Can the Los Angeles Dodgers turn things around in their upcoming slate of games?
From July 26 to Aug. 9, things were not good for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The two-time World Series champions have endured a seven-game losing streak in that span and have only won three of their 13 games in that same time frame. It is a skid we have not seen this season from a team that not long ago held the best record in Major League Baseball, but here we are.
Now, it is worth taking a look at how the rest of the month will play out for Los Angeles.
Strength of schedule
Recently, Stephen J. Nesbitt and Chad Jennings of The Athletic compiled a list of the contending teams and their corresponding schedules for the rest of August. For the Dodgers, the outlook is not terrible, and it could serve as a good way to get back on track, despite a couple of challenging opponents.
For the remainder of the month, Los Angeles will face the Kansas City Royals (49-70) at home, the Milwaukee Brewers (74-44) at home, the Colorado Rockies (46-72) on the road, the Pittsburgh Pirates (58-62) at home, the Atlanta Braves (71-47) on the road and the Detroit Tigers (58-60) on the road.
The Dodgers’ upcoming strength of schedule is listed at .484, a figure that Nesbitt and Jennings pulled from FanGraphs. Additionally, their pick for the key series here is against the Brewers, which is not much of a surprise.
The first time Los Angeles faced Milwaukee this season, it won the series. But the Brewers are a different team now, and they currently hold the best record in baseball, while the Dodgers tumbled into fourth among the 30 teams due to their recent skid.
The series against Milwaukee is set for Aug. 13-16, and Nesbitt and Jennings pointed out that the Dodgers got to avoid All-Star flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski in the first meeting between these clubs this season. Los Angeles will probably have to deal with him this time around.
The Dodgers also have a new weapon of their own in Tarik Skubal for the Brewers to deal with now, and while we likely will not see him until the back half of the four-game series due to his scheduled start on Monday against the Royals, he is still in the arsenal.
The road series against the Braves will also be difficult for Los Angeles, but otherwise, there are no world beaters on this list. Given the Dodgers’ slump, it probably seems like any team can beat them right now, but their skid included a string of losses to good opponents.
Context matters, and by the Dodgers’ standards, they have at least one softball here with the struggling Rockies. Expect them to turn things around and come out on the winning end of this upcoming stretch.
