The Los Angeles Dodgers have not budged in Bleacher Report's latest power rankings.
As the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season winds down, the Los Angeles Dodgers are gearing up for their most important playoff slate yet.
The Dodgers have a chance to three-peat as World Series champions, but it will hardly be easy. The National League landscape has become more difficult, and that has been reflected in Bleacher Report’s latest power rankings
Where do the Dodgers sit?
In the latest rankings by the outlet, the Dodgers remain in third place, trailing the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers, despite having the better record than Atlanta.
Bleacher Report pointed to the Dodgers’ recent bumps in the road as they went 2-6 over an eight-game stretch. Since then, however, Los Angeles is on a five-game winning streak.
With 18 games remaining at the time of writing, the Dodgers are 87-57. Given the strength of their opponents throughout the rest of the month, it is not outlandish to believe that they can reach 100 wins, but that is not the main goal.
What is working against them?
Unfortunately for Los Angeles, Shohei Ohtani’s ailments have caught up with him.
The four-time MVP has not pitched since early July due to knee discomfort, and the hope was that he would soon make his return to the mound. However, Ohtani made it clear on Monday that his focus for the remainder of the season will be on hitting.
That is a gut punch for both Ohtani and the Dodgers. Before his nagging knee compelled him to step away from the mound, the 32-year-old was having a campaign worthy of a Cy Young Award conversation. In 14 starts, he posted an 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts.
Ohtani’s premature ending to his 2026 season as a pitcher puts significantly more emphasis on Tarik Skubal, whom the Dodgers landed in a blockbuster trade with the Detroit Tigers ahead of the Aug. 3 MLB Trade Deadline.
The hope was that Ohtani and Skubal would create a deadly one-two punch. Now, the back-to-back Cy Young Award Winner will be tasked with being the ace while the starting rotation is supported by Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Justin Wrobleski.
Not having Ohtani on the mound certainly hurts Los Angeles’ chances of becoming just the third club to three-peat as World Series champions in MLB history, but at least he is not missing the rest of the season altogether.
Ohtani’s hitting will still be critical for the Dodgers, and they will need the best version of him in the batter’s box.
