Dodgers: 3 red-hot LAD players who will make or break NL West chase

2. Will Smith

You know how Yankees fans always say it’s impossible to find a catcher better than Gary Sánchez, even when Sánchez underwhelms?

The Dodgers are stone-cold giggling at that notion.

They have one in the minors in Diego Cartaya. They had one in the high minors in Keibert Ruiz. And, installed as their starter, they have Will Smith, who’s en route to becoming the gold standard at the position, and has been playing some of his best baseball lately.

Smith’s second half has featured a remarkable 1.053 OPS (!!!), along with 15 homers and 40 RBI. In the past 28 days alone, the catcher (remember, this is a catcher) has been good for a .339 average, seven bombs, and a 1.182 OPS in 18 games started.

Of all the teams praying for a universal DH to enter the National League next season, the Dodgers are definitely among the forgotten — after all, do they really need more offense? I don’t know. You tell me. Did they need Scherzer and Trea Turner at the deadline? The answer turned out to be yes.

On days when Austin Barnes starts to give Smith a breather, having his elite bat available regardless could be a game-changer. He’ll have to play more often than not down the stretch to give the Dodgers a fighting chance, and he’s certainly been delivering for the better part of a month now at the level of one of the game’s elite sluggers.

1. Mookie Betts

Speaking of delivering at an elite level!

Mookie Betts, having an injury-plagued “disappointing” year, is currently walking around shedding flames after racking up 4.6 WAR. Good player!

In the second half, while battling injury concerns, Markus Lynn Betts has hit .330 with a .412 OBP and 1.019 OPS in 28 starts, and in his most recent 11-start stretch, he’s triple-slashed .356/.423/.556. In case you wrote off his contributions and balked at the aging curve in the first half (shame on you, weirdos), he’s looked like an MVP over the season’s final months — and just in time, too, considering the Dodgers are in an historic dogfight.

It goes without saying, but when the lights are brightest, stars need to be stars. The one differentiator, as the Giants have remained steadfastly in front all year long, has been the relative youth and vibrancy of the Dodgers’ star power when compared to what San Francisco is working with.

SF’s braintrust — and all the credit in the world to them — have mined the depths and squeezed as much juice as possible out of unheralded names, rotation bounce-backs, and aging stars like Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt.

Luckily for the Dodgers, Betts doesn’t need the fountain of youth, and has channeled his age advantage over the course of a dominant few weeks.

What the Giants have done certainly goes beyond luck at this point, but the Dodgers’ roster features more in-their-prime stars, and those stars theoretically have the edge during an 11-game head-to-head. Plenty of this final surge will fall on Betts’ shoulders, which have proven able to carry the burden so far.

Dodgers: 3 Gavin Lux trades LA should pull off after Trea Turner deal

The Los Angeles Dodgers should probably extend Trea Turner, huh? Even if not, Gavin Lux is now very much expendable this offseason.