mull

After taking his normal round of infield grounders during the Dodgers’ off-day workout Sunday, Kiké Hernández jogged to center field and spent a noticeable amount of time fielding fly balls there.

On the eve of Game 3 of the World Series, it might not have been a coincidence.

After using the same nine players in their starting lineup in six straight games since the start of the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers have been considering a change for Monday — one that could drop struggling second-year slugger Andy Pages to the bench.

While the Dodgers’ overall offense has been inconsistent this postseason, Pages has endured the most glaring slump. He has collected just four hits in 43 at-bats, registering a .093 average. He has 11 strikeouts, no walks, and only one extra-base knock, providing little pop or spark from the No. 9 spot.

Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged before Game 2 that he was mulling whether to keep Pages in the lineup. And though the 24-year-old outfielder, who had 27 home runs and 86 RBIs in the regular season, had a hit and run scored on Saturday, Roberts reiterated Sunday that making a move with Pages was “still on the table” and “front of mind.”

“Just trying to figure out where he’s at mentally, physically,” Roberts said. “The performance hasn’t been there. So thinking of other options, yeah.”

One reason the Dodgers have stuck with Pages is because of their limited defensive alternatives — including, first and foremost, utilityman Tommy Edman being restricted to only second base this October because of a lingering ankle injury.

Edman, who split time last postseason between center field and shortstop, did say this weekend that his ankle was feeling better (even though he didn’t close the door on potentially needing surgery this offseason). But Roberts noted that Edman “hasn’t taken a fly ball out there in a month,” casting continued doubt over his ability to play anywhere else.

Without Edman, Hernández is the only other true center-field option for the Dodgers to use in their starting lineup, having also played there during the team’s World Series run last year. This postseason, Hernández has been a fixture in left (while also mixing in at third base). But if he were to slide to center field for Game 3, it could open left field for someone like Alex Call.

Call, a trade deadline acquisition who was a part-time player down the stretch in the regular season, does not represent as much of a power threat as Pages, but is a better contact hitter with more on-base ability.

Of course, the Dodgers’ offensive inconsistencies have gone beyond Pages.

They have not topped five runs in a game since the wild-card round. They have hit just .216 as a team since the start of the division series. Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman are still batting under .225 in the playoffs. Mookie Betts is batting .136 since the start of the NLCS.

During their Game 2 win, Roberts felt the club missed a lot of hittable pitches against Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman, before Will Smith and Max Muncy finally broke through with home runs in the seventh.

That, Roberts felt, was a sign his lineup was “a little bit in between” in its approach, squandering opportunities to do damage against fastballs over the plate while also trying to protect against breaking stuff out of the zone.

“They have made good pitches, but we have missed pitches as well,” Roberts said. “I do think that coming home, I feel that we’re back into a little bit of a rhythm offensively.”

Perhaps shaking up the lineup will help, as well.

Oct. 17 (UPI) — The federal shutdown will last at least a few more days as the Senate expects to hold no votes until Monday. Meanwhile, lawmakers are questioning the legality of how the Trump administration plans to pay the military.

Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota sent senators home for the weekend, so the government will stay closed. The Senate will return at 3 p.m. Monday.

Three Democrats have voted for the Republican bills to reopen the government, but five more are needed to reach the 60 votes needed to pass the stopgap funding bill.

Meanwhile, some Republican senators are questioning the legality of President Donald Trump‘s move to shift Defense Department funds to pay for military paychecks during the shutdown.

They say they’re glad the service members are getting paid, but aren’t sure where the funds are coming from and whether the money shift is legal.

Normally, the White House would need to ask Congress to reappropriate federal funding, then the Appropriations Committee must approve it before moving funds around.

Senators interviewed by The Hill say they aren’t aware of any requests. Trump ordered Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds” to ensure troops got their paychecks.

“That’s a concern of not just appropriators, it seems broader than that,” an unnamed Republican senator told The Hill.

The lawmaker said Republican colleagues have asked the administration for more information about exactly which funds are getting shifted and what legal authority the White House is using to justify its action.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she wants more information from the White House.

“We’ve been given two different explanations. One, is that it’s unobligated balances. One, is that it’s taken from certain research and technology programs. But we don’t have the specifics. We have asked for the specifics,” Collins said.

Alaska’s Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said: “I get that they say for the military pay for this pay period it comes out of … research and development technology [fund] but where? Is that taking it from projects that we have already identified? Maybe something’s really important to me. Where’s it coming from? We haven’t seen that,” she said.

On Wednesday, Trump signed a memo expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent funds to pay service members during the shutdown.

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said Trump’s reallocation of funds was, “probably not legal.” On Face the Nation on Sunday, he said the “White House’s understanding of United States law” was “pretty tentative to say the best.”