The Los Angeles Dodgers have enjoyed a comfortable lead in the National League West for a majority of the season with the rest of the division collectively playing at or well below .500 throughout the year.
The Dodgers’ hot streak during late April and into May allowed the team to build a big lead in the standings over their NL West counterparts and the team has somewhat coasted on that ever since.
However, an 11-13 record in July coupled with surges from the Arizona Diamondback and San Diego Padres have made the race for the NL West crown interesting once again.
Injuries have played a significant role in the Dodgers’ recent struggles with major losses like Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Yoshinobu Yamamoto contributing to the first month with a losing record since March/April 2018.
The Padres on the other hand are beginning to heat up and have won nine out of their 11 games since the All-Star break. That included a two-game sweep of the Dodgers this week that propelled them into second place in the NL West.
“They made some additions, they’re feeling good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “They’re playing great baseball. Probably the month of July, they’ve played as good of baseball as anybody in all of the Major Leagues. So they’re certainly feeling good about themselves, absolutely.”
The Padres were aggressive at the trade deadline, adding significant relief pitching to improve a bullpen that had been middle of the pack. San Diego certainly paid a significant price, but they added the two best bullpen arms traded at the deadline in Tanner Scott and Jason Adam.
Dodgers trade deadline acquisitions of Jack Flaherty, Tommy Edman, Amed Rosario and Michael Kopech should help stop the bleeding until the team as a whole can continue to get healthier.
Dodgers struggles shifted trade deadline approach
Before the Dodgers saw their NL West lead shrink to 4.5 games, general manger Brandon Gomes played his cards close to the vest had a more relaxed view on how the team would approach this year’s trade deadline.
Gomes believed in the talent the team had on the roster and expressed faith in internal options possibly being enough without any major moves at the deadline. The Dodgers were afforded that stance because of their once-comfortable lead in the standings.
But it seems the equation changed for the front office due to recent developments and they recognized the need to acquire talent at the deadline.
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