The Dodgers are running short on margin for error, but a brutal blow to the Giants may have just handed them a much-needed opening.
Los Angeles is already juggling a messy bullpen situation, and the injury list keeps getting uglier. Shohei Ohtani has succumbed to the Dodgers' mismanagement of his injuries, and Freddie Freeman is now dealing with a barking knee as well.
That would be enough to put any contender on edge. Add in the fact that the offense has been slipping for a while, and the picture gets even shakier.
Since August 1, the Dodgers rank 16th in OPS at .715. That’s not the kind of production that makes life easier when two of your biggest bats are banged up.
Still, the schedule has softened at just the right time. Los Angeles has series left against the Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants, and only San Diego looks like a truly difficult assignment.
The Reds have been in a downward spiral since June, while the Giants have had a very disappointing 2026. With 11 games left, the Dodgers don’t have much time to make a move.
Now they’ve gotten another boost. Rafael Devers is done for the season, and that matters because six of the Dodgers’ 13 remaining games are against San Francisco. What had already looked like a favorable stretch just got even better.
Devers’ season in San Francisco has been a mixed bag. He was a disappointment after last year’s stunning trade from Boston, and in 2025 his OPS fell from .905 with the Red Sox to .807 with the Giants. That trend carried into the first half of 2026, when the 29-year-old put up a .799 OPS.
But he caught fire after the All-Star Break. Since then, Devers has posted a .988 OPS, third-best in the majors, and he’s hit 18 of his 37 home runs in 52 second-half games.
Without him, the Giants lose the one hitter who could still make them dangerous. For a Dodgers club trying to stay on track for postseason home-field advantage, that’s a break worth having.
And the stakes are real. A threepeat is rare territory: the last team to do it was the New York Yankees from 1998 to 2000.
Before that, it was the 1972-1974 Oakland Athletics. No NL team has ever done it, and the A's are the only non-Yankees club to pull it off.
If the Dodgers are going to chase that kind of history, they’ll need every edge they can get. Home field throughout the playoffs would help a lot, and with the Brewers still ahead of them, those six games against the Giants may wind up being the difference.
In Other News...
Dodgers Just Made A Bullpen Move That Could Sting Fans Too
The Dodgers got another piece back in the bullpen mix by activating left-hander Kris Bubic off the 60-day injured list and adding him to both the 28- and 40-man rosters. Bubic, who came over from the Royals at the trade deadline, is expected to give Los Angeles a left-handed relief option as it continues sorting through the back end of its staff.
To clear space, right-hander Paul Gervase was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City and outfielder Ryan Ward was designated for assignment. The roster shuffle fits the kind of August management the Dodgers have leaned on all year, but the move also comes with the usual cost of squeezing out a depth piece to make room for a pitcher the club clearly wants available now. [Read more 🡒]
Shohei Ohtani Return Buzz Just Got Very Real For Dodgers Fans
The Dodgers kept rolling against the Reds by winning the first two games of the four-game set, and they did it with the kind of balance that can travel deep into October. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal each turned in strong pitching performances, while Teoscar Hernndez supplied the thunder with a pair of two-run homers that helped keep Los Angeles in control.
Amid the current momentum, the bigger buzz for Dodgers fans is Shohei Ohtani, who is still working back from injuries but has recently taken batting practice. The team remains optimistic he could return before the end of the regular season, which would add another layer to a lineup already getting key production at the right time, even as everyone waits to see just how soon that final piece can fall into place. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Suddenly Have A Real Josue De Paula Dilemma
Josue De Paula keeps giving the Dodgers another reason to think hard about the future. The top prospect homered against the Miami Marlins, a reminder that the 19-year-old has the kind of power and plate discipline that has drawn comparisons inside the organization to past Dodgers rookie-of-the-year types, including Mike Piazza. For a club that always seems to be balancing present contention with the next wave, De Paulas rise is becoming harder to ignore.
The timing, though, is what makes this interesting. Los Angeles also has to figure out where he fits once Shohei Ohtani comes off the injured list, and that sort of roster puzzle tends to say as much about a prospect as any scouting report does. De Paula is forcing the issue now, and the Dodgers may soon have to decide whether his bat is ready for a bigger stage or whether his path has to wait behind an even larger return. [Read more 🡒]