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The Los Angeles Dodgers are half of the World Series Dodgers; literally

By Jason Reed

MONTERREY, MEXICO - MAY 05: Cody Bellinger #35 of Los Angeles Dodgers returns to the bullpen having scored a run after a single of left fielder Matt Kemp #27 in the second inning during the MLB game against the San Diego Padres at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey on May 5, 2018 in Monterrey, Mexico. (Photo by Azael Rodriguez/Getty Images)
MONTERREY, MEXICO - MAY 05: Cody Bellinger #35 of Los Angeles Dodgers returns to the bullpen having scored a run after a single of left fielder Matt Kemp #27 in the second inning during the MLB game against the San Diego Padres at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey on May 5, 2018 in Monterrey, Mexico. (Photo by Azael Rodriguez/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have started the 2018 season on the wrong foot. With a plethora of injuries, some may consider 2018 a lost season.

Six months ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers were competing in the World Series for the first time in 29 years.

Now, the Dodgers are struggling tooth and nail to get regular season wins, something that came so easy to the team last year. The Dodgers are under .500 and they have been nearly all season; the team has spent just one day above .500 thus far this season.

It has not been pretty. Los Angeles has not been able to piece together a complete game. Some nights, the offense looks capable of providing the same fireworks from last season. Other nights, the offense couldn’t hit the ball with an oar.

The pitching staff has shown the same inconsistencies. On some nights, the Dodgers pitching staff looks incredible from the starting rotation to the bullpen. More frequently, the pitching staff has struggled. Los Angeles seemingly is never on the same page, they cannot capitalize on each aspect of the game.

This has understandably caused frustration. This is the team that won 104 games last season and marched their way to the World Series. For the most part, the team’s core was intact. This doesn’t make sense.

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But it does. This is nowhere near the same team the Dodgers fielded in 2018, or even in the World Series.

Right now, there are only 14 players on the Dodgers World Series roster that are active. Those 14 are Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor, Yasmani Grandal, Austin Barnes, Chase Utley, Enrique Hernandez, Joc Pederson, Rich Hill, Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda, Kenley Jansen, Ross Stripling, Tony Cingrani and Josh Fields.

Only three of those players are starting position players (Bellinger, Taylor, Grandal). The pitchers are struggling.

Wood does not look great, Maeda looks better out of the bullpen, Rich Hill just returned and got hit hard against the Diamondbacks, Jansen hasn’t been Jansen, Cingrani and Fields have both blown up in big spots. Stripling was good out of the bullpen but has been asked to start in place of an injured staff.

What about the rest of the 11 players that were on the Dodgers World Series roster?

Six of those players were no longer in the organization heading into 2018. Brandon Morrow and Yu Darvish signed with the Chicago Cubs. Tony Watson signed with the San Francisco Giants.

Charlie Culberson and Brandon McCarthy were traded to the Atlanta Braves. Andre Ethier was never signed by any MLB team and is likely heading into retirement.

Of those, Darvish, Morrow and Watson were big assets to the World Series push. Culberson came up big in the NLCS, Ethier had the only RBI in game seven of the World Series. For the most part, though, Morrow was the only big loss that was there all season in LA.

The other five are all injured. Justin Turner still has not played after being hit by a pitch in the wrist in Spring Training. Corey Seager is going to have Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season. Yasiel Puig and Logan Forsythe have both been out on 10-day DL stints.

Clayton Kershaw is dealing with bicep tendonitis, which very well could derail the rest of his season. Hyun-Jin Ryu, who was not on the World Series roster, was the Dodgers’ best pitcher early on. In typical 2018 fashion, Ryu suffered a left groin strain and will be out until at least the All-Star Break.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are literally a shell of the team that was fielded in the 2018 World Series. Right now, the team is playing without the two best hitters in Seager and Turner and the best pitcher in Kershaw.

And even when some guys have been on the roster, they were obviously battling something. Puig was struggling bad, Forsythe was probably fighting through the pain; Seager and Kershaw as well could have been battling something all season.

Next: How long to expect Kershaw to be out

The Los Angeles Dodgers need a spark to start the red-hot summer run that the fans have grown accustomed to. However, the team is going to need some fixing up first.

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