The Los Angeles Dodgers have arguably the two best starting pitchers in the National League. After that, they have a lot of troubling questions.
Here’s the biggest one: Is this team good enough to call itself a legitimate contender?
The answer seems like an obvious “yes,” considering the Dodgers entered play Sunday in first place in the National League West at 67-55.
Lately, though, Los Angeles has looked anything but dominant.
After a dispiriting 3-2 extra-innings loss to the Houston Astros on Sunday, the Dodgers have now lost five straight.
The bullpen, which sports the third-worst ERA in the National League, deserves a healthy dollop of blame. But there are other reasons to fret.
Like, say, the fact that Los Angeles has scored the fewest runs of any team in its division since the All-Star break and, indeed, fewer runs than every NL club except the Atlanta Braves.
No player embodies the Dodgers’ second-half struggles better than Joc Pederson. A homer-crushing NL Rookie of the Year contender in the early going, Pederson has hit just .163 with an anemic .293 slugging percentage since appearing in his first Midsummer Classic.
Add veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who hit leadoff Sunday despite a .223 average and .275 OBP, and you have a pair of black holes in the lineup.
Yes, Zack Greinke is compiling a strong Cy Young Award case, and Clayton Kershaw has returned to vintage form after some initial hiccups.
That might be enough to propel the Dodgers to the postseason. The San Francisco Giants—who sit one game back in the West, pending the outcome of Sunday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates—have been treading water through an arduous August schedule. And the Giants have pressing questions of their own, including a wobbly back end of the rotation and injuries to key offensive cogs Hunter Pence (oblique) and Joe Panik (back).
The two teams will meet for three games beginning Aug. 31 and for a four-game set in late September. Those head-to-head matchups may decide which of these storied rivals plays on into October, especially with the Chicago Cubs holding a healthy edge for the second wild-card spot.
That’s the harsh reality for Los Angeles. Yes, if the season ended today, the Dodgers would be off to the division series as the NL West champs. But if the Giants—or, more improbably, the lurking Arizona Diamondbacks—pass them up, they could miss the postseason entirely.
That would count as a massive letdown for baseball’s biggest spenders, who have won two straight division crowns and advanced to the National League Championship Series in 2013.
Along with the Washington Nationals in the NL East, the Dodgers entered 2015 looking like one of the few sure bets in baseball. Now, like the Nats, their season is teetering on the brink.
Is it time to mash the panic button in Southern California? Yes, according to Kershaw, per ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon:
I hope we’re panicking a little bit. I think panic’s a good thing to a certain extent. It’s August whatever-it-is, and we’ve got five weeks or whatever it is, too. There needs to be a sense of urgency. Maybe that’s better to say it than panic, but I feel like we’ve got to start playing like that.
Obviously, that’s the reigning NL MVP trying to fire up the troops, and good for him. Somebody has to do it—why not the man with the bulging trophy case and deadly left arm?
As Saxon spelled out, beyond the numbers, Los Angeles has looked mediocre, bordering on lackadaisical:
The Dodgers continued their plodding ways, waiting for home runs that never arrive. They did add a dose of aggression, focus and effort to their base running when they traded for Chase Utley. He scored one of the Dodgers’ only runs [Sunday], legging out a double, advancing on a wild pitch and scoring on a sacrifice fly. Sometimes, it feels like the Dodgers go a month without manufacturing a run.
Some of the blame must fall on manager Don Mattingly. And, indeed, Bleacher Report’s Karl Buscheck recently named Donnie Ballgame one of the MLB skippers whose posteriors could soon be in the hot seat.
A manager, however, can only work with the talent he has. And right now, despite a payroll that hovers around $300 million, the Dodgers’ talent isn’t producing.
“Every team goes through stretches where they’re just not hitting, not pitching,” Rollins said after Saturday’s defeat, per Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
Here’s something else Rollins told Hernandez: “The season’s not over.”
That’s true, and the Dodgers should be glad it isn’t. Because, while they’d slip into the postseason if the season did end Sunday, they wouldn’t last long playing like this.
All statistics and standings current as of Aug. 23 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.
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