Slumping Dodgers could have reasons to panic. Why theyre preaching patience instead

Freddie Freeman was the one who tried hardest to calm the waters.In the wake of a loss Wednesday at Wrigley Field, which extended the Dodgers’ season-long losing streak to six games after back-to-back sweeps by the Cubs and Red Sox, Freeman first downplayed the severity of a hand injury that had knocked him out of the game.“I’m not dead, guys,” he joked.And, he made a point of repeatedly emphasizing, neither is the team despite its poor run of recent results.“You’re not going to get an excuse from any of us,” he said.“We expect to win every time we come to the yard.”At the same time, though …“We’re going to be fine,” he promised.

“It’s a 162-game schedule.We’re going to go through it at some points … We just got to play better.”Indeed, the Dodgers have preached patience amid their current skid.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t also reasons to panic.Here’s a look at where things stand and why both reactions are valid now:For much of the summer, the Dodgers seemed to be on a glide path to the playoffs.

They’d built a double-digit game lead in the National League West.They’d separated themselves for a top-two seed in the NL, as well.Now, the standings don’t offer such certainty.The Diamondbacks have inched back within eight games of the Dodgers in the NL West — still a significant gap, to be sure, but one close enough to put some renewed importance on this weekend’s three-game series in Phoenix.More concerningly, the Dodgers now find themselves with the third-best record in the NL, a half-game behind the Braves for an all-important first-round playoff bye.Manager Dave Roberts said he wasn’t paying much mind to that situation yet. “A week ago it looked a lot different, and another week from now it could look even more different,” he said.

“So, you just got to kind of put your head down and play baseball.”Still, a stretch run once poised to be devoid of late-season meaning is quickly becoming uncomforta...