The Los Angeles Dodgers scored 801 runs in 2026, the fourth-most in MLB, yet stranded 1,165 runners last season and went 5-for-43 with runners in scoring position in the postseason. Two-way star Shohei Ohtani’s bat could not carry them through it, and hitting coach Pedro Guerrero now owns the fix.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
In an interview with the New York Post, Guerrero laid out where his focus will sit after taking over from former hitting coach Aaron Bates. “I like to think of it as building the player, not the swing,” Guerrero said. “The swings are kind of built at this point, so it’s going back to … are we having team at-bats? How do we execute with runners in scoring position? How are we gonna make it really tough for the starter?”
The numbers back his reasoning because the Dodgers hit well with runners in scoring position in the regular season, posting a .779 OPS, yet slipped to a .710 OPS with the bases loaded, which ranked 22nd in MLB, and grounded into 128 double plays, third-most in the league. Management has noticed the pattern too.
Discussing the offensive inconsistency, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman reached for a familiar metaphor. “It’s a little bit of a game of Whack-A-Mole, where it can be one thing for some period, and then it’s something else, and then it’s something else,” Friedman said. “Sometimes it’s noise, and sometimes it’s real. And what’s important for us is to be able to sift out the noise and isolate what’s real and what things we can improve upon.”
The real signals showed up in the summer, when the Dodgers scored 209 runs in July and August, sixth-fewest in MLB, and went 13-14 in August, their only losing month. Ohtani’s left knee and right biceps injuries, made public in early July, lined up with the dip. The offense never fully recovered, and the Milwaukee Brewers later swept them in the NLCS.
Second base added another leak, with Dodgers second basemen producing a .676 OPS, the weakest output among their lineup spots. Infielder Tommy Edman posted a .714 OPS in 84 games and fits better in a superutility role, while infielders Alex Freeland and Hyeseong Kim have not locked down everyday jobs.
Help from the farm system is still a way off. Prospect Charles Davalan, MLB Pipeline’s No. 79 prospect, is logging reps at second in the Arizona Fall League, so the Dodgers may scan the free-agent or trade market for a bridge option before he arrives.
Even a second base fix would not solve the biggest question in the lineup. Ohtani remains the swing factor after producing 30 homers, 81 RBIs, and an .889 OPS across 135 appearances before the injuries slowed him. The Dodgers may explore changes to his two-way workload so that their best bat reaches October closer to full strength.
Guerrero inherits that puzzle at 37. He played eight years in the Dodgers system from 2006 to 2013 without reaching the majors, then began coaching as the Ogden Raptors bench coach in 2016. He then served as an assistant hitting coach with the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants before the Miami Marlins hired him in 2025.
That résumé matters most for what it produced in Miami, where his hitters improved.
Miami Record Gives Pedro Guerrero a Foundation
Guerrero’s time in Miami offers a preview of what he can do at Chavez Ravine. The Marlins climbed from a 96 wRC+ in 2025 to a 100 wRC+ in 2026, and their slash line moved from .250/.314/.393 to .249/.326/.400. Front office voices noticed the shift.
Reacting to Guerrero’s departure, Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix offered high praise. “He did a tremendous job for us,” Bendix said. “He’s a wonderful human being. We’re going to miss having him around, and really appreciate everything that Pedro gave to us. Just time for a new voice in the hitting space.”
Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes backed the hire while speaking with reporters at the GM Meetings, describing Guerrero as “approach-focused.”
The bigger test comes down to age. Guerrero worked with the third-youngest lineup in baseball, averaging 25.7 years, and now inherits the oldest at 30.9. Robert Van Scoyoc, the longtime Dodgers hitting coach, will keep handling mechanics while Guerrero works on pitch selection.
That split of duties points to the plan behind the hire. The Dodgers do not need new swings from veterans whose mechanics are already set. They need better at-bats with runners on base, and Guerrero’s approach-first message is aimed squarely at the 1,165 runners they left stranded. If he can turn that into more run-scoring contact, the lineup will be harder to shut down in October.