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

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.