Dodgers News: Dave Roberts is Not Apologizing for Growing Lead Over the NL West
Despite talks of a transition year due to the many losses in free agency and injuries aplenty this year, the Dodgers find themselves in familiar territory late in the 2023 regular season.
At the top of the NL West standings again, Dodger manager Dave Roberts remained focused on finishing strong no matter how big their divisional lead has gotten at this point in the year.
“If you look back four or five weeks ago, could we have envisioned this situation? I think we could’ve saw ourselves playing like this. But, to be in this position, it takes other teams not playing well at all. So it is what it is… I’m not going to apologize for it, I’m just going to stress continuing to win baseball games and seeing where we’re at once we get to the postseason.”
via Houston Mitchell, LA Times
With a 10-game winning streak in the month of August, the Dodgers have their longest win streak of the season paired with some dropped games from divisional competition.
As a result, LA has opened up a 10-game lead over the Giants for the NL West lead with Arizona and San Diego lagging far behind.
Powered by improved starting pitching in recent weeks, Julio Urias and Bobby Miller have been standouts in their respective outings for the team.
Miller especially impressed with his best start of the season against the Brewers, pitching six efficient innings of one run ball, sitting down 18 straight batters at one point.
A bullpen that was second-worst in the majors earlier in the season has improved dramatically with Evan Phillips and Brusdar Graterol continuing their solid seasons and Ryans Yarbrough and Brasier coming in midseason to headline a new look late inning clean up crew.
Not to be outdone, the depth within the hitting core has been rock solid.
Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts may be MVP candidates, but recent performances from David Peralta, Miguel Rojas and James Outman have shown that the team has swung the bat well from top to bottom.
Winning in the majors isn’t easy for any team, but the Dodgers hope their victorious ways will continue into October.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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