In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.
The Dodgers have dropped out of first place.
The team that was expected to win 120 games has fallen a game behind the San Diego Padres in the National League West, and who knows how much further baseball’s most expensive collection of players could plummet?
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The geniuses in the front office improved the farm system more than they did the obviously problematic bullpen at the trade deadline, resulting in blown lead after blown lead after blown lead.
Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers the ball from the mound against the Angels on Wednesday at Angel Stadium. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Games have become “Choose Your Own Adventure” books in which every choice available to manager Dave Roberts ends in disaster, with relievers giving up leads in four of the team’s last seven games.
The recent activation of Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell has made the starting pitching whole, but what does it matter if the bullpen can’t close out games?
Mookie Betts has started hitting and the offense has picked up, but what does it matter if the relievers give the runs right back?
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President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters the other day the look of the bullpen could significantly change by the time the playoffs start because of the anticipated returns of the likes of Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech. He could be right.
Read more: Welcome to second place: Tumbling Dodgers are swept by the Angels
Dodgers pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) leaves the mound in the fifth inning after giving up an RBI double against the Angels at Angel Stadium on Wednesday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
However, there’s no chance of that transformation occurring in the next 10 days, which could be the most important 10 days of the regular season. The Dodgers will play the Padres six times over that period — three times at Dodger Stadium this weekend and three times at Petco Park in San Diego next weekend.
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The Padres have won 14 of their last 17 games to overtake the Dodgers, who were nine games ahead of them on July 3. Whereas the Dodgers were relatively inactive at the trade deadline, the Padres fortified a lineup powered by Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. They bolstered the league’s No. 1 bullpen with the addition of Mason Miller, the best reliever on the market.
The Dodgers also have momentum — but an entirely different kind….