The nine-game win streak is more than a week past in history now, but even with a slightly more inconsistent run of form, the Dodgers enter the month of June fairly healthy and only a couple of games back of the NL West-leading Padres.
Although neither offense nor pitching has been consistent enough to put together a run better than nine games, and that’s not a bad run at all, it is good to look at the standings and MLB Tips to see that 16-5 (as of Tuesday) record against other teams on this side of the country.
Andre Ethier rejoined the lineup this week after his 15-day spell on the sidelines with a fractured little finger, taking some of the pressure off the rest of the bats in the order, which have been going from red-hot to ice-cold on back-to-back days over the last week or so.
When Ethier, who still leads the team in home runs and RBI despite his layoff, comes back in place of Garret Anderson, it is safe to assume that the team Joe Torre anticipated having will be in place for the first time since April.
Rafael Furcal boosted his confidence with three hits in Saturday’s game with Colorado, and although the Dodgers eventually went down 11-3, that was more about some less than pretty pitching from Hiroki Kuroda.
Kuroda has been something of a disappointment despite his 5-3 record, and he has been the main beneficiary of the good days the offense has had, unlike John Ely, who continues to cement his role in the rotation and was one of the hardest luck losers of the season in his last start, the 1-0 loss to the Cubs last week when he gave up only four hits but got nothing in the way of offensive help.
Ely, Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw have been excellent over the last month, as has Kuroda at times, but that fifth starter role is still the biggest worry on the team. That might be where the club has to make a trade, unless Carlos Monasterios proves he can go deeper than five innings sooner rather than later.
It is that worry that has had the blogosphere, along with the traditional media, talking about the likes of Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee coming to Los Angeles, pitchers that could well turn this team into serious title contenders.
Nothing seems set to happen soon, but by the time the trade deadline comes later in the season, MLB Betting experts expect some movement to have happened, with the only movement needed something to strengthen. No point now playing for next season because this is definitely a Dodgers team that can contend for something special.
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