Tarik Skubal is a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. But the Dodgers are reeling.
Following a 7-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, the Dodgers have now lost six consecutive games. They also lost Skubal’s debut in Dodger blue on Tuesday night and are going through the team’s longest losing streak of the season.
Furthermore, the Dodgers (69-46) have lost 15 of their last 25 games and have been knocked off the pedestal by the Milwaukee Brewers (70-43) for the best record in both the National League and MLB altogether.
What gives?
Colin Cowherd, for one, thinks this dry spell is exposing the Dodgers as a flawed club.
“Stop staring at the paint job. Look under the hood: the Dodgers are a mess,” Cowherd asserted on Wednesday’s edition of “The Herd.” “The Skubal acquisition was much more life-raft than adding a helipad to the yacht. … The Dodgers have bullpen issues and age issues.”
As for some of the struggling bats, star shortstop Mookie Betts is having arguably the worst offensive year of his MLB career. He entered the team’s Wednesday afternoon game against the Cubs with a .223/.280/.390 slash line.
Right fielder Kyle Tucker, who the Dodgers signed to a four-year, $240 million deal in the offseason, entered Wednesday with a career-low in batting average (.243), slugging percentage (.381) and OPS+ (101); center fielder Andy Pages — who blasted 10 home runs, drove in 39 runs and boasted a .304/.357/.530 slash line over his first 46 games this season — entered the day with a .245/.318/.405 slash line over his last 67 games.
Over the last 30 days, the Dodgers are 20th in MLB in runs (93), tied for 21st in on-base percentage (.306), tied for 17th in home runs (26), tied for 15th in slugging percentage (.399) and 12th outright in hits (196)
Meanwhile, on the rotation front, left-hander Blake Snell has made one start this season due to shoulder and elbow injuries; right-hander Tyler Glasnow has been limited to seven starts due to a back injury; second-year starter Roki Sasaki has struggled to turn a corner, finding difficulty in finishing off hitters and sporting a 4.64 ERA and an 89 ERA+.
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In the bullpen, closer Edwin Díaz, whom the Dodgers signed to a three-year, $69 million deal in the offseason, recently returned from a roughly three-month absence due to elbow surgery; as a collective, Los Angeles is 16th in the sport in bullpen ERA (4.08) and has blown 16 save opportunities.
“This team is winning on the margins the last two years, and now they’re broken,” Cowherd said.
As for their championship success in recent memory, the Dodgers were just the third seed in the NL playoffs last season). They trailed the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 in the World Series and 3-1 in the eighth inning of Game Seven before pulling off the series comeback.
Still, Los Angeles is seeking to become the first MLB team to three-peat as World Series champions since the New York Yankees did so from 1998-2000.
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