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On Monday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers outlasted the NL West-rival San Diego Padres (LA 8, SD 7 in 10 innings) and did something they had not done all month: they strung together back-to-back wins. Granted, we are only 10 days into June, but a team with this much talent not winning two straight games 10 days into a month is notable.
“The fans, certainly, they’re always into it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about the Petco Park crowd after Monday’s win (via MLB.com). “You’ve got two good ballclubs. I think the way you saw Mike (Shildt) manage with some urgency and kind of the moves — I wouldn’t say playoff game, but it was intense. It was fun out there.”
At 40-27, the Dodgers lead the NL West, but by only 1 ½ games over the San Francisco Giants. It’s a one-game lead in the loss column. The Dodgers started the season 8-0, their best start since moving to Los Angeles in 1958, but are 32-27 since. They’re 16-16 in their last 32 games. That’s not bad, but it is a month-long stretch of mediocre ball.
What has held the Dodgers back the last few weeks? Honestly, themselves as much as anything. Almost every night, they are the most talented team on the field. Turning that talent into wins hasn’t come as easy as so many (myself included) expected coming into the season. Here are three reasons the Dodgers have been a .500 team for a month now.
1. They have so many injured pitchers
Keeping pitchers healthy is not something the Dodgers do well. Part of it is by design. They accept injury risk to get pitchers with high upside, and the best predictor of future injury is past injury. Tyler Glasnow has been no stranger to the injured list throughout his career. Roki Sasaki had arm trouble last year in Japan. Brusdar Graterol and Blake Treinen have lengthy injury histories.
The Dodgers currently have 14 pitchers on the major-league injured list. That’s a full 13-man pitching staff with someone to spare. Their injured list pitching staff is pretty good:
Rotation
1. LHP Blake Snell (shoulder inflammation)
2. RHP Tyler Glasnow (shoulder inflammation)
3. RHP Roki Sasaki (shoulder impingement)
4. RHP Tony Gonsolin (elbow discomfort)
5. RHP Gavin Stone (shoulder surgery)
Bullpen
Closer: RHP Blake Treinen (forearm strain)
Setup: RHP Evan Phillips (Tommy John surgery)
Middle: RHP Luis García (groin strain)
Middle: RHP Brusdar Graterol (shoulder surgery)
Middle: RHP Michael Grove (shoulder surgery)
Middle: RHP Edgardo Henriquez (foot discomfort)
Long: RHP Emmet Sheehan (Tommy John surgery)
Long: RHP River Ryan (Tommy John surgery)
That doesn’t include righty Kyle Hurt (Tommy John surgery) or Shohei Ohtani, who is rehabbing from elbow surgery as a pitcher while being an active player as a hitter. Ohtani has begun facing hitters and could join the rotation in a few weeks. The Dodgers certainly aren’t rushing him. The last thing they need is a setback as a pitcher that limits Ohtani’s availability as a hitter.
According to the Baseball Prospectus IL Ledger, the Dodgers have lost 946 man-games to injury this year, far and away the most in baseball. The New York Mets are a distant second with 684. The Dodgers have also lost 4.6 WAR to injury, tied with the New York Yankees for the second most in baseball behind the Baltimore Orioles (4.7 WAR). It’s a lot of injuries. It really is.
This is nothing new for the Dodgers. They bring this on themselves to some extent. Again, you don’t trade for someone like Glasnow expecting 220 innings. You know an injured list stint is coming. The injuries have taken a bite out of their success. At the same time, it’s impressive the Dodgers are where they are with all these injuries. They’re still very good. Just not as good as they could be.
2. It’s a different offense at Dodger Stadium
Monday’s win improved the Dodgers to 17-16 on the road this year, albeit with a plus-25 run differential. That includes a two-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the Tokyo Series in March. They’re 15-16 on the road in the domestic portion of their regular season schedule. At home, the Dodgers are 23-11 with a plus-50 run differential. Only the Mets (24-7) and Detroit Tigers (23-9) have better home records than Los Angeles.
The difference for the Dodgers is their offense. They are a much, much better offensive team at Dodger Stadium. Here are the numbers:
| Home | Road | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs per game | 6.21 | 4.97 |
| Batting average | .282 | .251 |
| On-base percentage | .359 | .322 |
| Slugging percentage | .500 | .420 |
| Home runs per game | 1.79 | 1.27 |
It’s a great offense on the road — the MLB average is 4.31 runs and 1.08 homers per game in 2025 — and a powerhouse offense at home. Eleven times in 34 home games the Dodgers have scored at least eight runs. Once a series, basically. They’ve scored eight runs seven times in 33 road games, which is still a pretty good pace. Just not as good as the home Dodgers.
Statcast rates Dodger Stadium as a great home run ballpark and a slightly above-average hitter park in general. This shows up with the Dodgers’ pitching staff too. They allow 4.74 runs and 1.59 homers per game at home. It’s only 4.21 runs and 0.94 homers per game on the road. The pitching has been a bit worse at home but the offense is so much better that it more than makes up for it.
Most teams perform better at home than on the road. The Dodgers are no different, though they do take it to the extreme. It’s almost like a mini-Coors Field effect. When you bounce between homestands and road trips each week, it can make it tough to put together lengthy winning streaks when your team performs as differently at home and on the road as these Dodgers.
3. This is dress rehearsal
Moreso than any other team, the Dodgers treat the regular season as preparation for October. They were never going to win 120 or 125 or whatever insane number of games folks half-expected this season because a) that’s just not a thing that happens in baseball, and b) that is not their goal. Their priority is putting themselves in the best possible position heading into the postseason.
Case in point: Los Angeles lost two of the first three games to the Mets last week, and in the fourth game of the four-game series, they sat Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy. Did they want to win the game? Yes (and they ultimately did), but not enough to push Freeman and Muncy too hard. They have their rest days mapped out and they stick to them. Their focus is on the big picture.
The Dodgers basically never use relievers on back-to-back-to-back days, even their low-leverage arms. They have what amounts to a six-man rotation too, except their sixth starter is often a bullpen game or someone who gets called up from the minors for one day. Only six times in 67 games this season has a Dodgers’ starter pitched on normal rest, the fewest in baseball.
To put it another way, the Dodgers do not have the pedal on the floor. We could even say they take a postseason berth for granted, that they just assume they’ll get in, but they’ve earned that right. They’ve been to the postseason each of the last 12 years. I mean, we’re sitting here talking about what’s wrong with them when they’re 40-27 and in first place.
If a postseason berth comes into question, the Dodgers will act accordingly, and prioritize wins in the short-term. Right now though, their foot is off the gas to some extent. They’re very good and they know it, and the players on the roster know what they have to do to win a division and succeed in the postseason. It’s not about every last win in June. It’s about October.