The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the 2025 season with some of the highest expectations in franchise history, but with less than one month remaining, they have not lived up to the hype.
The Dodgers got off to a strong start on the season, but have gone just 26-32 since the beginning of July. That has taken their previous-high nine-game lead in the National League West to just one game, and they now find themselves in position to start a playoff run in the Wild Card Series.
In their poor stretch, they’ve dealt with both injuries and players just flat out underperforming. They’ve also seemingly found new ways to lose each night, which was capped off by a walk-off loss in a game where Yoshinobu Yamamoto provided them with 8.2 no-hit innings.
The Dodgers have not been shy about owning up to their struggles, with multiple players and manager Dave Roberts calling on the team to improve.
But Mookie Betts has taken an optimistic view and believes challenges throughout the year help make the team battle-tested, and that should be beneficial for the postseason, he said on SportsNet LA:
“It’s been rough, but that’s kind of been the story of the season. I think that’s going to help us later on. Of course, we’ve got to keep playing so we can make it to October first. And then I think these battles will help us in that time.”
The Dodgers were in a battle for the NL West with the San Diego Padres last year until the final week of the regular season. They also dealt with dozens of injuries that severely impacted much of the roster in what became one of their most difficult regular seasons in recent memory.
Still, the Dodgers were able to prevail and went through the grind of the playoffs to become World Series champions.
The Dodgers could find themselves doing similar this season. While the road will be difficult, they have all the talent needed to make a deep run in October.
It still comes down to their offense figuring things out and finding stability in the bullpen, but with the rotation the Dodgers have, that’s as good of a starting point as any team heading into the playoffs.
Miguel Rojas embarrassed and frustrated with Dodgers
The Dodgers are 3-7 in their last 10 games, and it’s led to frustrations all around. Miguel Rojas, who is one of the leaders in the clubhouse, added that the team has been both embarrassed and frustrated for a while
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