In principle, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 3 1/2-game lead over the San Diego Padres within the Nationwide League West appears pretty protected.
There’s solely two weeks left within the season. Other than Monday evening’s sequence finale in Atlanta and a three-game set subsequent week at residence 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 Sequence, proper?
Nicely, you continue to must pitch. And that’s going to be an actual difficulty for this crew 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 turn out to be naked in a rush. With Tyler Glasnow out for the 12 months after once more displaying that he’s fabricated 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 recreation right into a 10-1 rout Saturday evening in Atlanta.
Supervisor Dave Roberts resorted to a clubhouse speech earlier than Sunday evening’s 9-2 win in opposition to the Braves to encourage his crew. A seven-run ninth inning restored order for a night.
“There are particular occasions in a season that it’s an excellent reminder for the fellows to understand how good they’re,” Roberts stated. “However you additionally must play prefer it too… It was good to play an general actually good baseball recreation.”
Loads of Marlins and Rockies the subsequent two weeks would possibly result in extra actually good baseball video games that permit 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 likely to be reserving October tee occasions sooner than they (or the networks) would love.
