MidValleySports.Com

By Those Deferred BenchWarmers

We’re taking a break from our typical format to give a bit of a State of the Union for the Dodgers. People are absolutely freaking out right now, and while we find it incredibly annoying, it’s nice to know who the fair weather fans are… the fans that were not there during the 11 game losing streak of 2017 (part of 16 losses in 17 games).

We were. We remember September 11, 2017. The Dodgers had lost 10 straight and were in San Francisco. Rain and Lightning suspended the game twice, and the game drifted into September 12. We felt like this was the quirky game that was needed to break the losing streak. We stayed up through the delays. The Dodgers tied the score in the 4th with 5 singles and a walk (Logan Forsythe hit one of the singles). They took the lead in the fifth with a Puig homerun, gave it back in the bottom of the 5th, and tied it in the sixth.

Then Pedro Baez came in. We thought, tweeted, and said aloud “I can’t do Pedro Baez at 1 in the morning.”

We were right. Hunter Pence singled in the go-ahead run, we laughed, and the Dodgers eventually fell 8-6.

The Dodgers won the next four games. They ended the season on a 12-6 run, clinching the NL West just a week and a half after the peak of the losing streak. They rolled through the playoffs, only losing to the Cheating Trashtros in the World Series.

We say that all to say that we have been through this. We are not necessarily apologetics for the Dodgers, but we are still not worried. Yes, they lost 7 in a row before the All Star Break (the longest losing streak since that 2017 one), they’ve currently lost 10 of 12, and they just got swept by Milwaukee (twice) as the Brewers passed them in the NL Standings. BUT…. we are not worried.

A quick Big Picture Look: The Dodgers are first in the NL West by 3.5 games, are a game and a half back from the best record in the NL, and only two games back of the best record in baseball. They are a good baseball team.

Don’t get us wrong, recently the defense has been subpar, the hitting has been bad, and the pitching has been worse. BUT – This is a bit of a cop out – it’s baseball. The best team (by record) ever, the 1906 Chicago Cubs, still lost on average once every four games. And they lost 4 times out of 6 games in the World Series. The best hitters ever still got out more than three times for every two hits they had.

Mookie Betts did not forget how to play baseball. He will figure it out. Freddie Freeman’s ankle still isn’t fully healthy (wrist/forearm notwithstanding). Shohei Ohtani is a dominant pitcher (again) and even for someone as good as him, there’s going to be an adjustment period.

The rotation has seen 80% of its top five members on the IL for significant time (and the next three guys in line were/are recovering from big injuries). The bullpen lost two of their key pieces for time, and several other big pieces spent time on the IL as well.

It’s not been fun, but we haven’t even officially hit the Dog Days of Summer yet. The injured players will make their returns and begin to round into form. The top guys will start to break out of their slumps, and all will be right in LA.

Until then, sure, shake up the mojo as you watch, make up fake trades where everyone you are frustrated with gets sent away, and avoid Twitter/X. But remember that true fans recently survived the McCourt Era and the 2017 slide.

Slumps happen in baseball, this one just happens to be all at once. And it’s far better to struggle like this in July than in October, as true fans have seen too many times over the past ten years.