The Los Angeles Dodgers improved to 22-10 by starting their longest road trip of the season with a win over the Atlanta Braves.
Prior to that, their victory on Wednesday put the Dodgers into a tie for the best record in baseball after the New York Mets’ loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. That can be interpreted as somewhat of a surprise given the Dodgers’ rollercoaster through the first month.
After starting the season with eight straight victories, the Dodgers hovered slightly above .500 over their last 23 games. The team played a poor brand of baseball at times during the month of April, especially in the early weeks, and had multiple disappointing losses.
Playing against three separate last-place opponents helped the Dodgers’ record in April look better than it perhaps should have reflected. But they can only play the team that’s in front of them.
There is also an optimistic way to view what transpired over the last month for the Dodgers, as the team has managed to weather inconsistent play and some key injuries to come out the other side in first place.
“I was talking to the coaches earlier tonight, it just seems like we’re a .500 team, given what’s going on. But I think we’re a game behind the best record in the National League. So it doesn’t feel like that, but I think that’s a good thing as far as there’s no complacency with our ballclub,” manager Dave Roberts said this week.
“With all the stuff we’ve gone through, the inconsistencies sometimes with the offense, hiccups sometimes with the defense, with the injuries, but to still be where we’re at, I think that’s a bad sign for the rest of the league.”
The most challenging stretch of the Dodgers’ young season is still ahead of them now that they are back down to four starters for an indeterminate amount of time because of injuries to Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.
That of course has become well-trodden ground for the Dodgers over the past couple of seasons. The organization and Roberts have become quite adept at managing long stretches without a full rotation.
The Dodgers should be presented with more of a challenge during this next month of the schedule as they play the Diamondbacks, Mets, Cleveland Guardians and a surprisingly feisty Oakland Athletics squad.
Dodgers starting rotation help
There is a light at the end of the tunnel for the Dodgers in regard to their need for starting pitching with Tony Gonsolin back in the fold and Clayton Kershaw potentially returning later this month.
Kershaw has been progressively building his way back up to being Major League-ready, with five innings in his start for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
The Dodgers have not yet set a target date for Kershaw’s return, but he is eligible to be activated from the 60-day injured list on May 17 at the earliest.
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