MLB Heat Check
MLB Heat Check: Los Angeles Dodgers Are Scorching (8-2 Last 10)
Published
Ten games is not a season, but it is a mood, and moods decide a lot of games. The current mood around MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers keep winning, Colorado Rockies keep losing, and everybody else lives somewhere in the weather between.
The warm end of the table
Nobody is playing better than Los Angeles Dodgers right now. The record says 8-2 over their last 10; the runs column says even more, a +24 margin that works out to 5.7 scored and 3.3 allowed a night.
The chase belongs to San Diego Padres, who have gone 8-2 with a +8 margin of their own.
Keep New York Mets in the conversation too, at 7-3 over their last 10.
Some context helps: across every club in the sample, scoring sits at 4.7 runs per game right now. Los Angeles Dodgers are beating the league's own pace by 1.0 a game.
The deep freeze
At the bottom of the temperature map sit Colorado Rockies: 2-8 in their last 10, -28 on runs margin. That is about 2.8 a game in the wrong direction, and no lineup shuffle fixes it overnight.
They have company at the cold end: Minnesota Twins, 3-7 over the same window.
Do not ignore the middle class, either: Texas Rangers (5-5) and Atlanta Braves (5-5) sit close enough that a single hot or cold series flips their order.
By the numbers
The top of the ledger, at a glance:
| Team | Last 10 | Runs +/- |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 8-2 | +24 |
| San Diego Padres | 8-2 | +8 |
| New York Mets | 7-3 | +22 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 7-3 | +18 |
| New York Yankees | 7-3 | +13 |
The fine print
One reading tip before you go: runs margin travels better than record. A fat margin with a modest record usually means the wins are coming; the reverse usually means they are not.
One to circle: Los Angeles Dodgers meet Cincinnati Reds in their next game, and we will find out quickly whether this stretch travels.