It’s amazing what a small sample size can do to someone. As the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the first two games of the season to the dreadful San Francisco Giants by a combined score of 2-0, social media was losing its collective mind.
I sat from afar — calm, cool, collected — and thought to myself: this will be fine.
Then, a few nights later, I found myself sitting through the 15-inning nightmare against the Arizona Diamondbacks and failing to obey my own advice.
“Why is Chase Utley playing? Matt Kemp looks terrible. Logan Forsythe is still struggling. Why is Dave Roberts doing this? Stop bunting!”
It’s so easy to be on the outside of reality, looking down and thinking, ‘If only they had the long-term view of things — if only they knew how things would work out.’
Of course, it’s a lot harder to do that from within a three-game losing streak with a team that is just months removed from a heartbreaking Game 7 loss in the World Series.
Despite all that, I’m here to say: it’s going to be okay. The Dodgers will be fine. They’ll probably still win the National League West. They’ll probably still finish the season as favorites for the World Series.
And most importantly, we’ll all look back on the first week of April and laugh. Why? Because being 2-5 after seven games doesn’t really mean that much. In fact, think of all the things that had to happen in order for us to get here.
For starters, there were the two 1-0 games against the Giants. Joe Panik, who had just 29 home runs in four seasons, hit two solo home runs against the Dodgers — off two of their best pitchers, no less.
Thankfully, games three and four were more what folks were expecting. The Dodgers rebounded with wins of 5-0 and 9-0 as the team put 20 baserunners on and went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Then, the Dodgers went to Arizona.
First, they saw Kenley Jansen to blow a three-run lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, which required a home run from someone who is basically Joe Panik lite.
Running on fumes from a backbreaking loss, the Dodgers looked lifeless in the final two games against the Diamondbacks; one of which featured another fantastic performance from the 0-2 Clayton Kershaw.
So, here we are. The Dodgers are 2-5, current holders eighth-worst record in all of baseball<, and heading into a suddenly important series in San Francisco. And yet, it's not all that bad. If not for Joe Panik ceasing to be Joe Panik, Kenley Jansen ceasing to be Kenley Jansen and a random (almost) six-hour marathon in Arizona, the tone of our conversation would be far different. Remember, 22 games into the 2017 season, the Dodgers were 10-12. Ten days before the season ended, they snapped an 11-game losing streak. Both of which will be remembered as precursors to the team's run that ended in the World Series. The 2018 season is young. The Dodgers have sights set on a World Series that begins seven months from now. So let's all take a deep breath, take a step back and enjoy the ride: the Dodgers will be fine.
