The Los Angeles Dodgers of 2013 finally looked like a team well worth the unbelievably expensive roster. With the addition of Yasiel Puig the Dodgers looked like a Phoenix rising from it’s ashes. They became a team to fear, they passed their rivals the San Francisco Giants in the National League West standings and made their way to the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Dodgers almost made it to the World Series, but remember ladies and gentlemen, almost doesn’t count.
The Los Angeles Dodgers entered 2014 as the reining NL West champs and were one of the top contenders to have a stellar season. With their ace, Clayton Kershaw out for the first couple of weeks due to an inflamed back muscle (SIA Profile), the Dodgers lost momentum fast. It’s as if all of the National Leagues heard the news of Kershaw’s absence and took that information and ran with it. We all know the Dodgers were counting down the days before their golden child returned so that they may bounce back and all the other teams in the National League were counting down the days of his return in fear.
Kershaw returns just in time to take on their rivals the San Francisco Giants and the prediction was the Dodgers were going to own the Giants on mother’s day, the prediction never came to be. The Giants took the the Dodgers down 7-4 and was the first glimpse of Pablo “the panda” Sandoval getting out of his slump. Kershaw has definitely not been himself as of late and Yasiel Puig, well, bat flipping a double can only take you so far.
Fast forward to today and the once definite prospect for the post season appearance, the Dodgers are now in second place in the National League West and are 8.5 games behind their rivals the San Francisco Giants. It has been a little over a year since the red hot Yasiel Puig made his major league debut with this club and helped them on their journey to the post season, but can Puig put this team on his back and carry them there? Can Kershaw pick himself back up especially when it comes to dueling against their arch rivals? The clubhouse needs to talk to one another, they need to click, they need to play for their team and not their paychecks.
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