In principle, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 3 1/2-game lead over the San Diego Padres within the Nationwide League West appears pretty secure.
There’s solely two weeks left within the season. Except for Monday night time’s collection finale in Atlanta and a three-game set subsequent week at house with San Diego, Los Angeles will get to dine on the Nationwide League’s dregs for the season’s the rest.
Three video games in Miami and 6 video games with Colorado not solely ought to pave the Dodgers’ path to their twelfth NL West title in 13 years, but in addition might assist them get home-field benefit all through the NL playoffs.
With that glittering multi-zillion greenback high of the lineup of Ohtani, Betts and Freeman, Los Angeles ought to cruise to the World Collection, proper?
Effectively, you continue to should pitch. And that’s going to be an actual subject for this group in October, until Jack Flaherty has the postseason of a lifetime and Japanese rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto is wholesome sufficient to again him up as a No. 2 starter.
Past that, the choices change into naked in a rush. With Tyler Glasnow out for the yr after once more displaying that he’s made from porcelain, what’s left? Clayton Kershaw, who’s on the finish of the road of a Corridor of Fame profession and breaks down a bit extra each time he’s on the market? Walker Buehler, who abruptly can’t command his pitches?
And the bullpen has been no higher of late. Simply this week, it melted down in two losses to the Chicago Cubs after which turned a aggressive sport right into a 10-1 rout Saturday night time in Atlanta.
Supervisor Dave Roberts resorted to a clubhouse speech earlier than Sunday night time’s 9-2 win towards the Braves to encourage his group. A seven-run ninth inning restored order for a night.
“There are specific occasions in a season that it’s a superb reminder for the blokes to know the way good they’re,” Roberts mentioned. “However you additionally should play prefer it too… It was good to play an total actually good baseball sport.”
Quite a lot of Marlins and Rockies the subsequent two weeks would possibly result in extra actually good baseball video games that enable Los Angeles to earn a first-round bye. However how will it get 27 outs to win 11 postseason video games when it achieved that simply as soon as within the final two years with more healthy pitching staffs?
Except the reply is the return of Sandy Koufax in his prime or the 1988 model of Orel Hershiser, the Dodgers is perhaps reserving October tee occasions sooner than they (or the networks) would really like.
