Dodgers might have to start worrying a bit for these notable reasons

For much of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been on cruise control. While the team has suffered its fair share of injuries, the rest of the NL West has been lackluster to say the least, with the Padres imploding, the Giants disappointing, the Diamondbacks struggling to keep pace, and the Rockies being, well, the Rockies.

But winning the division isn't the ultimate goal. Becoming the first National League team to win three straight World Series is. That becomes much easier to do if Los Angeles has a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout, but right now, their current skid has put them behind the eight ball a bit.

The Dodgers have earned a lot of praise for their organizational excellence based on how the Tarik Skubal trade came together, but that doesn't mean that the club doesn't have a lot of problems to work through right now.

Over the last calendar month, LA's bullpen has been an issue, and the lineup has struggled to scratch runs across the plate. The latter issue has been compounded by losing Dalton Rushing, who had been heating up to the tune of a .333/.333/.630 line over his last eight games, throwing the catching situation into doubt. We like Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia, but there's a feeling of uneasiness from having to lean on the pair this hard.

Dodgers need their stars like Mookie Betts, Kyle Tucker, and others to step up and break through these doldrums

Edwin Diaz is back, and other key players will return from the IL soon. That should help things along, especially as Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow push other starters into the bullpen to solidify things. But the Dodgers can't count on injury returns alone to help.

They need more out of their star players, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Mookie Betts looked as if he was turning a corner at the end of June, but just as quickly as things started to brighten, the struggles returned, and Betts is short on answers.

"Just a rut... I just know I need to be better... I'm gonna have to help the team at some point; it's been too long," Betts said, following Los Angeles's 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Cubs on August 4.

The second part of his statement, that the team needs his help and it's been too long, is true, but that's exactly why this isn't a "rut" but rather a trend that's been going on for nearly two years. Something needs to change.

That brings us to Kyle Tucker, who buttoned up July with a .655 OPS, which is the worst mark he's put up all season. He's hitting .429/.500/.643 in August, but it's only been five games.

The same thing also holds true for Teoscar Hernandez. From the date of his return from a hamstring injury on June 29 through July 31, the 33-year-old has hit just .188/.255/.306. So far in August, he's heating back up with a .375/.375/.750 line, but again, it's only been five games.

Just looking at those three, plus the mess that is the catcher's position, and you already have half a lineup that poses major question marks. On top of that, while we'd love for Diaz, Snell, and Glasnow to fix the bullpen, either directly or indirectly, there's no guarantee that will happen with all the moving parts involved.

The issues all need to sort themselves out, because if they don't, their road to the World Series gets much more difficult with the Braves and Brewers charging, threatening the Dodgers' claim to the top seed. Beyond that, the longer these struggles go on, the more difficult it will be to succeed once October rolls around.

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