NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
The Los Angeles Dodgers could very well be the most intimidating team heading into the 2024 MLB season. But does that mean they have the best team or the one that will win it all?
On paper, they are World Series winners. However, the game must still be played on the field. The Atlanta Braves are still a 100-win team. The Philadelphia Phillies are still a threat and let’s not forget about the reigning National League Champion, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Yes, the Dodgers have added talent but those teams have the chemistry and experience.
The Dodgers added two of the biggest free agents this offseason with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Then you add in the addition of Tyler Glasnow, and that has all the makings of a World Series winner. The Dodgers needed pitching and that’s exactly what they got. They needed another power hitter, and that’s exactly what they got.
While it did cost them a pretty penny, they are now supposedly the team to beat. But here is the thing about baseball. There is no such thing as a team to beat. A lot can happen in 162 and the playoffs. Hell, the Dodgers already know that. In the last three seasons, they have a combined record of 317 wins and 169 losses but have no World Series banners to claim.
Look at the Atlanta Braves. Loaded on offense and one of the best pitching staffs and yet, no NLDS appearances since winning it all in 2021. Both times, the Wild Card Phillies have put them out even with the Braves winning the NL East by 14 games.
The Los Angeles Dodgers must be leery of expectations. They know the bullseye they put on their backs and now they must live up to that. There is no guarantee that their pitching will hold up. There is no guarantee that Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and now Ohanti will reach All-World status. And the pitching, well, that’s where it gets shaky.
Are The Los Angeles Dodgers The Team To Beat
Even if the hitters do what they are supposed to do, how many times have we seen pitchers get big offseason money and then flake? Yamamoto was a beast while with the Orix Buffaloes but can he hold up against Ronald Acuna Jr, Bryce Harper, Luis Arraez, and Manny Machado?
The offseason is where expectations are made but the season is where they go to die. The Los Angeles Dodgers have been down this road before. The hitting will be a scary sight for any opposing pitcher. With Betts most likely leading off, then followed by Freeman, Ohanti, and then Smith, that’s a scary start for any inning.
However, it will still come down to what they can do and not what they are expected to do. No one expected to see the Diamondbacks or the Texas Rangers as the last teams standing. This season was all about the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves and neither team made it. The Los Angeles Dodgers pulled a page from the New York Yankees’ playbook and threw blank checks at players. Hey, this is the age to do that but trying to buy championships has not been the answer for them.
To win this league, it’s all about timely hitting and pitching. While the Los Angeles Dodgers appear to have that in the current core and the new guys they brought in, they must now keep producing on the level they were before they started repping that Blue and White.
