We’re now into the last few weeks of the season and the final installment of this three-part series on why you need to start worrying about the Los Angeles Dodgers in the postseason. If you haven’t been following this series, here’s a bit of what we’ve been talking about in each post plus the link to the post.
PART 1:
Every year (other than maybe 2023), we’ve been looking at an improved Dodgers team that fixes every hole and with the Dodgers improving once again this year, will we see a playoff failure? Read more to find out.
PART 2:
Injuries have been so crucial for the Dodgers this year. Especially pitching injuries. Earlier in the year, when LAD lost River Ryan to Tommy John, I wrote an article about the Dodgers being cursed. At the time of my writing this part 2, LAD had an injury scare with Teoscar Hernandez getting hit in the foot. That was the worst thing the Dodgers needed, especially with all the injuries they had already. Read more here.
Dodgers IL/Other Updates:
- Shohei Ohtani is not ruled out to pitch in the postseason. Now don’t get your hopes up, but all Dave Roberts is saying is that it’s not 0 percent.
- Jack Flaherty is probably going to be the ace of this Dodgers rotation heading into the postseason. In his seven starts with the Dodgers, he has five wins and one loss with a 2.61 ERA.
- Tyler Glasnow suffers an elbow setback.
Why It’s Time to Start Worrying About the Dodgers (Part 3)
Part 3-History:
I covered this topic very shortly in part one, but in this article, we’re going to dig deep into just history.
Starting with September 2016 where the Dodgers finished 17-10 in September, and then went to the playoffs where they barely won the series versus the Washington Nationals. NLCS? Choked against the Chicago Cubs. Like always.
In 2017, the Dodgers had a 104 wins in total with 12 wins and 17 losses in September. Guess what happened? They went to the World Series, only to lose to the Houston Astros who cheated. (Hold on to this losing record in September thought.)
Moving on to 2018, the Dodgers went 18-9 in the month of September and then went to the World Series to face the Boston Red Sox. To describe this in a few words, the Red Sox also cheated a little bit in the World Series to take it 4-1 in Game 5.
Now to 2019, the final year before the COVID pandemic. The Dodgers had a winning record once again with 18 wins and 6 losses in September. The Dodgers went to the NLDS and absolutely choked against the Nationals (the eventual World Series champion) to end the year.
To 2020, after so many consecutive years of making the playoffs, the Dodgers finally won the World Series. Even today, people still don’t reward them for this calling this a Mickey Mouse championship. What people don’t know is that winning these kinds of championships is even harder and requires lots of skill and a good team to pull this out.
Now to 2021, where the Dodgers had such a good year. Unfortunately, the Giants won just one game more than them giving them the division crown for the first time in uncountable years. The Dodgers had a record of 19-7 and that led them to the NLCS, where they eventually lost against the Atlanta Braves (eventual World Series champions).
Coming closer to modern times, the 2022 season. The Dodgers went 19-9 in September. It didn’t matter after that as they went 1-3 against the San Diego Padres in the divisional round, losing. With the addition of Freddie Freeman and with Trea Turner still on this team, this was supposed to be the year that the Dodgers win it all and stop the Mickey Mouse World Series win talks. That… Didn’t… Happen.
In 2023, the Dodgers were supposed to take a step back. No one expected them to win the World Series. They lost basically everyone on the pitching side and it showed throughout the season with all the pitching injuries. Still, they won the division with a 16-12 record in September to eventually lose in the divisional round (in a sweep!).
In 2024, the Dodgers have a 5-5 record in September (as of Friday, September 13th), but it’s not going to continue this way. The Dodgers final series’ are the Miami Marlins, Padres, and Colorado Rockies (2x). If all things go my way, the Dodgers should have a winning record in September which is terrible for this team. Let’s make a list of this.
-WINNING RECORD IN SEPTEMBER -> WORLD SERIES (and then loss): 1
-WINNING RECORD IN SEPTEMBER -> NLCS (and then loss): 2
-WINNING RECORD IN SEPTEMBER -> NLDS (and then loss): 3
-LOSING RECORD IN SEPTEMBER -> WORLD SERIES: 1
-WILD CARD BERTHS: 1 (2021)
-WORLD SERIES WINS FROM 2016-2023: 1
-WORLD SERIES APPEARANCES: 2
So, if you’re a Dodgers fan, you should probably pray for either a losing September or a wild card berth because historically speaking, both of these look like viable options for the Dodgers to play some fall ball.
MLB UPDATES:
- The MLB has signed a deal for a helmet ad in the 2024 playoffs. Weird…
- Aaron Judge halts his HR drought with a grand slam.
- Luisangel Acuna is officially an MLB player!!
Main Image: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
