The Los Angeles Dodgers remain the favorites to win their third consecutive World Series this coming October. They have arguably the best team in Major League Baseball on paper and still have command in the National League West.
However, they just had a seven-game losing streak, and though they snapped that on Saturday night, they fell back into the loss column on Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers are going to be incredibly hard to stop in the postseason, but they do need to turn things around a little bit if they want to enter October with some momentum.
On Foul Territory, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic gave a strong take on their postseason outlook that could change the way people see the defending champions.
“Some of their players are older, we know that they’re not performing right now as they should,” Rosenthal said. “It’s going to be interesting to see whether they can kick it up again in October. This is what they’ve done the last few years. We’ll see what the Dodgers are. I fully expect them of course to be in the playoffs. Do I expect them to rampage through and win their third World Series in a row? I don’t know if I necessarily expect that.
“I don’t know if I necessarily expect them to rampage through the playoffs,” says @Ken_Rosenthal.
Ken Rosenthal Gives Blunt Take on Los Angeles Dodgers’ Playoff Outlook
The Dodgers were ultimately the third seed in the National League last October and were forced to play the Wild Card series against the Cincinnati Reds. To no one’s surprise, the Dodgers took out the Reds in just two games.
They cruised through the next two rounds but had to rally from a 3-2 deficit in the World Series to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays. In fact, they were two outs away from losing Game 7.
So, while the Dodgers reign supreme, they did show last October that they are not completely invincible and can be challenged for a World Series title. The Blue Jays likely won’t be the team to do that this year, but they’ll face competition from other teams in the National League, two of which actually have better records than them at the moment.
If the playoffs began today, the Dodgers would be forced to play the Wild Card series, which creates extra work for a postseason team in terms of how many games they must win to earn a championship.
That wasn’t a problem for them last October, but as they try for their third consecutive championship, there are things that could be standing in the way as the rest of the season goes on.
Who Can Stop the Los Angeles Dodgers?
Of the teams that can stop Los Angeles, the best equipped to do so is probably the Milwaukee Brewers, who have the best record in Major League Baseball. They have elite starting pitching that could challenge Los Angeles in the playoffs.
The Atlanta Braves are another team that could potentially stop them as the postseason draws near. They would be the second seed in the NL if the regular season ended today. They have a strong offense that is leading the way and some solid arms on their pitching staff.
Dodgers Get Strong Postseason Take From Ken Rosenthal After Latest Slide