The Dodgers have hit a rough patch, and the scoreboard has been loud about it. Six straight losses, including back-to-back sweeps by the Red Sox and Cubs, have exposed a bullpen taking on water and an offense that hasn’t exactly carried the load. On paper, that looks ugly.
But the panic button? That’s a little harder to justify.
Los Angeles still enters the weekend with an 8.5-game lead in the National League West, sitting at 69-46. Arizona and San Diego haven’t done enough lately to make anyone think that cushion is disappearing with less than two months left. The division race isn’t the story here.
The bigger picture is that this season has been treated like a long runway to October. Dave Roberts has spent the year managing workloads and rehab timelines with the postseason in mind, and that approach isn’t changing because of one bad stretch. The Dodgers would always prefer to win in August, but the real goal is the trophy at the end.
That’s also why the reinforcements matter so much. Blake Snell has made just one big league start this year, but he’s close to finishing his rehab assignment and rejoining the rotation.
Tyler Glasnow is on a rehab assignment and could be back sooner rather than later. Will Smith has resumed baseball activity and is working through a hitting progression.
Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone are either on rehab assignments or will be soon. Blake Treinen is throwing live batting practice and could head out on a rehab assignment soon.
Kiké Hernandez and Tommy Edman are already back in the mix.
And then there’s Tarik Skubal. The Dodgers made the move plenty of people expected when they acquired the two-time Cy Young winner from the Tigers, and they now have the first roster in MLB history to feature a reigning multi-time MVP and a reigning multi-time Cy Young winner in the same season. Skubal even debuted in one of these six losses, but that still beats the alternative.
The real concern starts with the way the run has unfolded. Los Angeles has given up 42 runs over the six-game skid, 20 more than it has scored.
That’s not just bad luck in a tiny sample. The bullpen has been hit hard, and the rotation hasn’t gone deep enough to spare it, which has left the relief corps exposed.
The offense needs to do more, too. Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman have kept doing their usual thing, but the support behind them hasn’t been there.
Since the start of July, only four healthy Dodgers have posted a wRC+ of 100 or better: Ohtani, Freeman, Kyle Tucker at 107, and Max Muncy at 100. Dalton Rushing’s injury matters, because he was at 129 in that span.
The Dodgers need more from Mookie Betts, Edman, Andy Pages, Teoscar Hernández, and the rest of the regular cast.
Depth is thinning in other places as well. Eric Lauer had been a big piece for them, but he’s started to fade a bit as the innings pile up, and he took his first loss with the Dodgers during the streak after opening 5-0.
Roberts’ cautious handling of Ohtani’s knee is another reminder that this group isn’t untouchable. Freeman getting hit in the hand and leaving as a precaution was a scare the Dodgers didn’t need.
If either of those two can’t go, the problem gets real fast.
Seeding is the other issue. It’s easy to say the Dodgers just need to get in and let the talent sort it out, especially after last year’s Wild Card route worked out fine.
But the Brewers are pulling away with the best record in the National League and in baseball, and the Braves are ahead of the Dodgers as well. A bye doesn’t promise a championship, but it does spare a team the first round, and slipping further while Snell’s return is sorted out only tightens the pressure on the roster decisions ahead.
So no, the sky isn’t falling in Chavez Ravine. The reasons this losing streak doesn’t matter still outweigh the reasons it does.
Even so, the next two weeks, with Snell and hopefully Glasnow returning, matter plenty. The division is safe, but the road back to the World Series can still be shaped by how the Dodgers finish.
In Other News...
Dodgers Now Face A Dalton Rushing Decision They Didn't Want
Dalton Rushings breakout path hit a hard stop when the Dodgers placed the rookie catcher on the 10-day injured list with a small tear in his right ulnar collateral ligament. Manager Dave Roberts said it is unlikely Rushing will catch again this season, even though the club could still use him as a pinch hitter, a reminder of how quickly a promising role can shift into damage control in Los Angeles.
Rushing now has to rest for two weeks before the Dodgers determine the next step, and the medical picture already points toward a potentially serious crossroads. He will not throw for four to six weeks, which leaves the organization weighing how much catching value remains this year against the possibility of a much bigger procedure down the line. [Read more 🡒]
Max Muncy Became One Of The Dodgers Best Bets Ever
When Max Muncy arrived in Los Angeles in 2017, he was coming off a release from the Athletics and had even thought about walking away from the game. Instead, the Dodgers took a chance on him, and the move turned into one of the franchises most productive bets of the past decade. Muncy grew from a low-profile pickup into a core lineup piece, helping power three World Series titles and putting his name all over the clubs postseason record book.
Now 35, Muncy is still giving the Dodgers the kind of steady impact that made him so valuable in the first place. His continued success has come with a simple explanation on his end: better health. For a player whose path nearly took him out of the sport entirely, the fact that he is still performing at a high level in 2026 only adds to the sense that Los Angeles found far more than a reclamation project. [Read more 🡒]