We’re going to explore every reason the Los Angeles Dodgers are destined for doom this postseason in a three-part series.
September has arrived which means there’s only one month till… doom.
Everything proves that things are going to start going the wrong way in October, just like it always has been these last few seasons. Let’s check that out and more!
Dodgers IL/Other Updates:
- Clayton Kershaw is heading to the 15-day IL. Is it over for Kershaw?
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto is coming back to the rotation. He will start against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
- Tyler Glasnow should be back before the postseason.
Why It’s Time to Start Worrying About the Dodgers
Reason 1: The Dodgers Have Gotten Better
Normally that would be the best for a team that doesn’t have success. For the Dodgers, every time they get better, they do worse. Starting with the 2021 Dodgers. This is a team that had Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Trevor Bauer, Albert Pujols, and Corey Seager. This is an absolute dream team. Looking back at this team, do you believe they didn’t win the division? Do you believe that they didn’t win the World Series? Everything I said there is true.
This is what happened.
The Dodgers played the Cardinals. Chris Taylor came in clutch and they won 3-1. They went on to play the Giants who they beat 3-2. NLCS time versus the Braves. Atlanta took a 2-0 lead, and then the Dodgers made it 2-1. To 3-1 it went and 3-2 too. Game six ended the Dodgers season with Atlanta winning 4-2.
In 2022, they lost Scherzer, Seager, and Bauer, but they acquired a great in Freddie Freeman who was coming off a championship run and they got Tyler Anderson in free agency who cooked for the Dodgers. So, the Dodgers got better even though they lost Seager in free agency.
The Dodgers being the Dodgers, go into the 2022 postseason winning the division (better than 2021 when they finished second). They face the Padres who have a pretty good team with Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Josh Hader, Eric Hosmer, Jake Cronenworth, and Josh Bell. Still, this Dodgers team was supposed to win this and get to the World Series. I mean the amount of stars the Dodgers had on that team made this series something no one was interested in especially after the Dodgers took Game one. Instead, the Dodgers went ahead and choked away a wonderful chance at a World Series and that was that.
In 2023, the Dodgers took a step back. Even with the number of star players on the market in free agency, they didn’t make any huge acquisitions in the offseason. I mean, think about Aaron Judge heading over to LA. Of course, they were saving money for obvious reasons. To get Shohei Ohtani. The Padres took advantage of this stale offseason from the Dodgers by signing Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million contract. That’s about 25-26 million dollars a year! Was he worth it? Absolutely. He hit a .285 and had 170 hits in 155 games. But, Bogaerts wasn’t the only one on this Padres team. Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Blake Snell were all on this Padres team, basically telling the MLB world that this is the season the Dodgers will be overthrown.
Except, we saw the exact opposite.
The Dodgers finished the season 100-62, third place in the MLB. Meanwhile, the Padres didn’t even make the playoffs with the super team they had. Finishing in front of them was not the Giants, but the Diamondbacks with rookie Corbin Carroll. Arizona won in the Wild Card Round to face the Dodgers in the divisional. The D-Backs didn’t even budge for a second. They went ahead and swept the Dodgers and that was all. three straight 100-win seasons. three straight playoff series losses.
2021 and 2022 were two great years, but my god 2024 is a way better year. Ohtani is making history, Teoscar Hernandez literally won the HR Derby, and the pitching staff isn’t ruined like last year. 2024 may not beat the 111 wins the Dodgers put up two years ago, but the play is certainly better. Teams are scared to play the Dodgers with so much star power.
Other MLB Updates:
- Matt Chapman is going to be in the NL West for another six years after signing an extension with the Giants.
Main Image: Allan Henry-Imagn Images
