Editorials

Dodgers: Head to Head, How Big is the Gap Between LA and the San Diego Padres

Recently, the Dodgers vs. Padres rivalry has become a very hot topic, so the question is, are they both at the same level? The Dodgers have already made a fairly good case for being one of the best teams in the league right now (and over the last 5+ years). Have the Padres proven they can achieve or exceed the level of play the Dodgers have shown so far?  

With the next Padres-Dodgers series ahead of us, let’s talk pitching. The Dodgers have an incredible pitching rotation, with Clayton Kershaw, Trevor Bauer, and Julio Urías among others. The staff has allowed only 16 runs over their last five games, including in the series against the Padres less than a week ago. 



Now, the Padres pitching rotation has allowed 28 runs over their past 6 games where they went 1-5 on a homestand. With so many injuries piling up, and the bullpen quickly becoming overworked, the San Diego club is limping into LA and in need of some serious help.

Additionally, we need to talk about scoring. Who will step up and be run producers for the Padres? We all know the Padres have Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, but they are not the only threats. The Padres have Trent Grisham, Eric Hosmer, and Wil Myers who are all tied with the most home runs on the team (3). As a matter of fact, Eric Hosmer has a batting average of .319 so far this season and picked up some key hits against LA over the last weekend series. He is seeing the ball very well right now for sure.

This can give the Dodgers problems going forward if they do not plan well enough for pitching mistakes.

Related: The Padres Have a Long Way to Go to Catch LA’s Approach to Injuries

Talent All Around

Every team hopes their draft picks become stars at the MLB level. For the Dodgers, their rookies have shown so far they will not just be new faces but contributing players in 2021. Not only have we seen Zach McKinstry post an .883 OPS, but fellow rookie Luke Raley got his first MLB career HR against the Padres last weekend and has been filling in serviceably with Cody Bellinger on the injured list.

That’s not the best part of the Dodgers lineup though. Justin Turner has 5 HR’s this season and has BA north of .350. And the rest of the lineup is also showing off with Corey Seager and Max Muncy once again being key run producers for LA. 

On the other side, the Padres have shown a lackluster offense, particularly over the past 6 game stretch. If their bats come alive it can give all of MLB trouble, not just the Dodgers.

Lastly, looking at the power rankings from the MLB, after week two, we can see that the Padres are at the No. 2 spot and the Dodgers are at the No. 1 spot.

Ultimately, both teams have above-par pitching and players that will get on base, but the Dodgers’ pitching and batting have been superior. But we’ll see what goes down for LA vs SD round two at Dodger Stadium.

Prepare yourselves Dodgers fans, who knows what will happen. 

NEXT: More Tickets Go On Sale For This Weekend Against the Padres

3 Comments

  1. The gap is not that big. The Dodgers will need to be very good on the field to win the division. No more cruising into the Division title.

  2. Right now, the difference is that if the Padres play to the top of the their abilities, they are equal to the Dodgers. But if the Dodgers play to the top of their abilities, the Padres are not there yet. With the exception of the last inning of the first game of the first head to head series, the Dodgers hitters have not shown up yet and so the Padres have made all the games competitive. And as long as the Padres focus only on the Dodgers – which they are clearly doing right now – they will still fall well behind over an 162 game season. They haven’t shown they can be competitive with the rest of the league in these early days of the season.

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