Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: Dave Roberts Hints at a Possible Matt Beaty Promotion Amid Team’s Offensive Struggles

After one of their best stretch of games on the season, the Dodgers have suddenly forgotten how to hit in critical moments. They have lost 4 of their last 7 games, and the offense is the main culprit for their lack of recent success.

This isn’t to say that they have gone completely cold, as they have still been averaging over 4 runs per game. The issue has been timely hitting, namely coming up with a big hit in a key situation. All 4 of their recent losses have been by 1 or 2 runs, and they have left a combined 40 runners on base throughout the 7-game stretch.



This lack of production is never ideal, but it hurts much more when the team is in the middle of a tight playoff race. There may be a potential solution lingering in the minor leagues, however, and it seems as if the team may finally be nearing a breaking point to pull the trigger. We’re talking, of course, about the one and only Matt Beaty, who Dave Roberts acknowledged is an option to be called up in the near future.

We’re talking about it. Matt [Beaty] is down there taking at-bats every day, and that’s a good thing. He’s performing down there, so we’re having talks every day. He’s front of mind certainly.

You certainly don’t expect Beaty to come in and completely save this team, but he is more than capable of putting together a quality at-bat, which is really all this team needs right now. He has been absolutely tearing the cover off the ball in AAA, as he has hit .357 during his time there this season.

Related: Dave Roberts, Trea Turner Share Thoughts on Disappointing Roadtrip

With the Dodgers currently 2.5 games behind the first-place Giants and less than a month left in the season, this team cannot afford to waste any more time. They desperately need to try something new, which means Matt Beaty needs to be on the next flight to Los Angeles.

NEXT: MLB Analyst Feels Cody Bellinger’s Rough Season Due to Swing Tinkering

Daniel Palma

Daniel is an avid sports fan who loves his hometown teams. If he's not watching baseball, you can find him playing or coaching. No matter what, he'll always root for the Boys in Blue!

33 Comments

    1. He should have Never been sent down. I wonder how hard that was for roberts to say. Yes, Bellinger must be sent somewhere, and anywhere but up on the Big club. You see Paul, Fans do make a difference especially when those guys know we’re ONLY wanting to win as badly as they are…..I commend Doug Mckain as he is /was the ONLY author I saw ANYWHERE that addressed this situation regarding Beaty/Bellinger etc. I just don’t know if it’s To Late? Should have been done last month….But it will be settling to say the least knowing now Roberts will have a answer to the Giant Hole in this lineup. It’s also now going to be a lot more difficult for Other managers to quit pitching around ANY hitter In front of Beaty… Instead of a 6 man line up they’ll have to pitch to 8 once again. GO DODGERS!!!

      1. Yes, GO DODGER AZUL! I i just wish the DH was in the NL like it was last year. Think about the idea of having JT, SMITH. PUJOS, MUNCY, BETTS OR SEAGER getting a ‘spa day’ and one of those players could be filling the middle of the order while that player gets a day off his feet so to speak. Honestly we may have been able to pull this game out if at least that DH was in effect because one of those guys not starting could have at least add a bit more length to the lineup. Might cover up for Bellinger a bit.

    2. Belli can run and play spectacular defense. I think he should be on the active roster, but definitely not in the lineup everyday or hitting in the heart of the lineup. For crissakes we need a new manager and hitting instructors. Hate seeing everyone swinging out of their boots all of the time. Next time I see a lead off double followed by strikeout, strikeout, strikeout…I think I will bust a blood vessel. Contact guys,…contact!!!

      1. Fly ball out after fly ball out yesterday. And continuing to take first pitch strikes. Hitting 1-0 is much better than hitting 0-1. Terrible approach.

  1. After today’s loss can someone ANYONE please advise Roberts and Co. that Bellinger has NO BUSINESS being anywhere near the middle of the batting order for crying out loud. If they insist on playing him, he bats no higher than 8th in the lineup!

    1. from your lips to God’s ears, Paul, I pray! I think today’s lineup was to match up against the White Sox…..the 1906 “Hitless Wonders” White Sox!

  2. Today’s was one of the most impotent Dodger lineups I have had to endure in over 65 years of watching Dodger baseball. What was Robert’s possibly thinking in fielding a team that included Bellinger(.159) followed by Souza (.172) Mc Kinney (.193) and Barnes (.210). All of that muscle of course leading up to the pitcher’s spot (.000). The $16 Million Belli authored a first swing pop up with loaded bases followed by a swinging strikeout on a ball that literally did not reach home plate. And, what the heck would Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, PeeWee Reese and Sandy say about young Dodger athletes earning anywhere from $5 to $30 Million being “rested” in the middle of a hotly contested pennant race? And, while I value and respect Kershaw, not pitching for over two months because of inflammation? Really? Time to man up. If we did not have Buehler, Urias, and Scherzer, we would be lucky to be a .500 team. The situational hitting is cringe worthy. We have given Bellinger more than enough indulgence. His production in 2020 and 2021 could not be clearer testament to a completely broken swing. It doesn’t take a professional swing coach to conclude that the horrible uppercut swing is totally defenseless to right side high heat or backfoot sliders or cutters. Roberts’ suggestion that he should be kept to bat against righties is boneheaded. He has struck out more than 50 times against righties. Time to fields team with Taylor in center, Betts in right and Beaty in left. Time is running out.

  3. Knowing how this idiot operates, he’ll still start Bellinger against righties and pinch hit with Beaty where he believes he is most valuable. Wanna bet? I’d like to hear Bellinger address his issues for once and not always his mouthpiece Delirious Dave.

  4. With some of the managerial/coaching decisions costing them, the Dodgers are like a pro golfer that has to give strokes to another pro golfer in a professional golf match!! In the loss to Cardinals wednesday our normally good third base coach made a mistake sending Betts when there was only ONE out (but that was a split second error in judgment) in yesterday’s game no one including Robert’s should be surprised that only one run scored given the Dodger lineup yesterday) and the decision to put out that lineup yesterday was not a split second error in judgment)

  5. Bellinger drives me crazy with his awful mechanics and approach, but the Dodgers can afford to play him in CF where his defense is better than anyone else on the team, including Betts. And, in the last week he has made improvement to his mechanics and approach. What is ridiculous is continuing to have Billy McKinney on the active roster with awful hitting, and mediocre defense. McKinney has been DFA by three teams (Toronto, Milwaukee, and New York Mets) in a little over one year for a reason — he does not have the ability to play at the Major League level.

  6. This is for Andrew Friedman. The league is catching up to your analytic way of running a ball club. But you still need a smart manager in the dugout. You’ve gotten away with a cheap paying manager for these last several years well that’s over. And you a prime example too follow. The White Sox brought back Tony Larussa and there probably going to win the World Series. And the embarrassing thing is the manager you should have hired instead of dummy (Gabe Kepler) is going too break your streak of consecutive division titles and probably will eliminate your team from the playoffs assuming your win the wild card game. So start looking in your computer for your next manager. Here are a couple of names you should consider, I don’t any stats in front of me, but these guys can manage a ball club.(Bob Melvin,Bud Black,or a blast from the past Mike Sioscia. Good luck Andy.

  7. I have said the same thing about BEATTY when they sent him down , what the hell are they doing !!! He makes contact , something BELLINGER is not doing whatsoever , He is swinging all over the place , it is sad the F.O. and ROBERTS do not do recognize that Bellinger needs to be sent to wherever to work on his continuous problems , CANNOT be sent to the minors .Robert’s and everyone needs to forget about Bellingers contract and successful seasons of the past he has had . It is called reality , At present Bellinger does not have anything maybe a flicker of himself but not enough to keep him in the lineup , and another note , go with the best and let the best play everyday dam ! Players Always given time off , if hurt understanding to a point , but so weak in the latter part of the lineup Dodgers need the best now ! not later , getting late so THINK and do the SMART decisions never mind hurting feelings , if the selfish player cannot see he is not helping his team , than continue to lose with the best players at present on the bench . Enough said !

  8. Why is it taking sooo long for the dodgers to bring back BEATY!!! Mckinney needs to be sent down he and Belli, souza are hitting in the 100’s, and also bring back up CHAPMAN!!, and Bellinger needs to find a seat on the bench.

    1. McKinney is out of options — either DFA or the IL is the only way to get him off the roster. Who is CHAPMAN?

      1. Who cares if McKinney is claimed off waivers? That would protect Roberts/Friedman from themselves. Lux and McKinstry did not have great years but all of them were far better than the three hitting below .200 in yesterday’s lineup.

  9. I totally agree with Jim Altieri – what planet is Dave Roberts from? We’re in the stretch drive (20+ games left) and he fields a lineup with practically auto outs batting 5-9, resting Seager, Smith & Taylor all on the same day we’re essentially going with a bullpen game because Gonsolin hadn’t pitched in 2 months. He bats Bellinger 5th which naturally should come up multiple times with men on base with predictable and consistent failure. If we do not win the division this season, it falls squarely on Dave Roberts shoulders and we will look back on this crucial road trip as the start as we were tied for the lead when it began. DR in his infinite wisdom moved our starting rotation back twice during the trip and was directly attributable for 2 of our losses based on his lineup decisions (1st game vs Giants & last vs Cardinals) resulting in a 3-4 trip. I feel we’ve had the best talent in MLB the last 5 years and we’ve got World Series Championship to show for it. Management has done everything to give our coaching staff every opportunity to win and it only happened once as we had to crawl out of a 3-1 series hole in the NLCS to do it. DR is a great rah rah guy & cheerleader but constantly makes head scratching decisions like giving away outs (batting Corey Knebel in the 5th when he wasn’t going out in the bottom of the inning to pitch? Dave’s got to go if we don’t win it all this year in my opinion.

  10. Not sure how the Giants are holding up. A mistake was made when we kept throwing Bellinger out there and the BA is getting worse. This might cost the Dodgers the pennant and knowing they will be the road team in the league games

  11. I know it’s late in the season, but maybe a new hitting coach. Someone who can tell Bellinger to go back to his 2019 swing.

    1. Agree. Once again yesterday, he let the pitcher (Knebel this time) hit for himself but not go back out for the next inning. Having 16 pitchers means you have VERY few PHer’s available. It matters in one-run games. If you let pitchers throw more than 3-10 pitches in an outing, you don’t need so many. It isn’t just losing, it is the way the Dodgers are losing.

  12. Jim A. pretty much said it all! Bring up Beaty, who never should have been sent down, and start him. Sit Bellinger and McKinney. Are Mckinstry and Lux still alive and ready as defensive replacements?

  13. Dodgers are missing Joc Pederson, Kike Hernandez, even injured Rios, etc. who could have filled in – McKinstry and Souza are serviceable, but don’t give you that “shot in the arm” at-bat like Pederson and Hernandez did. They could move Taylor into outfield permanently and try Lux- it’s sad when he’s a better option than Bellinger at the moment

  14. BELLINGER SEGER BARNES SEND THEM BACK TO TRIPLE A THEY CANT HIT THIS YEAR FOR BEANS THEY ARE ALL IM A SLUMP. NO WORLD SERIES THIS YEAR OH GET RID OF ROBERTS HIS TIME UP ITS TIME FOR A NEW COACH NOT ONE WJO SITS THERE AND NEVER MAKES A MOVE TO CHANGE PLAYERS FAILING BAD

  15. I like the idea of DFA’ing Roberts. The one thing about his resting several players the most is when he gave Justin Turner the day off on Thursday. This is after he hit 2 home runs the day before. What is wrong with him? Is he trying to lose? Has he hear of Cal Ripkin Jr? If Cal Ripkin Jr can play in over 8,000 straight innings, I think Turner can go a couple of weeks without a rest.

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