3 reasons why the Dodgers are still World Series contenders and 2 why they're not

By now, the overall consensus is that the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to be a consistent threat to not only win the National League West division, but to go deep in the playoffs.

They've been to the playoffs for 10 straight seasons and have established a culture of excellence. From top to bottom, the starting lineup is lethal and the pitching staff, when healthy (and assuming it gets some reinforcements), can get LA through the grind of a 162-game season.

But does this unit have what it takes to compete in a crowded NL picture and perhaps take a shot at a World Series title, especially after they fell spectacularly short in 2019, 2021 and 2022?

The 2023 version of the Dodgers is still good but there are some problems to sort out. On the surface, nobody would really bet against them. It's clear they can't bank on making it through October with what they have at the moment, though.

What's the best assessment of this team at this moment in time?

3 reasons why the Dodgers are still World Series contenders and 2 why they're not

Still contending No. 1: The rookies are absolutely legit

As much as this roster is filled with talent at 30 years or older, the Dodgers have received some excellent contributions from a pair of newcomers in outfielder James Outman and starting pitcher Bobby Miller.

Should the club continue to roll and find themselves in contention, the game's biggest stage is sure to be a massive task to face for these young guns, but they've stepped into their respective roles nicely in the big leagues.

Outman, 26, has cooled off since his scorching start to the season, but he's still boasting a cool .767 OPS with a 104 OPS+ thanks to nine home runs, 33 RBI, seven stolen bases, and a still-developing eye at the plate. He plays a solid center field and could conceivably find himself in the Rookie of the Year discussion at season's end.

For the 24-year-old Miller, he's only made five starts but has already shown enough to suggest that he may be here to stay. The right-hander has induced ground balls at 50% rate so far, has done an efficient job at keeping runners off the bases, and preventing the ball from leaving the park. He and other newcomer Emmet Sheehan are off to great starts in their big league careers.

Still contending No. 2: Extensive postseason success on offense

For as long as you're a member of the Dodgers, you're going to get a ton of opportunities to play in the postseason. I mean, just look at some of the numbers the offensive regulars have posted in their playoff career.

• Mookie Betts: 55 G, 17 2B, 4 HR, 18 RBI, .741 OPS
• JD Martinez: 30 G, 9 HR, 30 RBI, .303 AVG, .987 OPS
• Freddie Freeman: 46 G, 10 HR, 23 RBI, .296 AVG, .947 OPS
• Chris Taylor: 64 G, 9 HR, 25 RBI, .250 AVG, .815 OPS
• Max Muncy: 43 G, 10 HR, 29 RBI, .238 AVG, .887 OPS

There's no doubt that the offensive guys on this roster have what it takes to hit in the clutch. With the amount of former MVPs and All-Stars in this group, this is to be expected.

Betts and Freeman alone both have an OPS+ over 130 as well as OPS' over .870. They are steady presences in this offensive core and will be vital to the march to the postseason as well as their attempts to go deep into October.

To kick off the 2023 season, each of the aforementioned postseason studs, along with Will Smith and James Outman, have combined to put together one of the best hitting teams in the league. Heck, even David Peralta, who we've called for to be released multiple times now, has seen his stock skyrocket and currently sports a .276 average and 92 OPS+.

Entering the Tuesday, this Dodgers squad ranks third in the majors in home runs, fourth in runs scored, first in walks, and fourth in OPS. What's a bit concerning, however, is the fact that they currently sit 20th in the league in hits. The team has done an excellent job at manufacturing runs and getting on base, but the amount of base hits will surely have to go up if they want to continue applying pressure.

Not contending No. 1: The starting rotation's sketchy postseason record

Certain members of the Dodgers' rotation have gotten some well-documented flak over the years as they continue to underperform in the postseason. From top to bottom, nearly every single one of the hurlers earning the majority of the starts for the club this year have sketchy postseason pasts.

Starting at the top, Clayton Kershaw, a surefire Hall of Famer, has never really been able to get it done in the playoffs. By this point, he's made a whopping 38 appearances in the postseason and has a 4.22 ERA in 194 innings of work. For whatever reason, he experiences a slight dip in strikeouts and a slight spike in hits, walks and home runs allowed. Just last year, he made one start against the Padres in the NLDS in which he earned the loss after going five innings and surrendering three earned runs on six hits.

The currently-injured Urías has a 3.68 ERA across 23 outings (six starts) in his postseason career. Most of his experience in these games has been positive, but even he has not been immune to the occasional rough outing. After dominating in the NLDS in 2021, he surrendered seven runs on 11 hits in six innings in the NLCS against the Braves. Last year, he made one start against the same Padres team that beat Kershaw and didn't really get the job done, although the offense behind him carried the team to a win.

Noah Syndergaard has been decent in his playoff career, but there's an ever-increasing chance that he doesn't even finish the current campaign on the Dodgers. His last postseason outing came last year in the World Series and he made it through just three innings before being pulled in a game that his team ultimately lost.

Both Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May have also struggled at times in the postseason. The former has a career 9.20 ERA across eight outings thanks to 15 earned runs in just 14.2 innings of work, while the latter surrendered three runs in as many innings in his last postseason appearances all the way back in 2020.

This concerning trend is, well ... concerning. If the current pitching staff can't get it done in the playoffs, the entire grind throughout the regular season is for nothing. Hopefully the Dodgers can swing a trade to bring aboard a pitcher with a better record on the big stage.

Not contending No. 2: The bullpen is awful this year

Entering Tuesday, the Dodgers bullpen currently has the second-worst ERA (5.04) in all of baseball, above only the Oakland A's, who only just recently started to look like an actual professional baseball team.

For any club with postseason and World Series aspirations, such a horrendous earned run average can't possibly fly. Dodgers relievers have allowed the opposition to post a league-leading .257 batting average, third-worst .319 BABIP, and are currently the owners of the fifth-worst HR/9 rate in the league.

For what it's worth, it's not that the entire unit has been awful this year. Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol and Caleb Ferguson have all begun to see high-leverage situations and have all earned save chances as of late. The three hurlers all have ERA+'s over 129, with Phillips at 197 and Graterol at 186.

Outside of that trio, Shelby Miller (of all people) has been respectable on the mound, if not a bit too lucky. His 2.40 ERA and 186 ERA+ look nice on paper, but his 4.51 FIP suggests that he may be due for a regression in the near future.

Beyond this group, things have not been pretty. At all. The currently-injured Phil Bickford has made 23 appearances (for some reason) and has a 7.33 ERA thanks to 22 earned runs in just 27 innings of work. He has been striking out guys at a rapid pace, but he can't for the life of him keep the opposition off the scoreboard. Ditto for other relievers like Alex Vesia, who has also been lit up like a Christmas tree in 22 outings this year.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, there's plenty of room for improvement and plenty of potential trade chips out there for them to bring aboard at the deadline. In case players like Bickford and Vesia don't bounce back, look for this relief pitching corps to look much, much different post-deadline.