Los Angeles Dodgers: As a fan, I am officially waving the white flag

We do not do many columns here at LA Sports Hub, so when we do, you know it is serious. The Los Angeles Dodgers just got swept by the Cincinnati Reds.

My mother loves Matt Kemp more than any other baseball player I have ever seen. When I informed her that the Los Angeles Dodgers reacquired Kemp she was ecstatic. Even after I explained that he probably would not end up on the team she still was full of joy.

Thus, it was fitting that my mom wanted to go to the Dodger game on Mother’s Day to see her favorite player in action.

The seats were not bad. Loge level, section 133, row F, seats 1-4. Elevated behind the Dodgers’ dugout we got a great look of the entire field, and most importantly, Matt Kemp while the Dodgers were batting.

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When the tickets were bought several weeks ago I could not have imagined that this joyous Mother’s Day gift could also bring in a sad reality. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who won 104 games last season and were one game shy of winning the World Series, were about to get swept by the worst team in the National League.

The team that was 10-27 prior to the series. Before the series began, coming off of a slow start, I sat on a bold take. Something I thought that would be impossible. Even being an optimistic fan, there was no way I was getting ahead of myself by thinking the Dodgers would have to win at least one out of four games.

I was wrong. It was not as surefire as I thought.

Yeah, I said it. If the Dodgers got swept by the Reds I would give up on the year and officially proclaim the season was over. No playoffs. Let’s look towards next year.

I can’t back out now. The Los Angeles Dodgers are not going to make the playoffs this season. Period. It is a wrap. Justin Turner returning to the lineup will not fix all of the problems the Dodgers have. We are a fourth of the way into the season and the team is eight games under .500.

Could I be wrong? Absolutely. In fact, I hope I am wrong.

But being swept by the worst team in the National League was much more than four losses. It sucked the life out of this team. For the first time all season, Dave Roberts is visually angry. His team is not producing. The bullpen is awful, the offense is terrible with runners in scoring position. Defensively, the team is lackluster.

Nothing is good about the Dodgers thus far. And while they are way too talented to play like this, talent does not mean results. Going out and causing those results is the only way to back up the talent argument. It makes you wonder, at what point do the Dodgers go from a struggling, talented team, to simply being not as talented as we all thought?

Every concern I (and a lot of other Dodger fans) had heading into this season have come true. It is impossible to be complacent in the offseason and succeed the next year. Every other team in the league got better, the Dodgers arguably got worse.

And the results have shown.

There are multiple factors to this slow start. A World Series hangover mixed with untimely injuries mixed with a mental block that is now in everyone’s head is probably the best way to explain it.

But whatever it is, it may be too late to right the ship.

Next: Leaked photos of new centerfield at Dodger Stadium

I genuinely hope the Los Angeles Dodgers prove me wrong and in five months everyone reading this can tweet how dumb I was for writing this article. The 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers will not make the playoffs. Period.