The Los Angeles Dodgers have been a disappointment all season.  The off-season signings of manger Joe Torre and slugging outfielder Andruw Jones brought optimism to Chavez Ravine, but that has morphed into a 38-43 record at the halfway point.  Torre has not been able to ignite a punchless offense, and Jones is among 10 players currently on the disabled list (which is probably a good thing - he's been terrible at the plate).

By the miracle of the mediocre National West however, the Dodgers still stand just 2.5 games out of first place and the playoff spot that comes withit.  A modest five game win streak in this division could put them right into first place. AccuScore projects L.A. to finish just below .500 at 80-82.  Still, that means they are far from done for the year.  The Dodgers still have the fifth best chance of making the playoffs in the National League at 35 percent.  They likely won't be winning the wild-card because of the strength of the Central and East, but Arizona has been scuffling so winning the division is well within their reach.

The playoffs, as AccuScore numbers show, are still well within L.A.'s reach despite being plagued by injuries all year.  In addition to Jones, nine other Dodgers are on the DL.  Utility-man Tony Abreu has yet to play this season recovering from hernia surgery and ceded his role to Luis Maza and Delwyn Young.  Nomar Garciaparra has played sparingly even though he was slated to start at third.  Back-up catcher Gary Bennett has a foot problem, and mysteriously lost the ability to throw back to the pitcher.  Middle reliever Scott Proctor went down last weekwith elbow problems.  Jason Schmidt has yet to pitch this year, and has given the team nothing in his two years as a member.  Top of the order catalyst Rafael Furcal has missed two months, and the shortstop position has been an offensive black hole in his absence.

Outfielder Juan Pierre was the most recent victim of the injury bug as he was placed on the 15-day DL Monday spraining his knee on a stolen base attempt.  He will be replaced career minor-leaguer Jason Repko who previously has had cups of coffee in L.A. before.  In all reality, there isn't much difference between the two players except name recognition and millions of dollars in salary so this isn't as big a blow as it might seem.  More importantly, Brad Penny and Hiroki Kuroda are set to return to the rotation this week.   The bullpen has been a strength all year with great support from long relievers/spot starters Chan Ho Park, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Eric Stults.  That trio has instrumental in maintaining a patchwork rotation.  Middle relievers like Cory Wade and Brian Falkenborg have performed well in unfamiliar major league roles.  

The Dodgers will soon look more like the team it expected to be in the preseason.  Furcal and Garciaparra both could return this weekend, and Jones is expected back right after the All-Star break.  That is in addition to the returns of Penny and Kuroda.  The team may have suffered without its injured players, it may be strengthened as a result as other players have filled in.  Park will move back to the bullpen after a stellar 11 innings stretch where he yielded just 1 run.  The return of Furcal should be especially important as the L.A.'s offense has disappeared without him in the lineup.  Just a marginal improvement from the Dodger offense could propel them straight into the playoffs.