2024 MLB Season Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers

It might sound familiar, but the Los Angeles Dodgers enter 2024 coming off of consecutive losses in the Division Series after amassing 100 wins in the regular season. The feeling is a bit different for the Dodgers this time around, though, after handing out over a billion dollars in free agency alone. The Dodgers added Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernandez to a core that won 100 games a year ago. Their roster looks like a dynasty in the making, but the last two seasons serve as a reminder that they need to be healthy and playing well as they enter the postseason.

Where were they in 2023?

The Dodgers were picked to once again run away with the NL West, and that is ultimately what happened, although it didn’t start out that way. The Dodgers were 16-13 at the start of May and were four games back in the division on June 18. They pulled away for good in August, though, as they went 24-5 and ended up outpacing the Diamondbacks by 16 games. However, it was those same Diamondbacks that swept them in the Division Series and brought Los Angeles’ season to an abrupt end.

Dig deeper, though, and you can see that Los Angeles struggled to maintain a pitching staff for most of the season. Seventeen different pitchers started games for the Dodgers in 2023. Clayton Kershaw led the staff with 24 starts. Walker Buehler didn’t throw a pitch while recovering from Tommy John Surgery. Dustin May made nine starts before he underwent Tommy John Surgery himself. Noah Syndergaard provided 12 lackluster starts before he was shipped to the Guardians at the Trade Deadline. Julio Urias turned in his worst season since joining the rotation full time and then capped it off with a domestic violence arrest in September that ended his tenure with the team. Tony Gonsolin battled injuries again and made 20 starts before undergoing his own Tommy John Surgery.

While they were forced to piece together their pitching staff for virtually the whole season, their offense was the driving force behind their success. The Dodgers finished second in the majors with 906 runs scored and 249 home runs. Mookie Betts turned in one of the best seasons of his career and finished second in MVP voting behind Ronald Acuña Jr. Freddie Freeman finished third in the MVP balloting and turned in the best full season of his career. Max Muncy and J.D. Martinez both topped 30 home runs, while former Braves outfielder Jason Heyward experienced a career resurgence with 15 homers and a 121 wRC+ in 124 games.

Despite their offensive accomplishments, the team’s pitching staff limped into the postseason. Kershaw was tagged for six runs and retired just one batter in the first inning of Game 1 and Arizona never looked back. Rookie Bobby Miller started Game 2, while journeyman and Trade Deadline pickup Lance Lynn started Game 3 for Los Angeles.

It is no secret that fortifying their rotation would be a top priority for the Dodgers entering the offseason, given that they finished second in position player value but “just” tenth in pitching value, including a bottom-10 finish in rotation value.

What did they do in the offseason?

After largely sitting out the offseason before, Los Angeles lapped the rest of the field during the 2023 offseason. They set the market by landing Shohei Ohtani on a record 10-year, $700 million contract that includes $680 million in deferred money. Ohtani is recovering from a second surgery on his elbow and won’t pitch in 2024. They then traded a couple of prospects in pitcher Ryan Pepiot and outfielder Jonny DeLuca to the Rays for right-hander Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot. Los Angeles used the flexibility provided by the deferrals in Ohtani’s contract to lock up Glasnow with a five-year, $136.5 million deal and then signed Japanese free agent Yohinobu Yamamoto to a massive 12-year, $325 million contract. Note: this all happened before January 1. Later that month, the Dodgers signed right-handed slugger Teoscar Hernandez to a one-year, $23.5 million deal and also added veteran lefty James Paxton on a one-year deal to their rotation mix.

The result is that a loaded roster got better. The team announced that Betts would be making the switch to second base full time, which will free up an outfield spot for Hernandez, who is penciled in to play left field. Ohtani will slot in as the DH replacing Martinez who is currently a free agent and still unsigned. There is plenty of flexibility across the board with the lineup and Dave Roberts’ most difficult decision might be deciding who hits second between Freeman and Ohtani.

On the pitching side, the Dodgers are expected to use some sort of six-man rotation with Yamamoto and Glasnow at the top. Buehler and May are expected to return at some point, although both will both be on innings limits. Kershaw underwent shoulder surgery this offseason and is eyeing a late-season return after agreeing to a one-year deal that includes a player option for 2025.

Los Angeles’ bullpen ranked first in fWAR in 2023. They will take more of a committee approach with Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Joe Kelly and Ryan Brasier all seeing high-leverage opportunities.

If there is a spot to keep an eye on, it might be at shortstop, where Gavin Lux is penciled in after missing all of the 2023 season with a torn ACL. Lux came up as a shortstop in the minors but has spent more time at second base and in the outfield while in the majors. It is an area that the Dodgers could seek to upgrade at some point, with the Brewers’ Willy Adames looking like a fit.

Where are they hoping to go?

It is World Series or bust now for the Dodgers after their spending spree this offseason. They added impact players to a quality roster that was already set up for the long haul. There is still a good farm system in place and they could utilize that if the need arises at shortstop or in the rotation. Overall, this is a clear second best team in the majors that has no real soft spots. They’re projected to win 94-95 games and have playoff odds of about 95 percent.

Similar to the Braves, though, they have to figure out a way to find success again in October. That starts and largely ends with the health of their rotation. They spent plenty of resources this offseason in hopes of correcting the problem.

Braves 2023 head to head

The Braves won the season series against the Dodgers in 2023 by winning four of the seven matchups. Atlanta avoided a sweep at Truist Park thanks to a walk-off sacrifice fly by Ozzie Albies in the final game of the series to give Atlanta a 4-3 win. The Braves made the trip to Dodger Stadium at the start of September and took three of the four games there in impressive fashion. Ronald Acuña Jr. went head-to-head with Mookie Betts in the series as the top two MVP candidates. Acuña went 6-for-17 with three homers and two stolen bases in the series. He capped it off with this home run that left the bat at 121.2 mph and was the hardest hit ball of the 2023 season per Baseball Savant.

The Braves will travel to Los Angeles for a three-game series starting on May 1. The Dodgers will make the return trip to Truist Park for a four-game series that starts on September 13.