Dodgers: It is Officially Time to Hit the Panic button

SOUND THE ALARM! It is time for Dodgers fans to hit the panic button. Don’t just push it, start pounding it as hard as you possibly can. The boys in blue have lost 12 of their 15 games and four consecutive series.

Fans in Los Angeles have enjoyed a historic run thus far, but that momentum the Dodgers once had has hit a brick wall. Nobody knows what has happened to this team, but fans are beginning to worry, and for a good reason. It’s not just the losses because a stretch of losses is typical in the grind of the MLB regular season, it is the way this team is losing the games.

The offense has looked dead and off-beat. The starting pitching has been inconsistent. The bullpen has been overworked during this stretch and is progressively getting worse. This is not the team that we have seen all year long which begs the question; who are they and what have they done with the real Dodgers.

Not even Clayton Kershaw was able to put us back on track. After his dominant outing in San Diego, the Dodgers reverted to their God awful play losing six consecutive games which included two losses in one day to the Padres and getting swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks, giving the D-backs the opportunity to jump from 21 games back to just 10.

So what is going wrong with this team? Well, darn near everything. Both the pitching and offensive have looked bad. Even if one shows up, the other side plays so bad that the Dodgers still manage to lose. The offense is not picking up the pitching if a pitcher has a bad outing and vice versa. The Dodgers have been hard to watch and have fans screaming at their TV’s.

So why should you panic? Easy, Corey Seager’s health. He has been sidelined for most of this losing streak. The Dodgers have brushed his injury under the carpet for now, but still are reluctant to let him throw a baseball. The OC Register has even stated that Seager may need surgery this off-season to help his recovery.

The surgery would be minor, but it means that he will not be fully healthy until he gets the surgery. What does that mean for the Dodgers? That means they are in trouble if this injury hinders Seager in the postseason. This team is bad when Seager is playing bad or for that matter, when he is not even on the field. So it is important that Seager returns with enough time to get his groove back for the playoffs.

Many people credit the Dodgers success to Cody Bellinger coming up and completely changing the dynamic of this team. Yes, Bellinger has done so much to help this team but Seager is more important, and that has been proven during this stretch. Seager is not as flashy as Bellinger, but he is more consistent and is the most valuable player on this team.

Seager’s health should have Dodger fans panicking, but if that doesn’t do the trick, I sure know what will. The scariest name that a Dodger fan can hear. PEDRO BAEZ! A quick welcome back to his old self after it looked like he turned the corner during the begging of the season. He has been absolutely horrific in the second-half.

Now that the daily slander of Baez is out of the way, it is time to address something else. The tough stretch that is going to come up. The next ten games are not going to be any easier, in fact, this time should be tougher than this last stretch of the D-backs twice, Brewers and Padres. The Dodgers are going up against a Rockies team that is fighting for their playoff lives.

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These games are crucial for Colorado as they try and make the playoffs. Following this four-game series against the Rockies, the Dodgers travel to San Francisco. Trust me; I am aware of how bad the Giants are this season. Despite how bad the Giants might be, AT&T Park is always a tough place to play, and the Dodgers always seem to struggle up north.

An east coast trip follows that series. The Dodgers will be playing the Washington Nationals, the second best team in the NL this season, and depending on what LA does before heading east, this series could be a very nerve racking one because they are just seven games back of the Dodgers for home-field advantage. The Nationals could be in a position to give the Dodgers a run for their money.

If the Nationals manage to perform well and the Dodgers still haven’t figured it out, that could spell trouble. Let us also not forget how scorching hot Arizona has been. The Dodgers are currently setting themselves up for one of the biggest collapses in MLB history. Home-field could be gone, and if that goes, that means the D-Backs jumping us for the division is not that far behind.

Home-field is crucial this season as Los Angeles is a significantly better team when playing at Chavez Ravine. But even more important would be staying out of that dreaded wild-card game. The Dodgers are playing with fire and need to be careful, or they could be in trouble come October.

Next: Seager's Impact on Lineup

This stretch has been ugly, to say the least, and it is time to panic because even if the team figures it out in October, it can be a struggle if they allow the Nats and/or D-backs to jump them. Couple that with the uncertainty of Seager’s health and you have trouble brewing.