You can call the Los Angeles Dodgers a lot of things. Villains. Plunderers. A bunch of rich jerks who are ruining baseball.
Above all else, you have to call them this: the two-time defending World Series champions.
Oh, and there’s something else you can call them during their recent stretch in August: a struggling team.
Even A.J. Hinch has been able to spot those struggles from the opposing dugout during their homestand against the Dodgers, who came into Comerica Park after getting swept in Atlanta and losing 13 of their past 15 games against teams with winning records.
But there was something else the Detroit Tigers manager could spot in L.A.’s dugout: a lesson of resilience.
Despite all the winning the Dodgers have done, and all the key players
they’ve added in free agency and at the trade deadline, they’ve had their struggles.
After the Tigers won a pitching duel against two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell with a 2-1 victory Saturday, Aug. 29, the Dodgers’ record in August dropped to 12-14.
Their summer swoon isn’t unique. In July 2025, they went 10-14. In July 2024, they went 11-13.
“Every year with the Dodgers,” Hinch said before Saturday’s game, “I hear at some point the struggles that they go through, and I think we can learn from that, too. That even the highly touted team with a big payroll and big names and highly accomplished players are going to go through pitfalls.
“I mean, you look at their lineup right now, they're not all perfect. And so I think there's parts of that that I think our young players can learn from afar.”
How far? How about 60 feet, 6 inches for Kevin McGonigle, who snapped an 0-for-16 slump with a deep walk-off single against lefty Jack Dreyer on Saturday.
The Tigers’ rookie sensation was scuffling over the past two weeks as he’s contended with his first long major league season in which he has taken nearly no time off − McGonigle has missed just four games.
“Yeah, it's been a little tough,” McGonigle of his recent grinding struggle. “Yeah, just part of it. That's why, you know, just refresh the brain, go into the next at-bat. Don't let the at-bats before affect the one you're in right now.
“So that's why I think I did a good job right there in that last at-bat and didn't try to do too much, and just try to put the bat on the ball.”
Incredibly there’s no statistic in baseball that measures a manager’s impact on players. But Hinch deserves an assist on McGonigle’s big hit. Because instead of giving his young star some time off, Hinch dispensed some tough love and hard truths about pursuing greatness in the majors by pushing past mental fatigue late in the season.
“And what's ironic about this,” Hinch said, “you can concede to it and think that August is a hurdle to clear. And then if you really want to be a good team and a player who is remembered over time, you got to do something in October.
“So August turns into September, which turns into October. So we want to be a team that's two months away from fatigue. … You have to play more in order to get through this portion that has still two months left. And I think my tough love part is like you're out there. You want to be one of the best in the league, they’re out there.”
Even in the short time he’s been with the Dodgers since his trade on Aug. 1, former Tigers ace Tarik Skubal has seen the example of the consistency and daily determination that has made his new team great.
“I think it starts with the day-to-day process,” he said Saturday. “You just see these guys out here. You know, you watch [Freddie Freeman’s] ground ball routine. He does the same thing every single day.
“I think that those routines matter, you know? And they translate to the field stuff they do in the cage, the way the pitchers prepare, you know? The way they play catch. All that stuff matters, you know? No little thing is overlooked, and I think that's what makes good teams really good. And then obviously you put the talent behind it, too, and then it makes good teams great.”
If the Tigers are ever going to turn the corner and go from being a good team with promise to a great team, they need more talent like McGonigle’s throughout the lineup. They also need the mental approach Hinch is instilling in him and other young players.
Oh, and some more big wins like Saturday’s against a great team wouldn’t hurt, either.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers learn lessons from Dodgers on fighting through struggles
