The Los Angeles Dodgers did not fluke their way into 100 regular season wins in 2023. They had one of the best top-to-bottom 26-man rosters in the league, with prospect depth to boot in the event of injury. But even then, that talent seemed to be concentrated more on the hitting department, as their pitching staff had plenty of questions throughout the year, especially after not having the services of Walker Buehler for the entire year and losing Julio Urias to terrible off-field circumstances.

And this showed during the Dodgers' struggles against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 NLDS, a series in which they found themselves on the receiving end of a gutting sweep. LA always found themselves on the backfoot against Arizona after their starting pitchers failed to fulfill their end of the bargain, making life more difficult for an offense that was already struggling in the first place.

“[Clayton] Kershaw, [Bobby] Miller and [Lance] Lynn combined to throw just 4⅔ innings, the fewest ever for the first three games of a postseason round. They allowed 13 runs off 16 hits and three walks during that stretch, putting their offense in an uphill battle on a consistent basis,” Alden Gonzalez of ESPN wrote.

Clayton Kershaw's performance for the Dodgers in Game 1 was a foreshadowing of what was to come; Kershaw allowed six runs on six hits and one walk, tallying just one out before manager Dave Roberts pulled him from the mound. Since then, the Dodgers have always faced a steep climb on their comeback trail. They never led for any moment against the Diamondbacks during the 2023 NLDS, a far cry from the dominant effort they showed during the regular season.

Despite the hope Bobby Miller brought the Dodgers in his Game 2 start, he proceeded to allow three runs in the first inning, putting the team on the backfoot as a result, and then in Game 3, Lance Lynn, the midseason acquisition, faltered in the bottom of the third inning.

This offseason, it'll be imperative for the Dodgers to invest whatever payroll space they may have on their starting pitching to avoid this kind of situation from ever happening again.