It is now really getting into crunch time as we enter the final weeks of the season. The Dodgers have dropped two consecutive one-run games to the St. Louis Cardinals before their return trip home.
The two teams split a four-game series in St. Louis, and they both are in playoff races of their own. The Dodgers now stand 2 ½ games back of the Giants in the NL West and they will have to play with a sense of urgency soon.
As we all know, the Giants and Dodgers will not meet anymore, so the Dodgers will hope the Giants can lose as many games as possible along the way.
After going 3-4, on the road trip, the Dodgers now return home for a six-game homestand beginning with three against the San Diego Padres, followed by three against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers will have to win both these series to keep pace going into the final weeks.
While there’s no question the Dodgers will be in the postseason, the question is whether they will be in the Wild Card game or the No. 1 National League seed.
What is really concerning is I can totally envision the offense being flat in a Wild Card game, which is significant in a game where the loser goes home. The pitching will be solid, we can count on that, but the offense may really need to step up.
Currently, the two NL wildcard spots are held by the Dodgers and the Padres.
The Dodgers are ahead of the Padres by 13 games, while the Padres are ahead of the Reds by one game for the second wild card. The Cardinals are three games back, and the Phillies are three and a half games back.
Pitching matchups have been set for this weekend. The Dodgers will send out their best three, and hopefully will not have another bullpen game this weekend. However, Clayton Kershaw should hopefully be on his way back soon, while Tony Gonsolin also gets into the groove of things as well.
In other pitching news, it was also confirmed that Trevor Bauer will not return in 2021, which was pretty much a given.
Friday, Julio Urias will pitch, leading the league in wins with 16, Saturday, Walker Buehler will start and Sunday will be Max Scherzer, who now leads the league with the lowest ERA of 2.28.
The Padres will send Joe Musgrove, Chris Paddack, and Blake Snell over the weekend to the mound, so surely there will be some great pitching matchups at the Ravine.
Hopefully, the Los Angeles offense will ignite this weekend. The games between these two teams have been great this season so far. Currently, the Padres lead the season series 7-6. However, in the most recent series, the Dodgers swept the Padres in San Diego.
The first pitch for Friday’s opener is scheduled at 7:10 p.m. Pacific.
If the Dodgers continue to have the idiotic lineup with Bellinger & McKinney in it they will probably lose. Why does the Dodger management allow Roberts to have a lineup that has sometimes 3 players below the Mendoza line and one below what is now his own line of futility the Bellinger line! Bellinger is 0 for 24? 28 ? I have lost track. How many rallies does he kill how many one-run losses do the Dodger suffer before they bring up somebody that can make contact? Not talking about actual hits just put the ball in play to move a runner….
Baseball is a game that is all about hitting the BALL. If you cannot do that you should not be playing professional baseball.
Whatever happens between now and the end of the World Series, I would really like to see AF add a couple of hitters this winter who are basically bat to ball specialists. Those are the kinds of hitters who are far less likely to go into prolonged slumps. Find me some guys who hardly ever strike out and put them into the lineup on a regular basis. Then add some aggressive base stealing by Trea and Mookie (next year hopefully his hip will allow it), and while we’re at it, try to convince Cody that his baseball career is in jeopardy if he doesn’t approach his at bats in a totally revamped way.
Giants were losing 1-0 to the Cubs when I checked earlier. They now lead 5-1. We have a better team than they do. They get better results. Last I checked results are what counts.
An Incredibly talented team that does not act as a team is the manager’s and coach’s fault. The Dodgers have had one of the most expensive and talented teams in the last 6-7 years. They have won the WS once.
Roberts wants everyone Happy. A good manager wants to win and understands how to demand the players play as a team. Roberts allows guys to swing from their heels and not bother to move the runner over or sacrifice a guy from 3rd. What would a great manager say about that? What would Lasorda say to a player that consistently did that? That type of individual play creates a group of guys in it for themselves that is not a winning team. The Clippers had immense talent the last couple of years but the coaches treated the elite players differently they were not a cohesive team so they lost. Same with the Dodgers they have by far the most talented group of players but they are not playing as a cohesive team.
How can you have players averaging 160 and below in your lineup with a pennant on the line? Bellinger, McKinney, Souza really that’s the best you got?
Baseball is a game that ya gotta hit the Ball….
Not sure about an incredibly talented team but rather some very talented players on the team. I guess that was your point. After many years of post season you have to ask why no world series, or only one if you are inclined to count last year. Things have never worked quite right for this team. Bad luck doesn’t just happen because you are unlucky.