Dodgers Approaching Key Part of Schedule

The Dodgers have squandered some opportunities recently and still find themselves a game back in the West. This coming week could be huge for them.

The Dodgers have done a fantastic job making up ground since Clayton Kershaw‘s injury and are right in the thick of the NL West race. They have a nice grasp on the first Wild Card spot at the moment, but there’s still plenty of season remaining. After this week, there will still be plenty of season remaining, and with nine games against the Giants left on the schedule, anything can happen. However, this week should be an opportunity for the Dodgers to take over first place and hopefully not look back.

Dodgers’ Schedule

The Dodgers kick off a three-game series in Philly tomorrow, after which they will travel to Cincinnati for four games with a getaway game on Monday. I would be stupid to assume the rotation will remain constant, but I’m going to do just that. Kenta Maeda, Scott Kazmir and Bud Norris are expected to throw in Philly. Cincinnati is a lot less predictable, but I would guess it’ll be Maeda and Kazmir to close out the series. Brett Anderson‘s wrist could throw the rotation off, but Ross Stripling and Julio Urias are probably the two most-likely candidates (along with Brock Stewart and Jose De Leon) for the first two games of the series.

The Dodgers just saw the Phillies last week and took two of three, but the Phillies won the finale. They carried that momentum to Colorado, where they swept the Rockies. They’re tied with the Red Sox for the longest active win streak, so while the Dodgers should be able to handle them, it won’t be a slam dunk.

On the other hand, the Reds are bad. At 48-68, they’re 25 games behind the Cubs and proud owners of the fifth-worst winning percentage in the majors. They just took two of three in Milwaukee, but after getting rid of Jay Bruce, their lineup is a lot less intimidating. Joey Votto is still a top-caliber first baseman and Adam Duvall is a dinger machine, but despite playing primarily in a hitter-friendly park, the Reds don’t rank in the top-20 in any team offensive stat. Their offense is their strength, as their pitching is somehow worse.

Baseball is stupid and illogical, so any team can beat any team. However, this is a prime opportunity for the Dodgers to grab a sweep or two and put a lot of pressure on the Giants.

Giants’ Schedule

I generally hate scoreboard watching, but it’s been fun of late. The Giants are playing terrible baseball, and they just lost a game after leading 7-1 in the sixth and 7-5 with two outs in the ninth. Baseball is awesome sometimes.

While the Dodgers are on the road against a pair of bad teams, the Giants host two disappointing teams that are still sort of in playoff contention. The Giants kick off a three-game set against the Pirates today, and follow that up with a four-game weekend set with the New York Mets.

In an optimistic view**, the schedule Gods worked out in the Dodgers’ favor. The Giants sent Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto to the mound on Saturday and Sunday, so during this tough stretch, each pitcher will only make one start. Bumgarner will be up against Jacob deGrom, and Cueto will be up against Steven Matz, so the advantage isn’t even too much on the Giants’ side.

The Giants are 9-18 since the All-Star break. The Dodgers have made up ground, but haven’t been able to take a division lead. If the two teams keep playing as they have been in the second half, this week should be a good chance for that to change.

Next Week (not great, Bob)

The reason I’m writing this article is because of what is on the horizon for the Dodgers. This week is very kind to the Dodgers and they need to take advantage of that. Next week is a week straight from hell.

The Dodgers will be at home from August 23rd to the 28th. That’s nice. However, the first three of those games come against the Giants, and the final three come against the Cubs.

**In the pessimistic view, the schedule Gods really screwed the Dodgers over. While MadBum and Cueto will only pitch once in this tough stretch for the Giants, they’re each on track to throw against the Dodgers. The Dodgers have struggled against lefties all season and Bumgarner has been on the short list of the toughest lefty starters in baseball this season. Cueto had a nightmarish first start against the Dodgers this season, but has allowed three runs in 15.1 innings in his other two starts against the Dodgers. Rich Hill might be back, but without Kershaw the Dodgers don’t have anyone that can match up with either Giant pitcher. Their offense has been shut down by worse pitchers than Maeda/McCarthy/Anderson/Kazmir/Stripling, but that’s going to be a tough series.

After that, they will face the Cubs, who recently won 12 straight baseball games. They’ve lost their last two, so they are beatable. This Dodger team is fully capable of beating anyone on any given day, but that’s not a series I’m feeling too great about.

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Ideally, the Dodgers will have a nice division lead heading into this hell week. If they don’t, this week could push the Dodgers back to a seemingly large deficit in the West and could put that much more pressure on them as they head into September. It could also test the patience of fans, who are freaking out about a team that’s in the drivers’ seat for the Wild Card and only a game out of the division lead. I shudder to think about the reaction if the Dodgers fall 4/5 games back in the next two weeks.

Basically, just win dummies.