2022 MLB season preview: Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers have the potential to be extremely special. They have a great chance at eliminating the asterisk talk that dominates their 2020 World Series victory. The regular season is just 162 games of spring training for the Dodgers. With 106 wins in each of the last two full seasons, it seems like they take it seriously anyway.
The Dodgers were seventh in wOBA last season. Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner have improved the offense. Six players hit at least 20 home runs and eight posted OBP of .355 or higher. The universal DH helps the team. The team has a dozen hitters they could rotate in and out of that spot. Mookie Betts is one of the MVP favorites. Max Muncy is poised to take another step forward. He posted the best contact metrics of his career. His 46.3% Hard Hit% is also good. It's hard to figure out how the Dodgers got to be 24th in BABIP.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a win total of 97.5 and the shortest odds to win the World Series at + 475. They finished second in pitcher fWAR last season. Walker Buehler, Julio Urias and Clayton Kershaw are the top three pitchers. Bueshler had a great season, but his K% was the lowest of his career. He threw 200 innings for the first time in his life. Uria threw 185.2 innings last year. Andrew Heaney is also slated to be in the Dodgers rotation while Dustin May recovers from Tommy John surgery. Tony Gonsolin maxed out at 55. 2 MLB innings in a season last time.
Julio Urias has exceptional command and he's 35-1 to win the Cy Young Award. He's also a good pitcher with good spin rates and a high exit velo. If he throws 200 innings, he should finish high in the voting and may even win it.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a World Series or bust team. They have a good chance of grabbing a top-two seed for a bye. The team has a great lineup and a talented pitching staff. They had some needs last season and they traded for Max Scherzer and Turner.
Julio Urias is the favorite to win the Cy Young Award for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
