With just 15 games left on their regular season schedule, the Los Angeles Dodgers trail the San Francisco Giants in the National League West standings by one game entering play Friday.
While they can still win their ninth consecutive division title, L.A. has a lot of work to do to catch their rivals.
Because of the Dodgers’ success over the last few seasons, not many of their players have ever been in a position of chasing another team. However, Trea Turner knows all about it, having spent his career with the Washington Nationals up until the trade deadline this season.
Turner believes the Dodgers just need to focus on controlling what they can and focus on what is in front of them, rather than San Francisco.
“Stop talking about them. I’ve heard so much about the Giants in the last month and a half,” Turner said. “You focus on what’s in front of you. Unless you’re playing them, they’re not in front of you. Take care of business on our end and like I always say, if you focus on each and every day, focus on what’s in front of you, then at the end of the year we’ll be in a good spot.
“I think they’ve played some historic baseball. You can’t knock that. It’s not like we haven’t done enough, they’ve just done really, really well in general. So you tip your cap and keep playing.
The Dodgers’ odds to win the division have fallen a lot in the recent weeks, with Fangraphs giving them just a 38% chance after they spent the season as the favorites, however, they have already clinched a spot in October.
Winning from the Wild Card
While the Dodgers might have to settle for a Wild Card spot, that doesn’t mean they won’t be able to win the World Series, which is something Turner has experience doing.
In 2019, Turner was a key part of the Nationals roster that started the season 19-31 and sat 10 games out of first place. They ended up turning their season around and won the World Series after winning a Wild Card spot.
The Dodgers experienced that firsthand as Turner and the Nationals upset them in the NL Division Series.
“In 2019 we were the Wild Card and we ended up winning the whole thing,” Turner recalled. “When you focus on things you can’t control, it doesn’t work out well and it’s not fun either. So try to have fun each and every day, we’ve got 20 games left or so, and at the end of the year we’ll see where we’re at and go from there.”
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