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

With too much focus on the negative lately, considering the San Francisco Giants have proven tougher to catch than a greased-up Pat Burrell, it’s time to pivot to positivity.

The Dodgers have been steaming hot, too, and remain within striking distance if San Fran slips up during the season’s final stretch.

If the orange-and-black do falter against the Padres, Rockies, and Diamondbacks (come on) even somewhat, you can bet that any chance Los Angeles has of swapping places will fall on the shoulders of these three men.

Luckily, they’ve all been carrying the team for weeks.

Though it’s certainly seemed like they could, theoretically, win every day for months on end, the Giants dropped a pair to the Pads and a single game to the Braves in the past week alone, which is borderline cause for celebration in these parts. Meanwhile, the Dodgers dismantled the Reds in the final two games of that set to essentially lock in a showdown with the St. Louis Cardinals for whichever team comes out on bottom here.

That’s … spooky, considering the Cards never lose anymore.

These three Dodgers stars will determine whether or not Los Angeles can avoid that fate.

3 red-hot Dodgers who can change NL West race.

3. Max Scherzer

Come ON! The big man! Obviously!

Since joining the Dodgers, Max Scherzer is a pathetic 7-0 with an 0.78 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 58 innings. If he could get on track just a little bit, LA could probably close the gap. Unfortunately, it looks like we’re stuck with this late-career version of the ex-Nationals ace.

Annoying, but it is what it is.

In all earnestness, we knew what we were getting when Scherzer switched coasts: a bulldog with the potential to take over any game he started, as well as the ultimate competitor. I don’t think we knew we were getting someone who’d historically peak and post the most dominant stretch of his career at age 37.

An expensive short-term deal beckons beyond 2021, but for now, it seems the Dodgers will get two more starts out of Scherzer (at Colorado on Thursday, vs San Diego on Wednesday), at which point he’ll be lined up for either Game 1 or the Wild Card showdown with Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals — pretty exciting for a Mizzou boy.

If Los Angeles is going to push past San Francisco, they’ll need Scherzer to win both of those starts handily, while giving the bullpen a rest. Not too much to ask, right?

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.

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