Los Angeles Dodgers fans are in a bit of an awkward situation. They don’t know when the team reacts positively and when they are still mired in their crisis. After sweeping the San Diego Padreson August 17, many analysts said it was the emotional boost they needed to behave like a reigning champion. However, in their next series they could not beat the worst team in MLB: the Colorado Rockies.
For the second consecutive series, the Los Angeles Dodgers have lost. Their executioners were the Padres, who won two games, but did not complement the revenge of sweeping in their stadium, as Dodgers did at home a week ago. After a poor performance against the San Diego Padres in the first two games of the series last weekend, superstar Mookie Betts spoke about the tight division race and what it means for the team.
The advantages of a crisis before the playoffs
The current Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop told his All-Star teammate Will Smith on his Bleacher Report podcast On Base that the high-stakes pressure for the remaining 30 games will actually help the Dodgers in October. “I appreciate this because it forces us to play the whole season. I remember in my first couple of years we won the division weeks before the end of the season, and we ended up getting knocked out a couple of times early on. Now, with the Padres tied with us, it will help us in the long run.”
Betts’ first year with the Dodgers, 2020, ended with the World Series trophy, but the next three seasons were characterized by great regular-season success, but without the October trophy to match. In 2021, the San Francisco Giants won the National League West Division, even though Los Angeles won 106 games in the regular season. The Dodgers fought hard but were defeated by the Atlanta Braves, on that occasion led by Freddie Freeman.
The playoffs are getting complicated for the Los Angeles Dodgers
The 2022 season was more of the same, this time regaining the National League West title with 111 wins, but the excitement ended early when San Diego defeated the Dodgers in the National League Division Series. The following year, they earned 100 wins and took home another division title, but were defeated by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS. In 2024, they broke that losing streak and won the World Series against the New York Yankees in five games.
Betts is certainly right in that, at least when he has been on the team, the more intense divisional battles towards the end of the regular season can make it ignite a fire in his team, but that fire is not found in the Dodgers. With about five weeks to go until October, major changes are needed in the team’s mindset and hopefully get them back to the top spot in the division.
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