The Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2018 season reached a new low on Sunday afternoon when they were defeated 5-3 by the Cincinnati Reds, completing a four-game sweep at Dodger Stadium.
The Reds have the worst record in the National League even after the sweep, but now they only have two fewer wins than the Dodgers, who are 16-24 and eight games out of first place in the National League West.
With only 16 wins, this is the Dodgers’ worst 40 game start to a season since 1958. That of course was their inaugural season in Los Angeles.
While their record may not suggest as much, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts feels his team is not a poor one and that they are capable of turning it around, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
“I don’t think we’re there yet,” Roberts said. “I think that we are a good team. We haven’t played like one consistently. But I think that’s a fair point: You are what your record is, so it’s up to us to prove otherwise.”
Roberts previously claimed his team would be atop the NL West standings and win their sixth consecutive division title come season’s end.
While they obviously haven’t performed as well as they are capable of, the Dodgers have also been missing several key players because of injuries through the first six weeks of the season.
They could be getting two of those players back on the upcoming road trip, as infielders Justin Turner and Logan Forsythe are both traveling with the team to Miami and are expected to be activated from the disabled ahead of Tuesday’s series-opener against the Marlins.
As bad as the Dodgers are playing right now though, it is unlikely that two players will completely turn their season around, even if one of them is as good as Turner.
This Dodgers nucleus of players has faced a ton of adversity in the last few years though, so if anyone is capable of turning it around after a slow start, it is them.
