When the Los Angeles Dodgers stumbled into Chicago this week as losers of three of their last four games and lugging a losing record into Wrigley Field, several of their top executives came with them — including baseball operations president Andrew Friedman and CEO Stan Kasten.
“What, you guys starting to worry enough that the whole front office needs to make the trip,” one media wag joked when the execs filed into the clubhouse a few hours before Thursday’s series opener.
Actually, Chicago is the home of managing partner Mark Walter, and it’s not uncommon for Kasten and Friedman to make the Chicago trip.
But that losing record is.
And as early as it is in the season, it doesn’t look like a fluke.
Which has made it a topic of much hand-wringing around the Chavez Ravine area, if not a cause for concern.
“I don’t go too deep into that,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The one thing that we do a pretty good job of is staying on the idea of winning a ballgame today.
“Yeah, we’ve tapped into depth that you wouldn’t want to tap into — for various reasons — at this point in the year,” he added, “and we’re not playing our best baseball.”
Tapped into depth?