InvestigatorNo4189]

But - double plays? Without looking it up on my part

[u/G33wizz]

Our offense has sucked for all 3 post seasons though.

Bullpen carried us in 24, starters carried us in 25.

26 the bill came due

[u/DoyersundGPG → u/G33wizz]

Shrek 4 line…. Pay the piper!

[u/InvestigatorNo4189 → u/G33wizz]

Yes, around a .200 batting average as a team in the 2025 post season. So it’s a good thing that of the few hits they got, many of them were home runs. 

[u/ithtdudea_5]

The frustration for me was that we got out slugged strictly by the Brewers swinging at pitches down the middle. Every home run that was hit by them in this series was a pitch down the middle.. while the dodgers preferred to watch them and swing at stuff no where near the zone.. even then, if Roberts would’ve managed game 3-4 better.. it could’ve easily been a 2-2 series by pulling out the staters. You can see snell ran outta gas, and Glasnow lost his rythm

[u/deeree1867]

People acting like we lost bc of the long ball but we are also a contact team and top tier team of hitting into double plays lol

[u/Shawndizzle]

Man, thank you for that write up and allowing me to stroll down memory lane...

I was at games 1 and 5 versus the Padres, game 2 versus the Yankees as well as Game 1 versus the Reds.

Nothing to get the crowd going like some home dingers! (Except for my girlfriend from Cincinnati. She didn't have a great time watching her Reds beaten so badly.)

[u/EntrepreneurFormal35]

You left out game 5 against the Yankees. That inning was the antithesis of slug. It was all grind and it was what won us the game essentially. I don’t disagree that we are built to slug but people act as if the dodgers can’t manufacture runs. They def can

[u/DoyersundGPG → u/EntrepreneurFormal35]

The game that Mookie became my ATF- especially because of a sacrifice fly… btw here in 2026 where the fuck were those?!?!)? Sorry

[u/InvestigatorNo4189 → u/EntrepreneurFormal35]

That inning is a great example of why you need slug.  Can you really count on the other team to give you six outs in an inning?  If Cole runs to first, Yankees escape with no runs allowed.  

I think the better example of the Dodgers manufacturing runs was later in the game when they took the lead on sac flys from Lux and Mookie. 

[u/JushinThunderLiger → u/InvestigatorNo4189]

Slug isn’t something you can count on. That’s the point. We didn’t have slug here and we lost. It’s not a plan.

[u/This_Song_984]

I would like to see more small ball especially against really really good pitching like Milwaukee had.

[u/pargofan → u/This_Song_984]

Are we forgetting Milwaukee had 7 HRs?

[u/This_Song_984 → u/pargofan]

I dont think there style of offense has anything to do with what I would like to see from ours. Their pitching dictates that.

[u/trappist13 → u/This_Song_984]

We pretty played small ball and got swept…

[u/This_Song_984 → u/trappist13]

I dont think we played that well lots of pop up 20 foot short of the wall not many low in feild hits

[u/WiseIndustry2895 → u/This_Song_984]

Agree 100% and they were getting a lot of ground outs

[u/kian1919]

My opinion is its a good trade off on-paper if you get a bunch of guys who don’t chase forcing the opposing pitcher to commit to pitching the zone then you take advantage and hit that bomb.

Statistically it gets harder to manufacture hits in the post season, and this strategy has worked for us in 24 and 25. To some extent there must have been luck in 25 because that bluejay offense in the post season was red hot, this year you see a lot of uncharacteristic chase from our guys also we got nuked by a red hot brewer offense.

[u/TrashCompetitive8426]

There needs to be a mix, it can’t just be the only way.

[u/Rawkstarz22]

I’ll never forget after watching the BlueJays put a hit after hit, I was like the Dodgers need to string together some hits and stop hitting homeruns. Then game 7 comes, and the Dodgers get hits and men on base but could hardly bring them in. Eventually. They hit homers and wouldn’t you know, that’s what won them the game. Lol

[u/Zestyclose_Hippo3908]

It works until it doesn’t.

And when it doesn’t, if hitters arent able to change their approach quickly it can cause serious issues.

Like say, not being able to hit with runners in scoring position and getting swept in a 4 game series

[u/KikkiMonne]

We should have a good mix of sluggers versus small-ball hitters to be a potent offense. The obvious guys who should be slugging are Shohei, Muncy and Freddie. The other guys who pretend to be sluggers but usually hit pop-ups are guys like Will, Teo and Tucker. Guys who should focus on bloop singles are Mookie, Pages and Kike. It's so embarrassing when every batter comes to the plate thinking they can bang it out.

[u/donald-duck23 → u/KikkiMonne]

“Focus on bloop singles”

https://giphy.com/gifs/Su0aljmbFVghW

[u/InvestigatorNo4189 → u/KikkiMonne]

Pages has hit more homers than Freddie each of the last two seasons.  Why would you want to change his swing?

[u/KikkiMonne → u/InvestigatorNo4189]

Because he's more effective hitting singles and getting on base --- Freddie is the slugger

[u/InvestigatorNo4189 → u/KikkiMonne]

Hate to break it to you, but Freddie had a higher OBP than Pages. 362 to 343.  Pages had a higher slugging percentage too, 468 compared to 430.  Not sure where you’re getting your info from. 

[u/baribigbird06 → u/InvestigatorNo4189]

It’s funny how many of the claims in these comments don’t stand up to scrutiny when looking at numbers.

[u/InvestigatorNo4189 → u/baribigbird06]

Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, just not their own facts

[u/Dodgers-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Name calling or attacking other users on this sub are not allowed.

[u/FearsomeMudcrab32 → u/KikkiMonne]

We should have a good mix of sluggers versus small-ball hitters to be a potent offense

Basically the first two months of the season.

[u/alex_o_O_Hung]

Exactly! Teams dont need to consider about the usage of pitchers in the long season and deploy their best pitching staff and the most favorable matchups in the playoffs. That means pitchers won’t make many mistakes. When pitchers do make mistakes you have to slug to actually punish them. It’s way less probable for an ace to give up 3 singles in an inning than a homer.

[u/cchoi712]

I dont think batting philosophy was the problem too. It was some other issues that made the Dodgers offense rly bad this Ps.

Since his illness at the beginning of 25 szn, Mookie’s power has been off. I think Mookie in this PS was in a good form. He had a lot of insanely good at bats, challenging and overturning strike calls and hitting the ball hard. He had like 3 flyouts in the warning track in the deep center field which would have been HRs if Mookie had pre-illness power. Freddie also hit the ball pretty well and just got BABIP’d hard. I remember Frelick deleting Freddie’s double with a cool diving catch and Chourio Willie Mays’ing another potential double off of Freeman’s bat. They weren’t bad like they were really bad vs DBacks series in 23. They worked the counts and hit the ball well but Mookie’s power decline and unlucky hits from Freddie hurt.

Ohtani and Will Smith were atrocious all PS and we know Ohtani was injured.

Those of lesser stars, quality power bats like Max and Teo, never swing for a single. They are typical 3 way outcome hitters so they can strike out a lot, draw some walks, and hit a bomb occasionally but well we never could rely on them to hit the ball hard consistently anyways.

[u/Wazpops]

Not saying they’re wrong, but they literally had the best possible pitching you could find on this earth lol

[u/JushinThunderLiger]

The pitching was literally historic in 2025 as the wheels started to come off when it comes to the offense. Slugging is great, but we just don’t get on base enough. And we didn’t move runners over. Hitting homers isn’t a plan, it’s a hope.

[u/Still-Rope1395]

I wonder if a lot of teams have reevaluated the need to have a slugging team vs. a contact team since the shift was banned. I feel the need to just try and outslug was relevant when they played right in the spot where you hit if you were trying to make contact.

[u/KingVLA24]

They studied and game planned to beat us all year. They executed and were simply better. We will adjust and be back next year. I'm here for it.

[u/Flopdo]

Bunt for runs, and hit many singles in a row vs the best arms in the game.

That's what the 80's crowd in here will tell you. :)

[u/catashake]

The pitching is the main reason they won.

People gotta quit acting like the bats have ever carried this team after 2020.