The Los Angeles Dodgers are currently the No. 3 seed in the National League and would be playing a wild card series if the season ended today.
The Dodgers had to play a wild card series last year as well, but still won the World Series. However, a best-of-three series opens the door for plenty of upsets. Anything can happen in a short series, and the Dodgers will see only the best of any opponent's pitching staff.
The same goes for whoever they would play, but manager Dave Roberts does not want to worry about that. On Monday, he noted that the team needs to play with more urgency and, with disdain, noted that the team is a wild card team right now. The last month of play has not been the best showing of Dodgers baseball, and the team knows that.
"We know what we have to do to win games,” Freddie Freeman said in response to Roberts' comment on urgency, per The Athletic's Katie Woo. “We got a good group that’s been together for a long time, that knows how to win.
“There’s going to be no panic out of this clubhouse,” he added. “I understand what Doc’s saying. Baseball’s a little different. I can’t go out there and swing harder and throw harder. That’s just not how it works.”
The players know they have to start stacking wins if they want a bye, which would be huge for them. However, Freeman has a point. He is not going up to the plate and giving anything less than 100%. In fact, Freeman, for the most part, has not been the problem.
Still, the entire team needs to step up to help them get through this stretch. The bullpen has been a major problem since the All-Star break, and the team's leverage arms have been inconsistent. Outside of Tanner Scott, nobody has been reliable as of late.