Dodgers falling into Wild Card race is another nightmarish situation for pitching staff

Another bullpen meltdown for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night had fans spiraling. And this one was somehow worse based on the team's performance thus far in 2023. At the very least, the Dodgers have been nails at home, for the most part. Their shakiness has come away from Dodger Stadium.

And there's plenty of proof to support that, specifically with the team's relievers, as pointed out by True Blue LA.

But the starters have been affected too. Before Julio Urías went down, he had a 7.61 ERA in five road starts, which is a death knell for a group that's already thin and struggling (guys like Michael Grove, Noah Syndergaard and Gavin Stone have also gotten shelled in visitors' parks).

That's what makes the Dodgers' fall from the top of the NL West even more concerning. Nobody's ruling them out on June 15, but winning the division is almost paramount for this team to make a run (unless they endure unforeseen October magic).

Important bullpen pieces like Evan Phillips and Victor González have been among the victims. If the supporting relief acts can't find consistency away from home, that's usually nothing to fret about. But two high-leverage, back-end arms? Unsustainable for postseason baseball (or even down the stretch in the regular season).

Dodgers pitching staff is terrible on the road, which is playoff suicide

Through Wednesday's play, the Dodgers' team ERA is currently 4.49, good for 21st in the sport. The Dodgers' bullpen ERA now stands at 4.90, which is 29th and only ahead of the Oakland As. There is reason to be a tad panicked, especially when you look ahead to the trade deadline and are unsure what impactful pieces could even be acquired to turn this around.

Add in the constant of manager Dave Roberts largely being unable to effectively navigate good bullpens, and the Dodgers have a near-unmitigated disaster on their hands. He can keep calling out his pitchers, but it's not going to help if they're both bad and put in unfavorable situations.

The usual suspects struggling on the road have inflated the Dodgers' ERA away from LA so drastically that they're also 29th in that category (5.70) with only the A's trailing. They have a .271 opponents' batting average and a 1.44 WHIP.

That's not going to play at all as the environments get more hostile, particularly in an expanded postseason setting. There's much work to be done from the front office to the 26th man on the roster, and it's only going to get worse if the meltdowns start occurring more often at home.