Dodgers Dugout: Some good and some strange suggestions to end the Dodgers downward skid

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and after watching the Dodgers the last few days, I’m beginning to think I live in Oklahoma City.

Random thoughts

I’m not going to rant over how poorly the Dodgers have been playing lately. It seems when the offense plays well, the pitching is poor and when the pitching is great, the offense can’t hit. What’s the solution? Let’s take a look at some suggestions from experts on TV and from fans via email, with my thoughts on it.

Suggestion: The Dodgers need to stick with one lineup and quit moving people around.

Did you know that the Dodgers have used 122 lineups in 136 games this season? That they haven’t used any one lineup more than three times and they changed the lineup almost daily during their amazing run? Last season, the World Series champion Cubs used 130 lineups during the season. I don’t think this is the problem.

Suggestion: Sending Joc Pederson down ruined the clubhouse chemistry and made all the young players nervous about their jobs.

I think this says a lot more about the people who suggest it. Do you slack off at work when someone leaves or is let go? These players are paid millions of dollars. You really think they are underperforming because Pederson is gone? They go to bat thinking “Man, it’s just not the same without Joc. Whoops! Strike one! I wasn’t even ready yet! Man, Joc would usually be cheering for me after a strike like that.” And it makes the young players nervous? Which young players? Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger are suddenly worried about their job because a guy who was underperforming was sent down? What if they had traded Pederson for Justin Verlander? Wouldn’t that have had the same effect? And why didn’t Joc and his great chemistry lead the team into the World Series the last couple of seasons?

Suggestion: Curtis Granderson should not be hitting second in the lineup.

I agree. Granderson has six hits and 19 strikeouts in 15 games. I’d rather see just about anyone else batting second.

Suggestion: The Dodgers need better starting pitchers, they won’t win with what they have now.

Setting aside the fact they went 91-36 with what they have now, this is the starting pitching we have. They have led the majors in ERA almost all season. Most teams would be very happy to have Clayton Kershaw, Yu Darvish, Alex Wood, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda and Hyun-jin Ryu as their starters. They are pitching poorly right now (other than Kershaw). They will hopefully figure it out. I see no reason to think they won’t.

Suggestion: The bullpen is wearing down from overuse.

You could be right. Josh Ravin has an ERA of almost six in his last six appearances. After pitching well all season, Pedro Baez is reverting to the Pedro Baez Dodgers fans remember and fear. Josh Fields is on the disabled list. Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani don’t look like answers as left-handed setup man. Kenley Jansen is great, and it looks like Brandon Morrow will replace Baez as primary setup man. And Luis Avilan has been solid. But all of these guys have made a lot of appearances, which doesn’t even take into account the number of times they have warmed up without getting into the game. The odds are that a couple of these guys are going to hit a wall. You just have to hope they don’t hit the wall in Game 5 of the NLDS.

And by the way, I like Eddie Paredes. He has given up one hit and no walks while striking out nine in 6 1/3 innings. He may be the left-handed pitcher the Dodgers need. I’d at least audition him over the next four weeks.

Suggestion: Yu Darvish hasn’t been the answer and shouldn’t even be in the postseason rotation.

Darvish is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA, a 4.67 FIP and a 1.538 WHIP. Rick Honeycutt works with him daily as they try to rebuild his throwing motion so it is more like the one he had before surgery. Maybe I’m crazy, but I think if you know you have to rebuild a guy’s motion, then perhaps he isn’t the best choice to acquire at the trade deadline. As of right now, Darvish will be starting Game 2 of the NLDS. But a lot can happen in a month.

Suggestion: Wouldn’t it be nice to have Zack Greinke and his 16 wins on the team now?

Well, setting aside the fact that rating judging pitchers by wins is a bit antiquated, and that Greinke would have had a different schedule with the Dodgers than Arizona, answer this: Would you rather give up Justin Turner or Jansen, because if you are going to pay Greinke $30 million a season, you aren’t going to be able to re-sign one or both of those guys before this season. You can’t just make Greinke appear from thin air and put him on the team. Roster decisions the last two seasons would be much different.

Suggestion: Justin Turner is overrated and should be benched…. Dave Roberts is a liar and will do anything to make best friend Adrian Gonzalez happy even if it means the team plays worse…. This team was so much better when Matt Kemp was with them.

OK, all I can say here is that some people should just stop being baseball fans.

Am I worried and concerned over this recent slide? Yep. But, I try to keep this in mind: This is the same team that went 81-24. Sandwiched around that they went 11-20. The truth is somewhere in between those extremes.

But, and please trust me on this, if you find yourself losing sleep over this slide, or getting angry at the team or the front office, or holding on to the losses for more than 10 minutes after a game ends, remember one very important thing: It’s just a game. Take a breath and enjoy life.

What do the players and manager think?

Cody Bellinger: “I’m not worried. And I know no one in this clubhouse is worried [about] what’s happened in the last week.”

Dave Roberts: I hope fans “don’t jump off the bandwagon” based on one terrible trip. “It’s the same team. We have the same goal. We’re going to be just fine. We can’t win every game.”

Alex Wood: “I think it’s a statistical improbability to go an entire season without getting punched in the face, at any point. We’ve been so good for so long that we have a rough patch for a week and everyone is like, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on?’ It happens to everybody. The best teams in the world, this happens to. We’ve just got to keep our heads down and keep playing the baseball that we’re supposed to be, and we’ll be fine.”

Dave Roberts, again: “I can assure you this won’t break us.”

Here’s a word of advice for the team, particularly if they lose Monday to Arizona: You might want to start showing some anger, or some passion. Because it’s not like these last 10 games have been highly competitive. You look lackadaisical out there. You look like you think you are all that and a bag of chips. Very few people are jumping off the bandwagon, but some people on the bandwagon are pointing out that one of the tires looks like it’s going to blow. A “The way we’ve been playing has been unacceptable” would be nice to hear.

The obscure Dodgers record of the week

The Dodgers have 26 sacrifice bunts this season. A look at the Dodgers teams with the fewest sacrifice bunts in a season:

1. 2016 Dodgers, 30

2. 2014 Dodgers, 47

3. 2015 Dodgers, 49

4. 1994 Dodgers, 51

5. 2005 Dodgers, 57

5. 2001 Dodgers, 57

7. 1930 Dodgers, 58

7. 2007 Dodgers, 58

9. 1981 Dodgers, 62

10. 2008 Dodgers, 64

Next series

Monday, 5 p.m. PT, Arizona (Robbie Ray, 11-5, 2.97) at Dodgers (Rich Hill, 9-6, 3.71)

Tuesday, 7 p.m. PT, Arizona (Zack Greinke, 16-6, 3.08) at Dodgers (Hyun-Jin Ryu, 5-7, 3.71)

Wednesday, 7 p.m. PT, Arizona (Taijuan Walker, 8-7, 3.42) at Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, 16-2, 1.95)

Note: Pitchers are subject to change.

Magic numbers

The Dodgers are on pace to finish with a 110-52 record.

Their magic number to clinch another NL West title is 13.

Reminder

For those of you living in the L.A. area, four Dodger games will be on KTLA-TV Ch. 5 the rest of the season. All of them will be on a Tuesday. They are:

Sept. 5, 7 p.m. vs. Arizona

Sept. 12, 7:15 p.m. at San Francisco

Sept. 19, 4 p.m. at Philadelphia

Sept. 26, 7 p.m. vs. San Diego

And finally

What are the Dodgers going to do with Joc Pederson? Read all about it here.

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter:@latimeshouston

Houston.mitchell@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimeshouston