Dodgers Dugout: Pluses and minuses with 39 games left in the season

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell and today we turn part of the newsletter over to a different voice.

Time to get a different perspective on the Dodgers, who have a 19 1/2 game lead in the National League West with 39 games left to play.

So, instead of listening (reading?) my yammerings on the Dodgers again, I posed some questions to my colleague, Times Dodgers beat writer Jack Harris.

Q: Walker Buehler is out for the season. Dustin May is back. Clayton Kershaw hopes to be back before the playoffs. If you were forced to guess the Dodgers’ postseason rotation (in no particular order) now, who would you pick?

Harris: Assuming they all stay healthy, I would guess the Dodgers’ playoff rotation includes these four pitchers: Julio Urías, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May. Urías and Gonsolin have been the club’s two best starters all year. Kershaw has been excellent when healthy. And May might have the best raw stuff of anyone on the staff, though he’ll need to prove he can be consistent over the final month of the season.

In that scenario, Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney would both move to the bullpen, where they could provide length and left-handed depth. Anderson has already excelled as a bulk reliever this year, when he began the season as a piggy-back partner for Gonsolin. Heaney has past experience coming out of the bullpen, as well, having done it for the New York Yankees last year.

Q: There aren’t a lot of weak spots on this team, but what would you say is the biggest concern heading into the stretch run and postseason?

Harris: I still think the bullpen has some causes for concern. Right now, there is no clear October closer, with even Dave Roberts refusing to commit to Craig Kimbrel as the team’s ninth-inning option in the playoffs. Of the team’s currently healthy relievers, there isn’t an abundance of postseason experience. And outside of Evan Phillips, every other high-leverage reliever has experienced some level of inconsistent performance (or health) for stretches this season.

It would help if Blake Treinen, Tommy Kahnle and maybe even Victor González and/or Danny Duffy could get healthy down the stretch and pitch well heading into October.

Otherwise, the Dodgers’ will likely end up relying on arms such as Brusdar Graterol, Alex Vesia and Yency Almonte to get key outs, all of whom have been good this season, but haven’t exactly established themselves as the game’s most dominant relievers.

Q: How long does Max Muncy need to keep hitting well for Dodgers fans to truly believe he has rediscovered his stroke?

Harris: I think it’s safe to assume Muncy’s worst days of the season are behind him. He made a mechanical adjustment last month in Colorado, when he began planting his back left foot with a small step before every swing, and used video work to get his bat back on a flatter path.

Since then, he’s been one of the hotter hitters in the game. Entering Wednesday, his seven home runs in August were tied for most in the majors, while his 1.108 OPS in the month ranked fifth among qualified batters. A four-digit OPS might not be sustainable the rest of the way, but as long as Muncy continues to hit home runs, he’ll be a threat in the middle of the Dodgers’ lineup.

Q: Lots of people ask me the status of a contract extension for Trea Turner. Please tell us what you know about that situation.

All remains quiet on that front.

Back in the spring, Turner said he’d be open to a long-term extension with the Dodgers, but no formal offer ever materialized before the start of the season. Since then, little seems to have changed.

If Turner hits the open market, which becomes likelier the longer he remains without an extension, the All-Star shortstop should cash in, after recent mega-deals for Francisco Lindor (10 years, $341 million) and Corey Seager (10 years, $325 million) set a lofty precedent for premier talent at the position.

Last winter, the Dodgers let Seager walk when his price got too high, and he was a year and a half younger than the 29-year-old Turner will be this offseason (granted, Seager has been less durable in his career, and the Dodgers knew they had Turner on the roster for this year).

This isn’t to say a deal still can’t be worked out at some point between Turner and the Dodgers, who should have the financial capabilities to swing a massive deal for Turner if they want to.

But at this juncture, it seems just as likely that someone else will be starting at shortstop for the Dodgers come opening day next season.

Walker Buehler

Turns out, Buehler needed Tommy John surgery, which he underwent on Tuesday. This means he probably won’t be back next season either. Consider that May had Tommy John surgery in the month of May of last year and has just now returned, 15 months later.

This could change the Dodgers’ free agency plans in the offseason. The only healthy starters they have under team control next season are Urías, May and Gonsolin. Kershaw, Heaney and Anderson are free agents. Of course, they could also make someone such as Ryan Pepiot or Andre Jackson full-fledged members of the rotation. But will they be more willing to sign a free-agent starter now? Something to keep an eye on after the season ends.

Record pace

The Dodgers are on pace to finish 113-49, shattering the record for most wins in a season by a Dodgers team. A look at the MLB record and Dodger record.

Dodgers

2021, 106-56, lost in NLCS
2019, 106-56, lost in NLDS
1953, 105-49, lost in World Series
2017, 104-58, lost in World Series
1942, 104-50, did not make postseason
1974, 102-60, lost in World Series
1962, 102-63, did not make postseason
1899, 101-47, no World Series that year
1941, 100-54, lost in World Series

The Dodgers team with the best record to win the World Series was the 1963 Dodgers, who finished 99-63.

MLB

1906 Chicago Cubs, 116-36, lost in World Series

2001 Seattle Mariners, 116-46, lost in ALCS

1998 New York Yankees, 114-48, won World Series

1954, Cleveland Indians, 111-43, lost World Series

1927 New York Yankees, 110-44, Won World Series

1909 Pittsburgh Pirates, 110-42, Won World Series

Best Dodgers record through 123 games

2017, 88-35, lost in World Series*

2022, 86-37, ?

1942, 85-38, did not make postseason

1953, 84-39, lost in World Series

1952, 82-41, lost in World Series

2019, 81-42, lost in NLDS

1962, 81-42, did not make postseason

1955, 80-43, won World Series

*-Astros cheated

What Vin Scully meant to me

Jack Rosenberg of Glendale: “2 and 2 to Harvey Kuenn.” Sept. 9, 1965. I was not at home listening, but, rather, at the game. The Dodgers got one hit. I could hear Vin’s description echoing throughout the stadium.

Mark Wolf of Los Angeles: As a 9-year-old in 1972, I lost my mom just before the baseball season. Daytime was OK but nighttime was horrible. Then came Vin and Jerry [Doggett] over the radio. Not just talking me to sleep but soothing my fears and anxiety and bringing some light into those dark nights.

I was fortunate to spend a few minutes with Vin shortly after his retirement and told him how important he was for me at this time and thank him as best I could. That is a memory I will also carry with me forever.

Steve Shin: I am a lifelong Dodger fan and my 45 years following this team has been attributed to Mr. Scully. My family and I came to the United States in December 1977. We initially settled in Portland, Ore. It rained almost every day. My mom got depressed because of the weather so my dad decided to move us to Los Angeles. By the time we moved to L.A., I was an 8-year-old boy who spoke no English. Our family lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Koreatown (it wasn’t called Koreatown back then) with a television set in the living room. That’s when I first heard Vin. His voice was so warm and inviting. Back then I had very little knowledge about baseball. I listened to him almost every day and watched the Dodgers play in the World Series against the Yankees in October 1978.

I’ve been a Dodger fan ever since. Vin literally taught me English. More importantly, he taught me about America. I owe so much to him. One story I have is when a contingent of a local churches visited our apartment during a game in 1978, my mom asked me to turn off the game while they held service in my living room. I refused. I remember the group singing gospel and the pastor sharing the gospel as I listened to Vin telling us one of his magical stories. My name is Steve, self-named after Steve Garvey. That’s all, and I’m still crying.

Art Centeno of Jurupa Valley: My kids and I would settle in for the night and watch the Dodgers game and of course get serenaded by Vin every night. But we had a game within a game, we would say a game was not an official Dodgers game until Vin said “deuces are wild, two balls, two strikes, two on, two outs.” When Vin said that we would celebrate like the Dodgers had won the game. It was fun to listen to Vin because he added so much more to the game. To this day my son still says, look dad, deuces are wild when the count is 2-and-2 with two outs. That is how we remember Vin.

And finally

Roy Firestone interviews Vin Scully. Watch and listen here.