September’s Alarm Bells: Can the Dodgers Recover From a Disappearing Offense and a Rundown Bullpen?

At 82-57 with a run differential that still sits among the best in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers look like a juggernaut on paper. But look past their season-long numbers and there is a messy stretch hiding inside August — one that has turned September into a question of whether this team is peaking or spiraling.

The Dodgers stumbled through a 13-14 August, the second straight mediocre month after a 13-11 July. It started with a home sweep at the hands of Boston, got worse with a season-high seven-game losing streak that knocked them from the top of the power rankings, and featured a particularly brutal road trip in which they dropped all three games to the Braves, letting Atlanta catch them in the race for a top-two NL seed. The loss of that cushion is part of why late-August news has felt so heavy for a team expected to breeze into October.

The offense has vanished — at the worst time

August was supposed to be when LA’s star-studded lineup hit its stride. Instead, the bats went quiet. Across a recent 10-game window, the Dodgers posted a team OPS of just .700, and in the last five games that number is only slightly better at .762. Five of the team’s dozen losses in August included the winning run scoring in the eighth inning or later — a brutal trend for a club that thought its weaknesses were behind it.

To make matters worse, they lost outfielder Andy Pages to the 10-day injured list, creating what Yahoo Sports described as a “huge hole” in the middle of the lineup. The return of catcher Smith — set for Tuesday per MLB.com — should give the offense a much-needed jolt, but it can't replace the production LA needs right now.

Bullpen in flux after Díaz hits the IL

The bigger concern might be on the mound. Closer Edwin Díaz, who had been struggling badly, was placed on the 15-day injured list, leaving the ninth inning up in the air. As the Dodgers’ bullpen carries a season ERA of 3.67, just 19 saves have come from this relief corps — and they’ve blown six. Meanwhile, rookie sensation Roki Sasaki landed on the IL with a finger blister, a setback that complicates a postseason plan that reportedly envisioned Sasaki working out of the bullpen in October. The rotation has taken shape behind Blake Snell, who has posted a 2.42 ERA with a 12.5 K/9 over his last five starts — but bullpen decisions remain fluid, with a nickname like "the air" for a reason.

Why there's still reason for optimism

Not all is doom in Los Angeles. The Dodgers closed August with a win in Detroit, backing a stingy effort from Tyler Glasnow. And the schedule ahead is described by one outlet as a cakewalk: the remaining slate is full of winnable series, including the current home set against St. Louis. Star Shohei Ohtani continues to anchor the lineup, slashing .279/.381/.525 with 30 homers and 89 runs.

Still, the market is not blind to the recent slide. In Thursday's opener against the Cardinals, the Dodgers open as hefty home favorites — listed around -300, implying about a 75% win probability, with the total sitting at 7.5. But that pricing reflects the season-long talent, not the last five weeks of uneven play.

The question now is whether LA can flip the switch before October. History says teams this talented usually do. But with the bullpen unsettled, the lineup suddenly punchless, and home-field advantage slipping away, the Dodgers have real work to do in these final weeks — and more urgency than their record suggests.