L.A. DODGERS FACING ELIMINATION

By: Andrew Benson
RP Show Intern

Will there be a new champion in the MLB?

The Los Angeles Dodgers are one loss away from packing their bags for the winter. One more loss, and the dreams of winning back-to-back championships will be a distant memory.

On Thursday’s The Rod Pedersen Show, we had the chance to talk with Arash Madani, a Sportsnet reporter down in Los Angeles covering the Dodgers, and ask him about the situation the Dodgers find themselves in being down 3-1.

“LA has limped through these playoffs both literally and figuratively,” said Madani. “On Wednesday there was Justin Turner, one of the franchise cornerstones, hobbling off the field grabbing his hamstring. Something that has been bothering him for quite a while.”

It was reported Thursday the All-Star will likely miss the rest of the post season with the hamstring strain. Turner is only one member of the team that has been missing through this post season run, and it is starting to show said Madani.

“Clayton Kershaw is done for October, Max Muncy their cornerstone first baseman who adds so much offense to them, he’s out with injury as is David Price because he just hasn’t performed, and no one wants to talk about Trevor Bauer because of all the allegations, but he is a 40 million dollar starting pitcher who’s not on the NLCS roster,” said Madani.

“They have more than $100 million in payroll not even activated for this championship series,” said Madani.

The missing pieces have really impacted the Dodgers offense. The defending champs were blown out on Wednesday losing 9-2 at home.

“The issue has been their offense has been missing in action basically all of October,” said Madani. “Their offense just hasn’t really been there and you look around the lineup and there isn’t that power or that thump in the lineup that you are used to from the Dodgers.

“You even think back to the divisional series against San Francisco, they were shutout twice by the Giants, and in the elimination game they only scored 2 runs,” said Madani.

On Thursday night, the Dodgers will look to get back into the series in front of their home crowd, and take the series back to Atlanta for game six and seven..

For Madani, this series is a perfect reminder for all teams aiming for a championship.

“Win while you can, because you never know when it can all fall apart.”