He Dodgers They have yet to get a boost from their five trade deadline acquisitions.
During the last two months of the season, they will need reinforcements more urgently than they imagined.
After an 8-1 loss to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night, in which Michael Kopech He became the first, and to this point only, new Dodger to make his debut with the team: the Dodgers suddenly find themselves in a compelling division race.
Leading by as many as nine games in the NL West last month, the Dodgers’ two-game sweep at the hands of the red-hot Padres this week leaves them just 4 ½ games up in the standings entering August, the Dodgers’ narrowest lead in the division since May 4.
Getting here required a calamity of mistakes, misfortunes and general mediocrity by the Dodgers throughout a porous July, posting a losing record in a full month (11-13) for the first time since April 2018.
Through July, the team ranked 19th in the majors in total runs (and averaged 4.3 per game) and a lowly 27th in staff ERA (5.36). The continued absences of Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Max Muncy didn’t help (Freddie Freeman also missed the final five games while on the family emergency list). A leaky bullpen late in games and a lack of consistent starting pitching were also recurring problems.
While the Dodgers have been struggling, the Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks have been looming ever larger in the rearview mirror. The Padres have won nine of their last 10 games, regaining a four-game lead over the Dodgers in the past eight days alone. The Diamondbacks have been even hotter, going an MLB-best 17-8 in July to sit just 5 ½ games out of third place.
The Dodgers remain the favorites to win the division, entering Wednesday with an 83 percent chance of finishing in first place, according to Fangraphs’ computer models.
But their margin for error is rapidly evaporating, underscoring the need for roster changes.
Help should arrive when the team resumes play this weekend in Oakland. Jack Flaherty, the centerpiece of the roster of hitters the team gained at the deadline, is set to make his debut with the team on Saturday. New utility player Amed Rosario and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier should also be with the club by then (neither arrived in time for this week’s series at Petco Park).
Only Tommy Edman, another utility player, will have to wait for his debut as he continues to rehab a high ankle sprain that, combined with off-season wrist surgery, has kept him sidelined all year.
Still, it remains to be seen how exactly all the new pieces will fit together.
While the Dodgers have plenty of defensive versatility, none of their three new hitters has an OPS+ above league average for their careers (only Rosario, who was hitting .307 with the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this season, has one this season).
Even with Kopech, who struck out all three batters in the fifth inning Wednesday while flashing 100 mph velocity, the hierarchy of a declining bullpen remains unresolved.
And not even Flaherty’s arrival will solve all the questions facing an injury-ravaged starting rotation, one that suffered one of By Clayton Kershaw The worst career starts.
In his second start back from offseason shoulder surgery, Kershaw allowed seven runs (three earned) in just 3 ⅔ innings. He gave up six hits. He walked one and committed a defensive error that allowed a run to score. Most strikingly, he failed to strike out anyone for the first time in his 424 career regular-season starts.
As bad as his stats were, the disappointing nature of Kershaw’s material might have been an even bigger cause for alarm.
The left-hander averaged less than 90 mph with his fastball, a rapid decline from his season debut last week. Of their 41 swings against him, the Padres missed just twice, unfazed by Kershaw’s signature slider and curveball.
It was the kind of night that will rekindle doubts about Kershaw’s ability to be considered an integral member of the rotation the rest of the year (or as a potential postseason starter).
And that left another question that the team’s next wave of reinforcements might be better equipped to answer.
Read more: Hernandez: Even with Jack Flaherty, the Dodgers still have major problems
In addition to the Dodgers’ five deadline additions, the team has numerous injured players nearing recovery.
Betts (broken hand) has begun batting practice in recent days, according to Roberts, and could rejoin the club in a matter of weeks.
Yamamoto (strained rotator cuff) is scheduled to throw his first bullpen session Friday, which would put him on track to return in about a month.
Muncy (oblique strain) finally had a “breakthrough” this week, as Roberts described it, thanks to a recent “chiropractic adjustment” that has gotten his body “back in line.” He is expected to resume swinging on Thursday.
A regiment of relievers is also recovering, with Michael Grove, Brusdar Graterol and Ryan Brasier continuing their rehab assignments in the minor leagues (Grove is the furthest along and could be back for next week’s home series).
Given the Dodgers’ suddenly precarious position in the standings, each potential addition could be crucial down the stretch.
For a team that once seemed to be sailing smoothly into October, it will now need all the help it can get just to stay atop the standings.
Ryan stays; Wrobleski is elected
In order to add Flaherty to the active roster on Wednesday, the Dodgers had to make a decision at the bottom of their rotation.
River Ryan or Justin Wrobleski?
The Dodgers selected Ryan, keeping the hard-throwing right-hander in place of his fellow rookie. While Ryan will make his third career start in Oakland on Sunday, Wrobleski was moved to the starting pitcher spot after posting a 4.05 ERA in his first four career starts.
“It was tough,” Roberts said of the decision. “I think we just wanted to see a little bit more of River. But Justin did a fantastic job and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back here at some point.”
Buehler, Miller updates
Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller are also options to rejoin the Dodgers’ rotation in the coming weeks, but not before each makes at least one more start for Triple-A Oklahoma City the next two nights.
Buehler (on the disabled list with a hip injury) is expected to pitch Thursday, while Miller (demoted before the All-Star break after struggling in his return from a shoulder injury) is scheduled to pitch Friday.
Both pitchers have struggled during their time in Oklahoma City of late. And on Wednesday, Roberts was asked if the club would consider moving either of them to the bullpen.
“The honest answer is we just want these guys to get back to performing well and having success,” Roberts said. “Once we get to that point, we can have a conversation. But I think we’re still a long way from that conversation.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
