The Dodger lineup is just silly at this point. Their infield alone is an all star team, not to mention Mookie Betts and AJ Pollock in the outfield to provide more power to the lineup. The only question mark with this team is Cody Bellinger and whether or not he can bounce back from his disappointing 2021 campaign. He struggled at the plate after suffering a broken leg mid season hitting only .165 with an OPS of .542 and ten home runs in ninety five games within the Dodgers. This was a far cry from his MVP season back in 2019.
Julio Urias and Walker Buehler are both poised to have fantastic seasons. I would say Buehler can make a case for the Cy Young Award, but Jacob deGrom is healthy heading into the season and is the runaway favorite. Ultimately, awards don’t matter if you end up winning the World Series, which I am sure is the thing they have in their sights.
Clayton Kershaw is getting older and I expect the Dodgers are aware of this by signing him to a one year contract. He will undoubtedly still be good but don’t be surprised if his age begins to show. Dustin May is another question mark for the Dodgers. While pitchers have come back from Tommy John and still achieved success, Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals is one example. It has happened before and it is possible it could happen with Dustin May but there is the uncertainty of the situation. The Dodger rotation isn’t helped by the fact that May is on the 60 day IL and will not start on the roster come Opening Day. Tony Gonsolin will likely round out the rotation for the Dodgers this year. They still have a strong rotation but it is nowhere near the best in the sport.
The Dodgers were not able to bring Max Scherzer back after last season because he was in search of more money than the Dodgers wanted to pay. They brought in Andrew Heaney to fill one of the holes in the back end of the rotation. I was perplexed by this because he’s had his in ups and downs in his Major League career. Last season was more of the same as he struggled to give quality starts to the Yankees. I did not think it was a good acquisition at first, but then I remembered that the Dodgers are impeccable at developing pitchers. I can only assume that the analytics department saw something in him that they could correct and have him help them in their quest to win another championship.
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