Although the Giants appear to be out of the picture sitting 14 games back, the other four teams in the National League West are separated by just 5.5 games and it has been a tight race all season. Teams have taken turns getting hot, with Arizona on top at present after a recent surge. The Los Angeles Dodgers were the team that many projected to win the NL West, some predicted in convincing fashion. That will not be the case, and the Dodgers actually appear to be the team most likely to completely fall out of contention.

After winning four consecutive games after the All-Star break the Dodgers have hit a tough stretch in the late summer. The Dodgers are just 5-13 in the last 18 games and although Los Angeles is still within striking distance, there is a foreboding sense looking at the upcoming schedule. The Dodgers are on the road for 22 of the next 32 games and although Los Angeles is 28-24 on the road this season it will be a difficult stretch especially considering the currently thin pitching staff. The travel is not strictly within the division which will definitely wear on the team.

The road trip starts in the Midwest with games against Cincinnati and St. Louis before heading home for seven games. The Dodgers then must head across the country for six games with top NL East teams Philadelphia and New York. A short three-game series back home is followed up by an atrocious ten game road trip, going from San Diego to Chicago then back west to San Francisco without a day off. The schedule closes with 21 consecutive division games so the opportunity will be there if the Dodgers can somehow survive the August road trips.

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The schedule is not the only reason to be pessimistic for Dodgers fans. The pitching staff is fighting injuries and has not been able to shoulder the load of late. Ace Brad Penny has started to slide from the brilliant clip he was on early in the season and Derek Lowe has recently joined Randy Wolf and Jason Schmidt as starters with injury concerns. The bullpen added Scott Proctor while Takashi Saito and Jonathan Broxton have been highly effective this season, but the starting rotation is likely going to struggle the rest of the way.

Brad Penny: 13-3, 2.66 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .242 BA against.
Penny had another great start to the season but he has been fairly average in recent starts. Although he didn’t pitch poorly, Penny has lost back to back starts and allowed as many runs (6) as strikeouts earned. Recall that Penny had a brilliant 10-2 first-half last season and started the All-Star game. After the break he went just 6-8, with much worse numbers though the Dodgers still made the playoffs. Take caution backing Penny in upcoming starts as he will still be valued as one of the best pitchers in the league based on his record. In reality he has been fairly average in the last month with a 4.70 ERA in his last six starts and an increased number of men on base due to walks.

Derek Lowe: 8-10, 3.58 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, .253 BA against.
As the only other starter to throw over 103 innings so far this season for the Dodgers, it was very bad news to see Lowe leave his last start with stiffness in his hip. Lowe has had a rough July, pitching just 29.1 innings and losing all three decisions. Lowe has been one of the most consistently successful pitchers in baseball over the past six seasons and he is actually posting the lowest ERA since his breakout year in 2002. That said, Lowe has allowed four or more runs in ten starts this season and LA is just 12-12 when he pitches. He is expected to make his scheduled start this week but the Dodgers will have serious problems if he is forced to hit the disabled list.

Chad Billingsley: 7-2, 3.43 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .219 BA against.
After starting the season as reliever, Billingsley climbed to a 7-0 record before losing his last two outings. Only three wins came as a starter however and his numbers are a bit misleading with his success as a reliever enhancing the numbers. He has allowed ten home runs in just nine starts and he has been a bit over-valued in recent starts based on the great record. His numbers as a starter are still pretty strong however so Billingsley can likely be counted on to deliver an effective turn in the rotation.

Mark Hendrickson: 4-5, 4.55 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, .277 BA against.
The former NBA player has found a home as fill-in starter for the Dodgers although he has been much more effective in relief appearances. His ERA as a starting pitcher is 5.45 and his last start actually equaled his longest of the season despite not making it through the 7th inning. The Dodgers are just 6-7 this season in his starts and he will likely be forced to stay in the rotation due to injuries across the staff.

Brett Tomko: 2-9, 5.56 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, .293 BA against.
After making eight early season starts Tomko has been relegated to the bullpen. After a one-hit six inning effort in his first start of the season, it has been downhill from there. His ERA is 6.36 in his twelve starts this season and LA is 4-8 in those games. Tomko proved to be an effective reliever after his demotion early last season but this season he has not been much help in any capacity as his record indicates.

Randy Wolf: 9-6, 4.73 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, .273 BA against.
Early in the season Wolf appeared to be one of the great signings of the off-season as the left-hander stormed out to a 7-3 record by early June. The next month saw very disappointing results and finally a spot on DL since leaving after three innings on July 3rd. He is scheduled to make his second rehabilitation start this week to test his shoulder but there is no known timetable for a return. If Wolf can get back in the rotation it would be a huge plus as LA is 11-7 in his starts and he provides another left-handed presence.

Jason Schmidt: 1-4, 6.31 ERA, 1.79 WHIP, .296 BA against.
Schmidt will not be factoring in the pennant race in any other way than eating the rest of his 15.5 million dollar salary that could have been used to help the team elsewhere. He had season-ending shoulder surgery and produced one win in the first year of his hefty 3-year contract.

The Dodgers bullpen is among the best in the NL and although he continues to questioned, closer Saito has produced brilliant numbers in his two seasons. Broxton is an elite set-up man and adding Proctor to the mix could pay dividends. The Dodgers have just ten blown saves on the season and the team is 18-12 in games decided by the bullpen. The bullpen has had its share of injuries as well with Chin-Hui Tsao, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Yhency Brazoban all on the DL with arm issues. Kuo would be a potential starter so his loss hurts the rotation depth as well, a concern with Lowe now less than 100 percent.

Although there are concerns about the Dodgers pitching staff, the offense is to blame for the recent slide. In the past ten games Los Angeles is averaging just 3.0 runs per game and the lineup is hitting just .230. On the season the Dodgers rank third in the NL in batting average including at .274 including a strong .282 clip versus left-handers but that has not held up in recent games. Despite the high batting average, nine NL teams have out-scored Los Angeles on the season. The recent poor play has come on what appeared to be softer section of the schedule as LA has played just nine road games since late June. The Dodgers do play in an extreme pitcher’s park however so the extensive home action has worn on the offensive numbers to some degree.

With the upcoming schedule and the injuries in the rotation it appears that Los Angeles will have a difficult time keeping pace with Arizona, San Diego, and even Colorado. All three of those teams have been playing superior ball of late and it would not be a surprise to see LA sitting in fourth place with a modest gap to the playoff picture entering the final month.