Dodgers have glaring problems as playoffs approach but also the threefold remedy

The Dodgers will be in every game they play in October, and that alone means they will enter the playoffs as the favorites to win the World Series.Not because of Shohei Ohtani.Not because of Freddie Freeman.

And certainly not because of their bullpen.There were a number of alarming developments in the last week or so, but if any team is designed to survive them, it’s the Dodgers.Whatever their problems, they still have the best rotation in baseball.No player influences the outcome of a game as much as a starting pitcher, and the Dodgers are the only team that will be able to roll out one Cy Young Award-caliber arm after another after another.The Dodgers were negligent with Ohtani, and the verdict on their management of Freeman is pending, but they at least set up their pitchers the right way.The rotation is more than a collection of big names.In Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell, the Dodgers have three starters who are peaking in time to deliver the kinds of performances that will be required for them to win their third consecutive World Series.Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched seven shutout innings on Tuesday in a 4-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, marking his third consecutive seven-inning start.“I feel really good and I don’t have any physical problems,” Yamamoto told reporters in Japanese.

“I want to treat practice each and every day with importance and go into October in the best condition.”Yamamoto isn’t alone.The day before Yamamoto’s start, Tarik Skubal pitched seven scoreless innings of his own in a 4-1 victory over the Reds.In his previous start, which was also against the Reds but at Dodger Stadium, Skubal pitched 7 ⅓ innings.“Just getting in a rhythm,” Skubal said.Blake Snell, who is scheduled to take his turn in the rotation on Wednesday, was 4-0 with a 1.04 earned-run average in the six games he started since returning from an elbow cleanup that cost him three months.The one source of concern in the rotation is Tyler Gla...