If you were to ask any Dodger fan if the 2015 Dodgers are similar to the 2014 NL West Champion Dodgers, chances are they would tell that the two teams are as different as night and day. Oh sure, both teams had Andre Ethier, Clayton Kershaw, A.J. Ellis, Zack Greinke, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Scott Van Slyke, Yasiel Puig, Kenley Jansen, J.P. Howell, Justin Turner and Pedro Baez on their 25-man rosters, but with the additions of Yasmani Grandal, Kiké Hernandez, Joc Pederson, Jimmy Rollins, Howie Kendrick, Alex Guerrero, Brett Anderson, Juan Nicasio, Chris Hatcher and newcomers Mat Latos, Alex Wood, Luis Avilan and Jim Johnson, the 2015 Dodgers are nothing like the 2014 Dodgers.

…or are they?

On Wednesday night the Dodgers played their 125th game of the season, a 7-4 win over the struggling Cincinnati Reds. With that win, the Dodgers improved their NL West-leading record to 69-56 (.552) on the season – 13 games over .500 with a 2.5-game lead over the San Francisco Giants.

At the 125-game mark in 2014, the Dodgers were 70-55 (.560) – 15 game over .500 with a 4.0-game lead over the Giants.

Not so different after all.

The 2015 Dodgers team is a lot more similar to the 2014 NL West division-winning Dodgers team than most people realize. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Although it is unlikely that the 2015 Dodgers will finish the season with the 94 wins that the 2014 Dodgers did, it certainly could happen. However, in order to do so, the Dodgers would have to win 25 of their remaining 37 games, which means they’d have to play .675 ball for the remainder of the season; again, doable but unlikely. But if they manage to win 21 of their remaining 37 games – which would give them 90 wins on the season, the would have to play .567 ball the rest of the way – a far more realistic number.

All of that being said, it really doesn’t matter how well the Dodgers play if the Giants play only slightly better than they do, and that is a very sobering thought.

After losing five straight on the current road trip – their longest losing streak since 2013 – Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw was clearly upset with the way his team has been playing lately. And although he didn’t point any fingers, he was quite outspoken when asked if he felt that there was a sense of panic in the Dodgers clubhouse.

“I hope we’re panicking a little bit. I think panic is a good thing to a certain extent,” Kershaw said after the Dodgers lost their fifth straight game last Sunday in Houston. “It’s August whatever it is, and we have five weeks and whatever it is, too. There needs to be a sense of urgency – maybe that’s better to say than panic. I feel like we have to start playing like that.”

After an off-day on Monday, the Dodgers opened a three-game series against the Reds at Great American Ball Park – the final three games of a brutal eight-game road trip – and won the first two games of the series and will try for a series sweep later this morning.

Was it Kershaw’s comments that put a fire under his teammates… rear ends? Possibly. But a more realistic explanation is that the Dodgers are finally… finally getting more from their offense – especially from veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins and right fielder Yasiel Puig – to compliment the continuing and consistent offense from Adrian Gonzalez, Justin Turner and Kiké Hernandez.

Additionally, it would be criminal not to mention the sudden and seemingly annual late-season offensive surge from catcher A.J. Ellis, who has been seeing more action of late with everyday catcher Yasmani Grandal nursing an ailing left (non-throwing) shoulder. Although Ellis is only 8 for 33 (.242) in the 11 game in which he has appeared since the All-Star break, he has an excellent A.J. Ellis-like .419 on-base percentage. However, in his last seven games, Ellis is 6 for 21 (.286) with two home runs, five RBIs and eight walks, which is just what the doctor ordered and not a moment too soon.

Just as he seems to do every year around this time, Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis is heating up at the plate. (Photo credit – Jeff Curry)

It would also be wrong not to mention that the Dodgers bullpen seems to finally… finally be getting their feet back under them – Chris Hatcher notwithstanding. After a very shaky beginning since joining the team at the July 31 trade deadline, newcomers Luis Avilan and Jim Johnson appear to be settling in nicely with their new team – especially Avilan. And with Juan Nicasio back from the disabled list for a strained abdominal muscle and with the consistency of left-hander J.P. Howell and closer Kenley Jansen, it appears that Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt are finally seeing the bullpen that they had envisioned. And with the addition of Alex Wood to the Dodgers starting rotation (the jury is still out on Mat Latos), the entire Dodgers pitching staff appears to be poised for a strong stretch run – and this isn’t even including the very strong possibility that 19-year-old left-handed phenom Julio Urias and a couple other top pitching prospects might receive a call-up when rosters expand on September 1.

The point to all of this is that even though things were looking pretty bleak for the 2015 Dodgers team as recently as a week ago, they are on a near-identical pace that the 2014 Dodgers team – a team that won 94 games and the NL West Division title – were on almost one year ago to the day.

Now… if they can only get past the Cardinals.