The Los Angeles Dodgers find their once big lead in the NL West dwindling to a two and a half game lead, with both the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks breathing down their necks.

But hear me out – this could be a good thing.

In past seasons, the Dodgers have cruised to an easy divisional victory and then have had to sit around and wait for their part of the playoffs to roll around. Time and again, they fell flat on their faces and failed to advance to the NLCS. (2023 saw them swept right out, but we’ll give them a little bit of a pass because they had all of two-and-a-half pitchers who were healthy.)

This season, the Dodgers have been ravaged by injuries. There are very few players who haven’t done at least a 10-day stint on the IL. Injuries could be advantageous in two ways-

1) While missing players like Max Muncy and Mookie Betts has severely diminished the offense, those players have legs and bodies that are much more rested than if they had played the entire season. I’m sure both are chomping at the bit to get back on the field and help their team.

2) Those injuries have allowed other players to get more playing time. While that hasn’t always been good, someone like Kiké Hernandez to be more prepared for the postseason. It also allows the team to see that the rookies like James Outman and Andy Pages might not be ready for the postseason. On the pitching front, they have a lot of arms to choose from to make the best of the playoff rotation.

Arizona and San Diego are going to be closely tailing the Dodgers for the next six weeks, creating a sense of urgency for the team. That sense of urgency has been something that seemed to be lacking in the last several postseasons.

I’m not sure you’ve heard but ownership spent almost a billion dollars in the offseason to get this team back to the World Series. The pressure is there on multiple fronts. Maybe not being able to cruise to the playoffs is a good thing.

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Injury Updates

Max Muncy and Mookie Betts both should be set to return in the next two weeks. Muncy will be heading to Triple-A Oklahoma City this weekend to begin his rehab assignment. Betts could be heading back soon also, as long as he can grip a bat.

Tommy Edman, acquired at the trade deadline, also will be heading to OKC with Muncy for some rehab starts and if all goes well will finally be joining the team soon.

Brusdar Graterol may be able to return this season. The team initially feared that his hamstring strain was a grade 3, but it is only a grade 1. If all goes well he could be back for the playoffs.

The Dodgers have an off day Thursday before they welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates for a weekend series in Chavez Ravine.