The Dodgers can only afford so many injuries: When will the dam break?

The Los Angeles Dodgers have won back-to-back World Series titles and, despite some recent struggles, are clear favorites to win a third; understandably so. This team was already as loaded as any in MLB history on paper when healthy, and that was before the Dodgers acquired Tarik Skubal at the MLB trade deadline.

The key words in the sentence above are “when healthy,” though, and the Dodgers got some more bad injury news on Tuesday with Edwin Diaz placed on the IL with neck inflammation. The Diaz injury isn’t the worst news ever, as he had been struggling mightily since returning from his previous IL stint, but it does lower the Dodgers’ ceiling ever-so slightly, and adds to the growing list of injuries the team is dealing with.

Updated Dodgers Injured List with return timetables after Edwin Diaz injury

Again, the list is as massive as any team in the majors, and while not all of the players on here are big names, most of them are expected to be key contributors, and many of them come from the pitching side of the equation.

For example, Justin Wrobleski isn’t a big name, but he was an All-Star starting pitcher this season. Losing him is a big deal. Guys like Brock Stewart, Blake Treinen and Brusdar Graterol (among others) are supposed to get key outs for the Dodgers in relief, but they’ve missed serious time due to injury. Even Kris Bubic, a pitcher who has yet to throw a pitch for the Dodgers, could be a major weapon either as a starter or out of the bullpen when healthy.

Of course, there’re some huge names also dealing with something. The Dodgers’ catching tandem of Will Smith and Dalton Rushing is out until September at the earliest, and there’s a good chance Rushing doesn’t catch again this season. Tyler Glasnow’s return from a back injury is imminent, but with his injury history, who knows how long he’ll remain in the mix for L.A.? There’s also the Shohei Ohtani injury that’s keeping the pitching version of the game’s best player out of action.

Injuries are the only thing that can hold the Dodgers back

Again, this Dodgers team, when healthy, is as loaded as any ever. There’s a reason why they’re favorites even with the laundry list of injuries they have right now. With that being said, there’re only so many injuries that even a team this talented can sustain. We’re seeing proof of that with how they’ve been playing lately.

The Dodgers have gone 19-21 since July 1, and even after Monday’s 11-run outburst, they still rank 19th in the majors in runs scored in that span. Can they really afford an injury to a position player? This particularly means a guy like Ohtani (the hitter), Freddie Freeman or Max Muncy, arguably their three-best hitters right now.

Their 4.63 bullpen ERA in this span ranks 23rd in the majors. Diaz’s struggles have a lot to do with that, but who do you really trust in that unit to get big outs in October beyond Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott? Can they really afford another bullpen injury?

Even their rotation, which is the team’s biggest strength by far, features Tarik Skubal coming off an elbow injury, the oft-injured Blake Snell, the inconsistent Roki Sasaki, and Eric Lauer, who was DFA’d earlier this season. A rotation injury could be very problematic for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers are going to be favored until someone knocks them off — that’s what happens when you win back-to-back titles — but this team is more vulnerable than some might think. They’re already dealing with an absurd number of injuries, and while they’ve been able to survive that thus far, a couple more could very well cost them when it matters most.