Los Angeles Dodgers 2024 Predictions: SportsLine, ZiPS and More

Although the 2024 MLB regular season begins on March 28 for most teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will get a head start on this year’s campaign under the world microscope with a series in Seoul on March 20 and 21.

This will be an interesting matchup, as the Dodgers went full-in to land Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and others, while the Padres dealt superstar Juan Soto to the Yankees, seemingly to avoid a payroll crunch.

The early Vegas predictions are in full swing already, with the Dodgers once again running away as the early season favorite. Most avid baseball fans know this doesn’t mean much, but as the MLB favorite, the Dodgers always seem to have a tag on their backs regardless of which team they play, often evening the odds against some of the league’s worst clubs.

Of course, the Dodgers always seem to prove that they’re among the top two or three teams in the regular season only to fall flat on their faces in the playoffs. As fans, we can analyze all the preseason and regular season stats we want, but they never give us an idea how a club will perform in October and beyond.

Regardless, it’s still interesting to see how some of the pundits view the 2024 regular season before the first pitch is thrown. SportsLine always has some of the most accurate analysts, and here is how they are lining things up so far:

• Los Angeles Dodgers +320
• Atlanta Braves +450
• Houston Astros +700
• New York Yankees +800
• Texas Rangers +1400
• Philadelphia Phillies +1500
• Baltimore Orioles +1500

And while some may consider these odds a shot in the dark, computer-generated numbers like ZiPS always seem to end up being even more inaccurate. Still, it’s fun to use the ZiPS projections as a sign of what’s to come, based on the logic of each player’s past performances.

Interestingly, ZiPS has a whopping seven players on the Dodgers hitting at least 20 long balls this year.

Here’s how ZiPS has everything stacked up for the most notable sluggers on the Dodgers:

It’s also worth noting that ZiPS has both Gavin Lux and Chris Taylor only playing in a little over 100 games each, logging eight and 13 homers, respectively. Another interesting stat is Ohtani tallying just 80 walks, which might be accurate, depending on how skipper Dave Roberts builds the batting order around him.

Whatever the case may be, we already know that the Dodgers will be among the top run producers in the MLB. The bigger question is whether they’ll be able to do the same in the 2024 postseason.