LOS ANGELES — Someone clearly forgot to tell the Los Angeles Dodgers that it is only Spring Training.
The games may not count yet, but the Dodgers have certainly been playing like they do. In the team’s first two weeks of exhibition action, Los Angeles has come out red hot, jumping out to a 10-3 record thanks to impressive performances from several of its stars.
Obviously, the main focus of the spring has been newly acquired two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. While Ohtani will not pitch in 2024, it hasn’t taken him long to impress at the plate. In his first five exhibition games in Dodger blue, the Japanese sensation has gone 7-for-12 with six RBIs, a home run, a triple and three walks.
Oh, and to top it off, he also got married.
But Ohtani is not the only new Dodger to impress in Spring Training so far. Through his first 4.2 innings of exhibition action, newly-acquired starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow has allowed just one run on four hits with six strikeouts.
Glasnow will be one of the aces of a pitching staff that also includes high-profile Japanese signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, rising stars Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan and veteran James Paxton. Los Angeles will also get two-time All-Star Walker Buehler and three-time Cy Young-winner Clayton Kershaw back from injuries at some point during the season.
The Dodgers have built a rotation so deep that they should be able to withstand Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May both likely missing the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery.
Meanwhile, at the plate, last year’s National League MVP runner-up Mookie Betts has picked up right where he left off. In nine Spring Training appearances, Betts is batting 9-for-22 with two doubles and a home run. He has also added five walks and three RBIs.
With three former MVPs at the top of their lineup in Betts, Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers are certainly a force to be reckoned with. However, the power has not stopped there. James Outman and Max Muncy have each been out to hot starts of their own, with both players batting over .350 and having hit multiple home runs already.
Obviously, it is only March. But if the early signs are any indicator, Los Angeles very much looks like the juggernaut that it is capable of becoming. The rest of the league better watch out.…Read more by
