Dodgers takeaways: Big week ahead with postseason implications

Oh, what a difference two swings made for these Los Angeles Dodgers.

Before Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts hit back-to-back home runs against the Colorado Rockies and secured a series win on Sunday, the Dodgers were threatening to take a two-game lead in the NL West (their smallest since August 17). ) with three of their last six games against the second-place San Diego Padres.

The worsening tables were enough to raise thoughts of impending catastrophe.

But after Ohtani and Betts made two of the most consequential swings of the season, the Dodgers had a three-game lead before the Padres went three games into Dodger Stadium. With a series win, they're well on their way to clinching the division outright, and FanGraphs' odds of Los Angeles winning the NL West are 90.8 percent. The Dodgers have a half-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies and are the top seed in the National League.

The Dodgers' magic number is four. A champagne celebration is coming up. They are still largely in control of their own destiny heading into October, although a lot can still change in the final week of the season. That goes for the No. 1 seed. The Phillies are ahead of the Dodgers in the tiebreaker after winning the season series, meaning the Dodgers would have to get the top overall seed to earn home-field advantage through the NL side of the to secure the group.

The Dodgers still hold a commanding four-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers, who end the season with their final two series at the Pittsburgh Pirates and a home game against the playoff-chasing New York Mets. As long as the Dodgers win the division, a first-round bye remains somewhat certain (and as necessary as ever given the amount of pitching question marks they have).

In the division, the Padres also hold the tiebreaker and are still technically in control of their destiny when it comes to breaking the Dodgers' streak of 10 division titles over the past 11 seasons. San Diego will win the NL West if it wins its six road games against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.

It is still uncertain who the Dodgers would face in the playoffs. The playoff field is about to be decided, with the Dodgers, Phillies and Brewers officially in play (and the Padres about to join them). The Diamondbacks, Mets and Braves are fighting for the final two spots, although some fluctuations in the seeding are still possible.

Scenarios for the Dodgers range from starting on the road in a best-of-three wild card series to facing the No. 3-6 or No. 4-5 winners as No. 1 or No. 2 in October.

So yes, this week will be worth watching, including perhaps the most-watched Dodgers series at Coors Field in years to close out the season.

The pitch appears largely fixed

Despite the patchwork rotation over the last month, the Dodgers' pitching plans for the postseason appear to be straightforward.

Jack Flaherty was a stabilizing force. Yoshinobu Yamamoto struggled with his command on Sunday and has yet to go more than four innings since returning from the injured list. Still, he will inevitably have a major impact on the Dodgers' plans. Walker Buehler has continued to produce inconsistent results, sometimes within the same outing, but the organization has made it clear that it is banking on his October pedigree. It's hard to argue against Landon Knack right now; For as much as the Dodgers had a hold on him this season (he faced 20 batters for the third time of the season), he was just as consistently effective as anyone.

Where that could change is with possible reinforcements.

It's unclear how close Clayton Kershaw is to facing hitters in batting practice, let alone playing in games. He has completed extensive bullpen sessions to keep his arm moving and has added various insoles and removed a cleat from the sole of his left shoe to relieve pressure on his ailing left big toe. At some point, Dave Roberts said last week, the Dodgers will have to give it a try and see if he's capable of pitching for them.

Then there's Tony Gonsolin, who has yet to pitch this season but has gone from a long shot as a reliever to someone who was able to build enough innings during his minor league rehab to get off to a good start. There's a chance that Gonsolin's next outing could be in the major leagues, making him one of only four pitchers in Jon Roegele's public database to return from Tommy John surgery within 12 months or less (Gonsolin was released on March 1). .September last year).

Shohei Ohtani remains red hot

“I really haven’t seen a player as locked in as Shohei in quite some time,” Roberts told reporters over the weekend.

It's possible that no one has ever done this. As True Blue LA's Eric Stephen pointed out Sunday afternoon, no player in major league history has had a seven-game stretch with six or more home runs and seven or more stolen bases … until Ohtani, the easy NL pick of the week honors.

Ohtani's recent dominance has added a unique perspective to his season. Among players with at least 50 stolen bases in a season, Ohtani's OPS of 1.023 is now the highest since George Sisler in 1922.

Third base coach Dino Ebel joked that after Ohtani's wonderful season this year, a 55-55 run would be the goal next year, but getting there this year remains entirely possible — he has, after Sunday, his 15th, 53 home runs and 55 stolen bases Game with at least one stolen base and one home run this season (a Major League record).

Four of those games came in September and 11 since the All-Star break.

It's a hot track that, according to Ohtani, was close to 50-50 last week. He said, “I'm literally just a little bit away from feeling good.”

It's safe to say he's doing well. If he keeps that up over the next few weeks, Ohtani could have as much of an impact on the Dodgers' October fortunes as anyone.

(Photo by Shohei Ohtani: John McCoy / Getty Images)