Dodgers outfielder breaks silence on 2024 struggles

The 2024 MLB campaign has been a tough one for Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder James Outman.

Outman is just 2 for 24 in his last seven games, and over the entire season he’s slashing a measly .163/.260/.293 with three homers and 10 RBIs in 104 plate appearances. He managed to crush a two-run blast in the Dodgers’ win over the Miami Marlins last Monday, but otherwise it’s been rough.

“It’s no secret it hasn’t been great, obviously,” Outman said, via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.

Outman has been relegated to a part-time role due to his massive decline coupled with the rise of rookie outfielder Andy Pages, who is slashing .308/.329/.526 with four long balls and 13 RBIs in 20 games.

Pages’ production almost certainly added some pressure to Outman, who began the year as Los Angeles’ starting center fielder. The good news is that Outman is choosing to look on the bright side despite this difficult time. In fact, he feels better than he did in his first full season last year.

“It’s less bleak this time, just because last year was really my first time really working,” Outman said. “It’s baseball. Just get in there, find some hitters and it will take care of itself.

Outman briefly appeared in four games in 2022, going 6 for 13 with a homer, a couple of doubles and three RBIs. Last year, he appeared in 151 affairs and slashed .248/.353/.437 with 23 dingers and 70 RBIs in 567 plate appearances. He added 16 stolen bases, to boot.

Expectations were relatively high for the 26-year-old after his impressive 2023, but he clearly hasn’t lived up to it so far in 2024. The good news is that it’s only May, there’s still so plenty of time for Outman to turn around. things around.

The Dodgers are doing very well despite James Outman

Outman’s miserable .553 OPS certainly didn’t stop the Dodgers from winning.

Los Angeles sits in first place in the NL West and has the second-best record in the National League at 26-13. The Dodgers are 6.5 games ahead of the second-place San Diego Padres and it appears they will be headed to a fourth straight division title.

It’s not really a surprise.

Los Angeles splurged on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in free agency this past offseason, adding the two Japanese stars to an already loaded roster to begin with. The Dodgers won 100 games without these two last year, so it would be a disappointment if they don’t post triple-digit wins again this season.

The club’s offense hasn’t missed a beat either. Los Angeles leads the majors in almost every statistical category you can imagine, including batting average, OPS and runs scored. Now imagine how much better LA’s offense would be if Outman could go there too?

Thanks to the dynamic duo of Ohtani and Mookie Betts, the Dodgers managed to come out very well. Free agent Teoscar Hernandez has also been great, with the outfielder already hitting 10 home runs. He also leads the team with 29 RBIs heading into Friday’s action.