The Los Angeles Dodgers have not had the smoothest of seasons this year. Los Angeles has been all over the National League West as they have gone up and down the standings. They had a rough month of April, finishing third on their division with a 12-16 record. They were also part of a tie at the second place of the West alongside the Rockies. Leading their division has not been a recurring trend for them during 2018. However, due to the somewhat mediocre efforts in the Wild West, the L.A Dodgers are still fighting for a spot in the postseason.
Gaining Ground
Los Angeles is 5-5 over their last ten games. While those are not exactly impressive numbers, their spot in the standings is indeed impressive. The Dodgers are one game away from the second Wild Card team, the St. Louis Cardinals. Furthermore, they are one and a half games behind the leading Colorado Rockies. If that was not enough. Los Angeles in the middle of a series against the Cardinals. They have already won one game 9-7 and if they keep winning they could get into the Wild Card spot or even take the lead in the West division.
Picking Up Steam
The Dodgers are becoming increasingly dangerous as the month of September goes by and postseason baseball approaches. This is specially helpful for a team like them, trying to make their way into the postseason the hard way. For starters, Clayton Kershaw has really picked things up during the past month of the season. He has a 2-0 record after starting four games, a 2.25 ERA and has earned a mere 7 runs against him. Joc Pederson has been hot recently as he bats for an average of .308, 2 homers and 2 runs batted in. The same could be said for many more players in their roster, but of course, these numbers do not matter.
The Dodger Way
Numbers are irrelevant for the Dodgers as they will most likely amount to nothing. These are not the Philadelphia Phillies nor the Baltimore Orioles, expectations are high in Los Angeles and the guys in blue do not usually meet them. This is a common theme for the Dodgers each year. They get into rhythm but never reach their ultimate goal at the end of the season. They will find a way to knock themselves out of contention, weather that is this upcoming September 30th or the seventh game of the World Series.
Fight hard, fall short. That is just how things are done in Dodgertown.