June 27th, 2019 at 9:00 am 
by 0799291000348 The Arizona Diamondbacks? The Colorado Rockies? The San Diego Padres? The bullpen?
No, No, No, and No.
No disrespect to the Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Padres, but the Dodgers are clearly the best team in the National League (NL) West. Even with their current bullpen – including relief pitchers available at Triple-A Oklahoma City and Double-A Tulsa – the Dodgers are still, far and above. The Best in the West.
The Dodgers most difficult challenge to win their seventh consecutive NL West title is avoiding regular season complacency. There are several reasons why the 2019 Dodgers players could become complacent: 2017 and 2018 NL pennant winners; six straight NL West titles; consensus amongst baseball experts as the best team in the NL for 2019; best win-loss record in the NL; etc. But, for a team that aspires to be World Champions, complacency could become a roadblock for the prize they are pursuing.
(Photo credit – Carrie Giordano)
There are some recent concerning symptoms amongst some players over the last couple of weeks when they played down to their competition against the Diamondbacks, Giants, and Angels.
- Hitters failing to execute fundamentals to advance baserunners;
- Offense and defense mental errors;
- Not running hard to first base, even to avoid double plays;
- Hitters reverting to old, bad 2018 mechanics and approaches;
- Base runners failing to take extra bases;
- Being out-hustled by lesser opponents who played with more emotion and energy.
Complacency? Or is it just the occasional lethargy encountered by players during a very long and rigorous season? Impossible for fans to know from watching. Only Dave Roberts and his coaches know for certain.
The Dodgers will not lose the NL West to a better team in 2019. But complacency could make it possible for the Dodgers to beat themselves.
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Posted in 
Saw that game yesterday, eh? Yeah, hanging a promising rookie starter out to dry like they did Gonsolin was absolutely shameful. That sort of thing usually sets a losing tone moving forward, too. I only pray Roberts has enough sense to not pull silly moves like that when a young homegrown kid like him’s making his official big-league debut.
And yeah, this current Dodger squad is like the 2017 club in one clear aspect: the ONLY thing that stands in their way is themselves! Would be a breath of fresh air to see them flip the script for once compared to what happened two years ago…
As a fan I’m most concerned with the games ahead of the 2nd place team. I hope this increases as much as possible. The higher this gets the longer it would take to knock us out of first place.
No complacency, just 1 bad game. The Joc P experiment needs to end as soon as Freese gets back.
We need Bullpen help at the back end to win the world series and or get through thenNL playoffs.
No glass half full this team is great.
Fair point if it was only one game. But a couple of weeks ago the Dodgers lost 4 of 6 to Dbacks, Giants, and Angels and the lack of fundamentals and intensity from the Dodgers was frustrating to watch. At the time it appeared to be a laid-back attitude amongst several (not all) of the players.
Bullpen help is the answer .It will help revitalize the team going forward. Our bullpen has cost us 12 to 15 games this year. We need a stud left hander that can work in tandem with KJ to close games. Kenley is not the closer he once was. He requires more rest between outings.A loss by a bullpen has a demoralizing affect on a team. Mr. Friedman,there’s lots of work to do before July 31. Don’t let us down with trash barrel options like Madson and Axelrod.
I just noticed that Gavin Lux and even DJ Peters finally got promoted to AAA OKC today. Guess your first theory was on point Jesse, they were indeed waiting for Omar Estevez to come back off the IL (currently on rehab with the AZL Dodgers, but not for long). Kinda surprised they chose Peters, though. Felt Cody Thomas or Zach McKinstry was gonna get that call. They must’ve liked the strides that Peters made this month offensively because there’s no other viable reason for them to move him up otherwise.
You are on top of the Dodgers prospects — NICE! Good question/point about Peters. Wonder if Dodgers may be showcasing him at a higher level for a possible trade?
Would be a shame to trade Peters after what looks like him finally turning a corner in his development offensively this month, but if he helps net them a major bullpen piece like my guy Felipe Vasquez for instance I can live with it. Kinda praying Edwin Rios would show the Dodgers something while he’s up with the parent club as I feel he should’ve been flipped to another team this past winter just to keep their minor-league pipeline from getting clogged.
Oh and Josiah Gray looks like he might actually be on the fast track to AA Tulsa after shutting down Lancaster last night through seven VERY efficient innings (only allowed a solo HR to the current Cal League HR leader and struck out 8 with no walks for good measure). Aside from Dustin May, Gray might be the only other pitching prospect that I’d truly consider “untouchable” at this point. Those two clearly look like future big league starters the way they constantly go about their business…