Dodgers need to capitalize on weak competition

The Dodgers have done very well against teams below .500 all season. In 2021, they are 51-19 against teams who have a losing record. Of course, you can’t win every baseball game you play, but with one month left in the season the Dodgers’ margin for error is very slim.

LA had a chance to trim their division deficit to only 1.5 games on Friday. Unfortunately, they fell at home to the Rockies and remain 2.5 games behind the Giants. Entering the game, Colorado had only 15 wins on the road, the least amount in all of baseball. They’re now tied with the Rangers at 16 wins for the fewest road wins.

When playing a historically bad road team in a division race as tight as this, the Dodgers simply cannot afford to lose any of these games. The month of September will feature some playoff opponents, so LA needs to capitalize on these kind of games when they can.

After this weekend, the Dodgers will only have three series remaining this season against teams below .500. The rest will be against teams in the playoff hunt. They’ll have two series against the DBacks, who have actually been playing solid baseball over the last few weeks. They’ll also have a series at Colorado, where the Rockies have one of the best home records in all of baseball. So even then, not easy games by any means.

The Dodgers will face the Giants (3 games) Braves (3 games) Padres (6 games) Brewers (3 games) Reds (3 games) and Cardinals (4 games) — that’s a pretty difficult slate of games. This season, LA is only one game above .500 against teams with a winning record. In order to win the division, the Dodgers can’t afford to drop too many of those games.

This is why beating the teams you’re supposed to beat is so important. We’ve seen that the Giants won’t lose too many games, so when they do drop one it’s imperative that you pick up a game of ground on them.

With over a month left in the season, 2.5 games is definitely doable for the Dodgers. I still like their chances to win the division. With that being said, you got to try and take every remaining game against the Rockies and DBacks.

Game info

First pitch: 6:10 p.m. PT

Opponent: Colorado Rockies

Venue: Dodger Stadium

TV: SportsNet LA