Dodgers Dominance: Recent 14-4 Stretch & Three-peat Potential
The Dodgers are on a roll with a 14-4 record in their last 18 games, which includes a +67 run differential. They now own a commanding lead in the NL West.
Video Transcript
Want to talk about the Dodgers in this segment because the Dodgers are starting to Dodger.
They are 14 and four in their last 18 games.
They're coming off a loss to Arizona on Monday night.
But in their last 18, not only are they 10 games over .500 at 14 and four, but they are outscoring opponents 107 to 40.
They are annihilating teams, and they have an all-time run differential as we look right now.
The Dodgers are in first place.
It's not like they're, you know, looking back at anyone right now.
It is kind of their league and everybody's looking up.
This is without Edwin Diaz, this is without Snell, and yet that offense is clicking.
And we were talking about the Dodgers' offensive spell that they were going through in April.
That went away entirely in the month of May, man.
And it, and it even crept into the beginning of May, but over the last two, three weeks, we are seeing the best version of the Dodger offense.
Are we seeing the invincible Dodgers at full force right now?
I think we get flashes of them throughout the season.
and then, you know, they may have these little ebbs and flows because, you know, it's, it's more of a marathon for this Dodgers team at the end of the day, and they're focused on the postseason, but I think we're seeing that form of it right now.
'Cause I mean, even when Mookie Betts, he hasn't been great over the last couple weeks, but he's been good, solid.
it's just, just not being the deficit that he was, you know, and as he was getting his feet back under him.
The craziest part too is like Kyle Tucker is still not very good this year.
Like he is still not b- he hasn't been bad, but he hasn't been good.
so you look at this team and it's like you can see a lot of ways where they can just continue to be better.
I, I think at this point we're waiting for Andy Paiz to slow down.
I just don't think it's happening, right?
Like I thought slow down in the respect of like a 120, 130 WRC+.
He might just be this high 800's OPS guy and, and the player that we've seen him now d- develop into.
You know Max Muncy's gonna be who he is and who he has been.
the, the craziest part to me is you have a Will Smith, a Mookie Betts, and a Kyle Tucker all underperforming.
And I think the biggest thing that makes this team feel like the invincible Dodgers again is Shohei's back to launching balls.
And when Shohei's anchoring that lineup, on top of the fact that he's pitching better than ever, but when he's anchoring that lineup offensively and in that leadoff spot, I just think it makes them so much more impenetrable.
and, and then we're seeing that immediately happen now, and, and just the difference that that creates.
Yeah, Shohei hitting 393 with I think 15 RBIs over his last 16 ballgames.
And Peyton just flashed the graphic.
The best run differentials through the end of May.
the 1884 Maroons and- Never heard of that team the 1887 Browns.
I don't even know if I could tell you the city that those two found themselves in.
But the 2023 Texas Rangers, God, I miss that offense.
By the way, Josh Spores released by Texas.
That's really unfortunate.
Spores was the one that got the final out of the '23 World Series.
So, hat tip on a heck of a career with the Texas Rangers for Josh Spores.
But the 2026 Dodgers sat at a plus 129 run differential through the end of May.
And to your point about, you know, Ohtani swinging it and Paiz swinging it, like Freeman with his 930 OPS in the month of May as well, they had a lot of guys that were just putting the ball on the ground a lot.
But the Dodgers were second in team OPS in all of baseball in the month of May, and they were second in team ERA in the, in all of baseball in the month of May.
So like when you marry this offensive production with this pitching excellence, and they're getting it from a whole bunch of different guys.
Justin Wroblewski, I understand the regression may hit him at some point, but like it feels like he keeps giving it enough of a stiff arm when it does come back to get him with that near complete game seven earned run performance.
Like Wroblewski again just pushes it away for a couple more starts.
But remind, this is n- without like a couple of superstars on the mound for them.
They're doing it with quote unquote role players.
And by the way, River Ryan looks freaking disgusting right now in Triple A. I-- Please, please call up River Ryan.
We're gonna put out the top 100 l- prospect list soon, and I'm gonna have to hear all the complaints about having a 28 year old on the top 100 list.
He's on the top 100 list because he is an incredibly solid arm that would be a middle rotation starter, on a lot of other rotations around Major League Baseball.
So I'm sorry, we gotta keep ranking this 28 year old.
But Roki's throwing the ball better.
Then the bullpen, like Kyle Hurt, he was a good pitching prospect for them, recovering from injury, comes back, has immediately been fantastic.
Already picked up a save in 18 innings.
He's only allowed two earned runs.
Vesia is back.
Tanner Scott is back to his form.
and then you mentioned like they're gonna get Diaz and they're gonna get those guys back.
Like it-- This is as good as we've seen them, and really the, the, the, the only hope, is that you just can catch them off guard or catch them cold or just get really hot in a series, which is why I love Major League Baseball and baseball in general as a sport, because again, they're gonna be pacing, you know, the regular season.
I think that's abundantly clear here.
And, I mean they're, they're already starting to draw some separation, five games from the Padres already.
and, and I think it's gonna keep growing.
