Here is why the Dodgers are crushing August

This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers are the hottest team in baseball following a perfect week and an eight-game winning streak. With a couple more hot weeks, the Dodgers might even start contending for the best record in the Majors, which seemed impossible about a month ago.

Since the start of August, the Dodgers have played nearly flawless baseball. They’re 12-1, the lone loss being that eighth-inning meltdown against the Padres last weekend.

The Dodgers will try to stay hot against the Brewers and Marlins, two teams currently in the National League playoff picture, so let’s take a look at three takeaways from Los Angeles’ current winning streak.

1. The starting rotation has been a huge boost

Getting Clayton Kershaw back from the injured list was crucial for the Dodgers. The team will need to continue to monitor Kershaw’s workload in order to prevent further injury to the left shoulder that caused him to miss time, but getting the likely first-ballot Hall of Famer back automatically elevates the level of the starting rotation.

Lance Lynn has been a strong addition to the Dodgers. The competition hasn’t been very good (he made starts against the A’s and Rockies), but the veteran right-hander has shown all the things the Dodgers liked about him when they acquired him from the White Sox a few weeks ago.

Kershaw and Lynn have given the Dodgers some experience, which they lacked while they had three rookies in the rotation. The lone rookie standing is Bobby Miller, who has been excellent lately, including tossing six scoreless innings in his last outing against Arizona.

But perhaps the biggest boost to the Dodgers came this weekend. Tony Gonsolin, who had a 6.89 ERA over his last nine starts, had a successful start against the Rockies on Saturday, allowing just one run over six innings. Gonsolin did allow seven hard-hit balls, which is still concerning, but the Dodgers came away pleased. Then there’s Julio Urías, who looked like an ace on Sunday against the Rockies, matching his career high with 12 punchouts over seven innings.

After posting a 6.18 ERA in July, the worst for a rotation in any month with at least 15 games since the team came to Los Angeles, the Dodgers’ staff has done a much better job in August, which is clearly reflected by the current streak.

2. Freddie Freeman is out of this world

For months, Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. appeared to be running away with the National League Most Valuable Player Award.

Well, not anymore.

Freeman has made this quite the race with one of the best stretches in Dodgers history. Even after being 0-for-his-last-7, Freeman has hit .400 with six homers and 22 RBI since the All-Star break. If you go even further, Freeman has reached base safely at least once in 53 of his last 60 games. That’s pretty unreal.

With Freeman -- and Mookie Betts -- leading the way, the Dodgers are going to be tough to stop down the stretch.

3. Trade Deadline adds have been really good

We already talked a little bit about Lynn, but he’s not the only one that has made an impact since putting on the Dodgers uniform last month.

Ryan Yarbrough has been a sneakily good addition to the Dodgers. The crafty left-hander has made two appearances, allowing just one run over 7 2/3 innings in relief. He has come in to provide length in both of his starts and he has impressed everyone in the organization with his preparation.

Offensively, Amed Rosario and Kiké Hernández have given the Dodgers a big boost, particularly against left-handed pitching. The Dodgers weren’t a bad offensive team against lefties, but they clearly felt the need to upgrade at that spot by bringing in both Rosario and Hernández.

Rosario, who was acquired from the Guardians for Noah Syndergaard, is hitting .289 and has given the Dodgers some solid defense at both shortstop and second base. But perhaps most surprising has been his power. Rosario had three homers in 94 games with the Guardians this season. He has matched that total in just 14 games with Los Angeles.