3 Dodgers starters to worry about limping into playoffs ice cold

1. Mookie Betts

The Dodgers are such a scary team to play in the playoffs because of the top-three in their order that has made so many pitchers pay this season. There’s not a better trio in the sport than Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman, and the results have spoken for themselves.

Freeman continues to swing a hot bat, which is a positive sign, but the top two in the order have started to cool off. If the Dodgers are going to win the World Series, they are going to need production out of Betts and Turner, so hopefully this cold stretch is just the calm before the concern.

While Mookie has had some playoff heroics already with the Dodgers, him cooling off is a real worry because he’s been a very streaky hitter this season. When he’s cold, he’s really cold, but when he starts to heat up, he will slug home runs at an insane pace.

In Betts’ last 15 games, he’s hitting .246 with a .699 OPS. Like Turner, his on-base percentage is below .300, which is not what you want out of someone who is leading off the ball game. If Betts and Turner are ineffective, it doesn’t matter how hot Freeman is at the plate.

Betts’ overall playoff numbers were decent last year, but he played really poorly in the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves and was a big reason the Dodgers lost that series. In those six games, Mookie hit .174 with a .514 OPS. He had only one extra-base hit and one RBI. Can’t happen again.

Does Dave Roberts’ Cody Bellinger praise mean anything for Dodgers’ postseason?

Does Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praising Cody Bellinger mean anything for the slugger's role in the 2022 playoffs?