Dodgers News: LA Drops in Latest Power Rankings Heading Into August
In their most recent power rankings, the Dodgers dropped one spot on The Athletic's MLB list.
The result spans from LA's middling stretch of play where they lost their past two series at home to the Blue Jays and the Reds.
Amid their recent struggles, the Dodgers have traded for pitchers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly, utility player Amed Rosario, fan favorite Kiké Hernandez and Ryan Yarbrough ahead of the deadline to hopefully fortify their postseason chances.
Despite these deals in recent days, LA's offense has scored five runs just twice in their past six games and is clearly slumping at the worst possible time.
With the recent skid, the San Francisco Giants have cut the Dodgers' lead in the NL West to just two-and-a-half games and are firmly in pursuit of their biggest rival.
The Dodgers aren't the only ones gearing up for a postseason push as the Giants just acquired former Dodger and Diamondback outfielder AJ Pollock from the Seattle Mariners in his return to the division.
Sitting just a few games behind the Giants, the Diamondbacks were also buyers this deadline, trading for Mariners closer Paul Sewald and Dodgers outfielder target Tommy Pham.
The Diamondbacks are hoping to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2017. The Dodgers eliminated Arizona that season in the NLDS en route to their first World Series appearance since 1988, but the Dodgers have proven vulnerable thus far in the 2023 campaign.
Not nearly as formidable as previous seasons, the Dodgers pitching has also been a culprit for their recent slide.
Both the bullpen and the starting rotation haven't been as sharp as previous seasons with injuries to Dustin May, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Daniel Hudson and others adding to the many questions swirling around the organization.
Despite this, the Dodgers hope to pick up the pieces in the final two months to give Chavez Ravine a taste of postseason baseball once again.
