For the past several weeks, discussions involving the Los Angeles Dodgers often centered around the possibility — or likelihood — they’d match or surpass the MLB record of 116 wins in a single season.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, general manager Farhan Zaidi and manager Dave Roberts expressed an identical line of thinking in their preference to not focus on the 1906 Chicago Cubs and 2001 Seattle Mariners, but instead the 11 playoff wins.
The Dodgers have since fallen off track to reach the milestone. Their skid was attributed to not having Cody Bellinger in the lineup. The National League Rookie of the Year frontrunner returned against the Arizona Diamondbacks but couldn’t reverse the team’s fortunes Wednesday night.
The Dodgers became the final club this season to endure a four-game losing streak. What’s more, Los Angeles has dropped back-to-back series for the first time since early April.
As panic begins to set in for some in the fan base, Justin Turner explained why he believes the Dodgers’ losing streak carries a positive element, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I don’t want to say it came easy to us these past 2½ months,” Turner said of the Dodgers’ 56-11 run before this losing streak. “But the results have been good all the time. When everything is going good all the time, to get punched in the face like this – it’s good.
“It doesn’t matter what the standings say. I don’t think anyone’s content with where we are in the standings. I don’t think anyone’s slacked off. But it’s a good reminder.”
The Dodgers became the first team to 90 wins, largely behind a 43-7 stretch that bested the historic run from the 2013 season. They’ve trudged through the tail end of August, going 4-6 in the last 10 games.
That’s on the heels of remarkable 20-3 month of July. The recent losses may also be explained in some regard to the Dodgers facing teams with more on the line. The Milwaukee Brewers are fighting to remain in contention in the NL Central and Wild Card, while the Diamondbacks are looking to maintain the top Wild Card spot.
Even with their current skid, the Dodgers are in strong position to win a fifth consecutive NL West title and finish with the best record in baseball.
