August 13th, 2021 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Where are they now? Where are the Dodger fans, players, coaches, and even their manager who, when their team lost games in April and May, would blow it off by saying, “It’s still early?”
Well, guess what? It is no longer “still early.”
And here’s the thing – Every one of those games lost in April and May count exactly the same as games lost in August and September … exactly the same. And you never get them back.
As of this writing, the National League West second-place Los Angeles Dodgers have 47 games remaining in the 2021 regular season. They currently trail the NL West first-place San Francisco Giants, who also have 47 games remaining, by 5.0 games.
Through their 115 games played to date, the Dodgers’ longest losing streak was four games, which they have done twice this season.
Through their 115 games played to date, the Giants’ longest losing streak was four games, which they did once this season.
The good news (if you care to call it that) is that the Giants’ longest winning streak thus far this season is five games, which they have done four times. (Note: The Giants currently have a five-game winning streak going, with three games remaining against the NL West last-place Colorado Rockies at Coors Field).
The Dodgers’ longest winning streak thus far this season is nine games. They have also won eight in a row twice this season, so there’s that.
That being said, the Giants are currently atop the NL West with a 74-41 record and the Dodgers in second place with a 69-46 record, winning streaks be damned.
Although anything most certainly can happen over their respective 47 remaining games, which includes a three-game series between them September 3-5 at Oracle Park, the Dodgers are going to need help from the Rockies, Mets, A’s, Braves, Brewers, Cubs, Padres, and Diamondbacks against The Hated Ones to catch – and pass – them before September 30.
…because it is not “still early.”
Play Ball!
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It’s going to be tough.
their failure to produce winning records in one run and extra inning ball games is a disaster. leaving the game in the hands of mckinney yesterday was as good as forfeiting the game. every game at this point is a “must win” becasue the jints are not faltering as was expected. several poorly aging, late career players are having an incredible (and i stress, incredible) collection of career years. Posey is putting up a OPS of .988 (better than his mvp year) at age 34, Crawford has never produced more than .792 but sits at .904, Solano has been a completely different player in a jints uniform than the guy who bounced around the league prior, Dugger has OPS numbers of 26 and 64 looking back two years but currently sits at 110, Longoria’s last four years have bounced OPS between 91 and 101 but this year, 139. Belt has had an amazing two years (turned a pedestrian OPS of 97 into 174 and 140) so perhaps the secret lies within? am i getting though to you?
2021 Giants = 2020 Dodgers
Ron,
if you”re trying to say no less than 6 dodgers well past their prime’s had career years (some of arguably MVP caliber), in 2020, I would be very interested to learn more.
per Steve Adams
Even the most bullish Posey fans would’ve been hard-pressed to predict the type of rebound that has since unfolded. Posey has not only returned to form but is arguably in the midst of the finest season of what could end up being a Hall of Fame career.
while his future with the club might not have been certain even four months ago — not with a new front office, a checkered recent injury history and one of the game’s top catching prospects looming in the minors — that no longer appears to be the case.
my opinion:
everybody knows something is going on but much like the clear and obvious cheating that the astros were doing, nobody wants to call a spade a spade. marwin just got released and his 2017 is referred to as “an outlier”. just another case of the curious reporting out there.
So now what you got? 1 1/2 games back 6 days later with our 3rd 8 game winning streak intact.
If you look at run differential, you see that we lead the major leagues at 208. That’s 68 runs better than the Giants. We’ve been unlucky and, at times victimized by the bullpen which, due to injuries has been under-staffed at times. That’s how you get to be 10-20 in one run games and 1-13 in extra innings( until the recent win streak).
The bull-pen seems set now and if our run ratio remains true, we should outlast the Giants by about 2 or 3 games (according to Bill James Pythagorean Theory from the 1980’s). That’s IF our luck returns to ‘Normal”. And the bullpen doesn’t give away wins in the late innings. Dodgers 104-58, Giants 102-60. My best guess.
I’m sticking with this:
“…the Dodgers are going to need help from the Rockies, Mets, A’s, Braves, Brewers, Cubs, Padres, and Diamondbacks against The Hated Ones to catch – and pass – them before September 30.”
…but it is looking a lot more promising.