On paper, the LA Dodgers look as formidable as they’ve ever been, with one of MLB’s best records and a star-studded roster headlined by the best player in the world, Shohei Ohtani. With a closer look under the magnifying glass, the team is struggling through injuries and mediocre play as they have gone 21-21 over the past quarter of the season.
As back-to-back World Series champions, anything short of another title will be viewed as a disappointment. October is approaching fast, and there are reasons to question whether Los Angeles is as well-positioned to make a postseason run.
Long List Of Injuries
Health has been a season-long concern regarding the Dodgers roster. They have been without top talent, including starting catcher Will Smith, infielder Tommy Edman, and starting pitchers Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, for a significant time. Edwin Diaz, signed as the closer, has pitched only 16 games before recently landing back on the injured list. Ohtani was shut down from pitching in July due to some ailments.
This has forced LA to rely on lesser players for prominent roles and scramble to acquire temporary replacements. Their pitching staff has been under more stress during this past stretch, leaving manager Dave Roberts to juggle availability and workload while keeping them healthy.
A team with the talent and resources like the Dodgers can survive injuries over a full season. Being able to acquire two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline makes a perfect remedy for all the missing pitchers. It becomes harder to overcome in a playoff series against another strong team.
The injured players are working their way back to join the squad before postseason play, but at what capacity remains to be seen. Counting on multiple players to return in peak form is a risky proposition that could hurt Los Angeles when it matters most.
Underperforming Stars In The Lineup
Another issue for the Dodgers has been the underwhelming performance from some of their stars. As the most expensive roster in MLB, LA is paying these players to contribute at the elite level they have throughout their careers. It has not happened in 2026, and as a result, the Dodgers’ offense has gone through more prolonged stretches of inconsistency than they thought was possible.
Kyle Tucker signed a monster deal last offseason for 4 years and $240 million, and has struggled all year long, hitting for a .694 OPS (including a recent 0-for-25 stretch) while playing bad defense (-10 defensive runs saved).
Teoscar Hernandez has struggled in the same way, only hitting 11 homers this year and below league average (98 OPS+). He also has been a negative in the outfield, giving LA two liabilities out there every day.
Mookie Betts has been a league MVP and among the best overall players in MLB for the past decade. While he is still valuable to the Dodgers for his defense at shortstop, his bat has fallen off, hitting .237 with a .291 on-base percentage (93 OPS+).
Los Angeles has Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Max Muncy to carry the load on offense. Andy Pages’ breakout season in center field has helped as well. They will need to get these struggling stars closer to their peak levels to be the dangerous lineup they built for playoff time, to avoid the underperformance in last year’s World Series that almost cost them.
The LA Dodgers Still Have The Most Talent, But The Concerns Are Valid
Neither of these issues is brought up to suggest that the Dodgers are in trouble. They still have the best player in Ohtani and acquired arguably MLB’s best starting pitcher in Skubal. A roster with Freeman, Muncy, Pages, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto is enough to overcome these concerns.
These problems will not prevent Los Angeles from making the playoffs, but could become significant enough to ruin their run to a three-peat in October. With sky-high expectations for a team with the biggest price tag in the game, the margin for error in a series is small enough for these problems to have a negative impact.
It won’t matter how talented the Dodgers are on paper if the injuries continue to pile up and the lineup continues to struggle through down seasons from numerous stars. It could all end in disappointment if the concerns aren’t taken care of.
