In the minds of many, the Los Angeles Dodgers broke baseball once and for all when they acquired Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers, and I don't blame fans who were fed up. The back-to-back World Series champions added the best pitcher in the sport when they didn't even really need him.
Well, what if I told you that the Dodgers haven't won a single game since acquiring Skubal? They've lost five in a row since the trade and seven in a row overall. They've gone just 13-17 since the start of July. Obviously, this team is a juggernaut going through a rut amid a long season, but it's becoming clear that even with Skubal being as good as he is, L.A. has holes it did not properly address at the deadline.
Dodgers chose to run with MLB's worst catching situation post-deadline
When healthy, the catching duo of Will Smith and Dalton Rushing might be MLB's best. The problem is, neither one of them are healthy right now. Smith has been out with a neck injury since June, and while the Dodgers hope he'll be back sometime in September, there's no clear timetable for his return. Rushing was scratched from the Dodgers' lineup the day before the deadline with an elbow injury, and upon further examination, it was revealed that he is unlikely to catch again this season.
These injuries forced the Dodgers to scramble for depth, and to Andrew Friedman's credit, he acquired familiar faces in Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia. In an ideal world, this stacked L.A. lineup wouldn't need much offense from its catchers and could rely on their familiarity with their pitchers to lead to success, but this offense has not been producing as expected. Thus, perhaps the worst catching tandem in the sport has been exposed, as they've gone a combined 1-for-7 since being acquired.
The Dodgers shouldn't be blamed for injuries out of their control, but they knew the situation going into deadline day. They knew Smith was out for a while, and while they didn't fully know the seriousness of Rushing's injury, they knew it was bad enough to add depth. The problem is, they didn't add quality depth, and that shortens an already rickety lineup.
Dodgers did not add a single reliever
On paper, the Dodgers' bullpen is quite good. Edwin Diaz was arguably the best closer in the sport in 2025 and has an excellent track record. Tanner Scott has enjoyed a bounce-back year. Guys like Alex Vesia, Jack Dreyer and Edgardo Henriquez have been steady. Unfortunately, though, the results from this group have not been good enough.
Diaz allowed a walk-off home run on Friday, blowing his second save of the year in just seven opportunities. More alarmingly, he's allowed 11 runs in nine innings as a Dodger, and has allowed four runs in three innings since his return from a lengthy IL stint. Diaz isn't the only reliever struggling: The Dodgers' bullpen has a 5.03 ERA as a whole since July 1, good for 24th in the league. That's over a month of this relief unit being one of the worst in the sport.
I know the Dodgers expect to get pitchers back from the IL in time, and that should help their bullpen, but injuries are hard to predict. Any pitcher can go down at any given time. Only trading for Skubal while not adding a single reliever just didn't make much sense given how that unit has been performing for a while now.
Dodgers could have used another bat
What's been most bizarre about the Dodgers' recent struggles is that they simply haven't been hitting. They've scored four runs or fewer in five of their last seven games and are tied for 20th in runs scored since July 1. Their 94 wRC+ in that span is good for 20th in the Majors. They've been one of the 10 worst offensive teams in the league for over a month.
That's bound to flip at some point, but while this Dodgers lineup is littered with big names, many of those names haven't been as good as expected all year. Mookie Betts has a .682 OPS. Kyle Tucker has a 103 wRC+, making him just a tick above average as a hitter. Teoscar Hernandez still crushes lefties, but his .677 OPS against righties leaves a lot to be desired. Even Andy Pages, an All-Star starter this season, has a .701 OPS since June 1. He's been roughly a league-average hitter for over two months, yet he's still hitting second every night in what's supposed to be the league's best lineup.
Obviously, Shohei Ohtani is still great and Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy are ageless wonders, but beyond those guys, seemingly everyone is underperforming. It's fair to assume that name brands who have struggled will bounce back, but they haven't yet. Not adding a single bat, choosing instead to fortify their biggest strength, could potentilly come back to haunt them.
Add us as a preferred source on Google