The Los Angeles Dodgers are looked at as the evil empire of the baseball world, but that doesn’t mean they’re invincible. An aging roster and some poor injury luck have this iteration of the Dodgers looking much more beatable than the past two seasons’ championship-winning squads. In fact, they just received some bad news about Shohei Ohtani, the greatest player in the history of the sport, which could open up a lane for the Philadelphia Phillies to leap over them in the standings.
As of Thursday morning, the Dodgers sit at 82-57 on the season, giving them a 9.0-game lead in the National League West. Interestingly, they’re behind the Atlanta Braves by one win, and well beneath the best-in-baseball Milwaukee Brewers who are 87-53. If the season ended today, the Braves and Brewers would receive first-round byes in the playoffs, while Los Angeles would have to play in a best-of-three Wild Card Series against the sixth seed.
Compare that with the Phillies, who hold the top wildcard spot at 79-61, and are 4.0 games back of Atlanta in the East. The two clubs are scheduled to face off seven times over the next 10 days, giving Philadelphia a fantastic opportunity to vault over their division rivals in the standings.
So what does all of this have to do with the Dodgers? The big bad Dodgers are assumed to be the Phillies’ biggest threat come October, seeing as they swiftly dispatched the Phils last fall en route to their second consecutive title. The Phillies’ path to a World Series needs to go through Los Angeles, or so it seems.
The Dodgers' misfortune could lead to the perfect playoff path for the Phillies
What if the Phillies never needed to face the Dodgers in the postseason? What if some other team did their dirty work for them? That’s the opportunity that is presenting itself. Superstar Shohei Ohtani is by far the most important piece of the Dodgers’ puzzle, and manager Dave Roberts gave an uninspiring update to reporters this week. “Clearly, tonight, you could see the swing wasn't the swing that we're used to seeing. So he's not close to optimal,” Roberts claimed after Wednesday's game. “Where we're at, I think he's just going to have to find a way to make do, and do the best he can.”
Considering the fact that the 32-year-old hasn’t pitched since early July, it seems he won’t return to the mound this season. On top of that, the four-time MVP has just a .792 OPS since the beginning of August; solid production, but light years behind his .951 career mark.
If Ohtani isn’t the Ohtani baseball fans have come to expect, the Dodgers could be in serious trouble come October. Add to that the fact that future Hall of Famer Mookie Betts has been a shell of his former self for the past two seasons, record-setting free agent addition Kyle Tucker has been a negative-WAR player, and stars Andy Pages, Roki Sasaki and Edwin Díaz are on the shelf and suddenly the Dodgers are looking like a house of cards.
They’re still a very talented team that could easily win the World Series, but they’re not the unbeatable juggernaut some fans think they are. Imagine a world in which the Phillies overtake the Braves to win the division, and the Dodgers end up with the third seed in the National League.
Such a situation could have a Wild Card squad knocking off the reigning champions in a chaotic three-game series before the Phillies even play a postseason contest. A lot would need to go right for that to happen, but it’s certainly possible. For now, the Phillies need to focus on beating up on the Braves and hope that the rest falls into place.
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