Los Angeles Dodgers: The problem may be a loss of identity

The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the fifth consecutive game on Tuesday night with many different factors possibly being the reason.

Slumps happen. They do not define an entire season and even the best teams in baseball have slumps. But boy, do the Los Angeles Dodgers look bad right now.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have dropped five consecutive games, three to the Colorado Rockies and two to the San Francisco Giants, for a mixture of reasons.

For one, the bullpen has been anything but good the last five games. Three of the four losses were blown leads, two of those blown leads coming in the ninth inning. The other two losses came on ninth-inning runs in tied games that ultimately led to the Dodgers losing by one.

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However, the offense has not been great, either. The team has scored a combined three runs against the San Francisco Giants in two games and is collectively hitting .235 since the All-Star Break.

Matt Kemp, who was an MVP candidate just a month ago, has gone ice cold and has found his way out of the everyday starting lineup. Kemp is 3-33 the last 15 days; that is a batting average of .091.

Max Muncy has cooled off, Yasmani Grandal has cooled off, Brian Dozier has been ok, better than Logan Forsythe, but not great. Manny Machado is hitting .255 as a Dodger with an OPS 230 points lower than it was in Baltimore.

The only thing the Dodgers have been proficient in during this stretch is starting pitching. However, starting pitching is only part of the equation. Even a dominant eight-inning, one-run performance from Clayton Kershaw was not enough to get a victory.

This makes sense, too, as the starting rotation, as it has been the last few years, is the best part of the roster. Because of that continued success, the starting rotation has developed an identity. It helps that Kershaw leads the way.

Right now, this team does not seem to have an identity.

The offense does not have an identity. Is this the same power-hitting team that slugged its way back into contention in May, June and July? Or is this the ice cold team that could not capitalize with runners in scoring position?

With so many different lineups, outlooks and results, this offense is yet to develop an identity. If small ball works, turn into a small ball driven team that capitalizes on periodical home runs. If a certain lineup works, use that lineup!

There is no need to jumble the entire lineup for one off day. At this point in the year, the Dodgers need to be developing a set left-handed pitching lineup and right-handed pitching lineup that undergoes tweaks on a weekly basis based on performance.

Coming from a Dave Roberts supporter, there is no reason to change the lineup every single day. You don’t do it in October, why would you do it now when the team is two games out of a playoff spot?

The bullpen, which has been good, has lost its identity without Kenley Jansen. Scott Alexander has come in and closed down games before with Jansen healthy and did just fine.

However, without their anchor, these bullpen arms are attempting to overcompensate in their performance and the pressure is evident. These guys are comfortable. Like when the offense did not have its identity in Justin Turner, the bullpen does not have its identity in Kenley Jansen.

Nearly everyone is healthy, aside from Jansen. Although he is dominant, losing just a closer should not send a team on a five-game tailspin, especially after such a good victory over the Rockies last week.

I do not know what the identity of this Los Angeles Dodgers team is. I am not even sure if they know what their identity is. Whatever it is, the team better figure it out before the losses really stack up and it is too late.