It should come as no surprise that even the biggest of baseball skeptics are impressed with how well the Dodgers have started the 2012 season. No one in the sports media world gave the Dodgers a chance, and I mean no one. During all of the spring training hype and hoopla on nearly every major sports network, the so-called experts and analysts (including those on MLB.com, ESPN and Fox) projected the Diamondbacks and Giants to dominate the NL West while projecting the Dodgers to finish third or even fourth in the division.

One morning while at Camelback Ranch during spring training this past March, I had an opportunity to speak briefly with former Dodger great and current Dodger first base coach Davey Lopes and mentioned to him that nobody in the media was giving the Dodgers a chance. Davey’s reply did not surprise me in the least – “Nobody gave the Cardinals a chance last year either, or the Giants the year before that,” he said in his normal ‘strictly business’ tone. He was, of course, absolutely correct about the 2010 and 2011 World Series champions. But with all of this being said, it is time for a serious (and honest) reality check with regards to the 2012 Dodgers and their current NL West-leading 18-10 record and current four-game lead over the San Francisco Giants.

When I mentioned that nobody in the media was giving the Dodgers a chance in 2012, Dodger coach Dave Lopes replied "Nobody gave the Cardinals a chance last year either, or the Giants the year before that."

Through the first six weeks of the season the Dodgers have faced only two teams with a winning record, the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals, and both series were staged at Dodger Stadium. And while the Dodgers surprisingly swept the Nationals, to expect them to do so again when they face each other at their ballpark is basically wishing up a rope. Could it happen? Absolutely. Will it happen? Probably not.

While the Dodgers have, for the most part, manhandled the teams that they quite frankly were expected to manhandle (i.e. the Padres, Astros and Pirates), they themselves were manhandled by a couple of teams that they also should have also dominated (i.e. the Rockies and Cubs). Rest assured that these ‘should have won’ games (as I call them) that they lost will rear their ugly heads come the September stretch run. It is an unacceptable practice (in my opinion, that is) for managers to say “It’s still early” after these losses because a loss in April or May is every bit as important as a loss in August and September; and so too are wins. As my friends and colleagues will tell you, the phrase “it’s still early” drives me nuts. It is a phrase used as an excuse by losing teams or teams playing shoddy baseball. You never hear winning teams say “it’s still early.” Simply put, it’s never too early to win but it’s always too early to lose. (Ok, I’m off my soapbox).

Over the next six weeks the Dodgers will finally face off against the Giants and D-Backs, both at home and on the road. And while every inter-division game is important in the NL West standings, those against the best of the west are absolutely huge and will have a major impact on the standings. If the Dodgers can win series against their NL West rivals (especially against the Giants and D-Backs), then this skeptical Dodger fan will be one happy camper. In the words of Larry the Cable Guy – “Git-r-Done!