MLB Heat Check: Los Angeles Dodgers Are Scorching (8-2 Last 10)

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, Kansas City Royals keep losing, and everybody else lives somewhere in the weather between.

Who's hot

Start with Los Angeles Dodgers. They have won 8 of their last 10, and they have not been sneaking past anyone: the runs margin over that stretch is +28, which breaks down to about 5.0 scored and 2.2 allowed per game. That is the arithmetic of a team winning on merit, not on bounces.

The chase belongs to Cleveland Guardians, who have gone 8-2 with a +21 margin of their own.

San Diego Padres (8-2) round out the warm end of the ledger.

For scale, the league as a whole is averaging 4.3 runs a game over this window, Los Angeles Dodgers are clearing that bar by 0.7 a night all on their own.

Who's cold

Kansas City Royals are the cold front. They have gone 2-8 over their last 10, and the -27 margin underneath means the losses have not even been close, roughly 2.7 runs a game the wrong way.

Colorado Rockies are not far behind on the misery index at 2-8.

The middle of the table is where the real congestion lives: Tampa Bay Rays (5-5) and New York Yankees (5-5) are separated by almost nothing, and one good weekend reshuffles the whole neighborhood.

At a glance

Here is the warm half of the form table, last ten games for every club:

One more thing

As always, watch where record and runs margin tell different stories about the same club. The margin tends to know first.

Next up on the slate: Philadelphia Phillies against Atlanta Braves. Check back after that one goes final.