The Dodgers slugged 244 homers last season, led by Ohtani’s 55. That was 20 more than the second highest, the Mets had. The Mets lost a major power source with Alonso leaving in free agency for Baltimore. LA replaced the 12 homers hit by Michael Conforto with Kyle Tucker, who hit 22 in Chicago.
The Dodger starting outfield has three players capable of 30 homers or more, Pages, who hit 27 last season, Teo, who has hit 30 or more twice in his career, and Tucker, who hit 30 twice, in 21 and 22. Three of the four infield spots have players who have hit 30 or more, Betts, Muncy and Freeman.
2nd base is the only position where none of the projected players who are competing for the job have exceptional power potential. Both catchers, Smith and Rushing, have very good power and Smith has had 20 or more a couple of times.
Ohtani as per normal will be the DH with maybe a day off now and then. Eight of the starting nine offensive players have hit 20 or more at least once in their careers. Kike, who figures to be on the roster at some point, has hit 20 or more twice in his career.
This is not a punch and Judy team. These guys slug. Most make fairly consistent contact. Muncy at .229 is the only one below .250 as a career BA. All of the starters have career OPS numbers over .700 with the lowest being Edman’s .717. Muncy has a career OPS of .828. He walks a lot.
I checked the stats from last season. LA scored 825 runs. 244 of those were scored on homers, that is about 29.5%. So, they do not totally rely on the homer. This totally changed in the playoffs. The percentage of runs scored on homers jumped to 40% in playoff games.
The Dodgers will go as far as their pitching and power takes them. At this point, they are clearly the class of the league with so many players capable of 20 plus homers. Although they do not totally rely on power to win games, it has been and will be a main source of their scoring ability for the near future.
Discussion (25)
Disagree, not disagreeable
His last outing, in the first inning he couldn’t throw strikes. His next two innings he did. Gave up no runs in those two innings. He made a mechanical adjustment between the first and second innings.
His latest outing he threw strikes. You can’t have command until you have control. It’s a process. It’s movement in the right direction.
There’s a reason why he was on the back fields. The Dodgers want him to work on his mechanics.
US got trounced, now their fate lies in the hands of the Italians.
Joe Dimagio looked good in CF for Italy yesterday.
NO Dodger game today!
The anti-Knack
I would predict Max 25 or fewer homers this year. Better yet predict how many games he may play
Lots of time to make Sasaki a valuable starter because the NL West stinks! Give the guy a chance.
MLB Hitters will eat up pitches in the zone. The key is making them look like they are strikes… but aren’t!
The key take from Sasaki’s outing is that he threw strikes. Of course he should have dominated the White Sox minor leaguers, but he wouldn’t have done so unless he threw strikes. A 67% strike rate. If he continues to do that he will be ok.
I like Max’s chances better!
No disrespect intended, but you have some holes in your swing!
😉
Of course, Doc is going to try to boost Sasaki’s confidence in being a starter. He does not have the command, especially on that 3rd pitch, right about now. Progress is not linear, so I do not know what the future holds, but I do not see a starter. Right here, right now.
I would try and not get too giddy as it was an outing against White Sox minor leaguers in a B-game on the back diamonds at Camelback Ranch. That is a good step in building him up, but it’s against Minor League hitters that are not with the White Sox big team. That means that some of them were low level prospects. Of course, he would dominate. I take nothing from that!
Sasaki will be a starter as we promised him when we signed him. He is a work in progress coming from another culture. He will be exceptional in time.
I think I have as good of a chance at hitting 40 HRs as Muncy does.
Per Jack Harris:
Dave Roberts didn’t see Roki’s outing today, but said the reports he got on it were “electric”
Noted that Sasaki’s fastball was 98-100 mph, and felt it was good for him (even in a B-game) to get outs and see hitters struggle with his stuff
Roki Sasaki’s line:
4 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks (1 HBP), 9 strikeouts. Threw 59 pitches, and got 40 strikes — 17 of them via whiff.
8. Hurt will be one of our better relievers this year.
9. Casparius will emerge as a legit set-up man.
10. Muncy will hit 40 HR
Hmm…
If both Treinen nd Sasaki struggle, perhaps Sasaki slides back to the pen.
But I doubt it.
Doc seems to disagree with your points No. 1 nd No. 2.
The Dodgers are playing the long game; they’re grooming Sasaki as a starter. Wrobleski will start at least until Snell returns. No rush.
If Treinen continues to struggle, yes, cut him loose and give younger arms a chance.
At this moment:
1. Roki Sasaki is not a starter. No way, now how!
2. Nick Senzel should make the 26-Man over Santiago Espinal. There is still a lot of time. Do the math.
3. Justin Wrobleski should be in the rotation.
4. Blake Treinen should be on the bubble. I don’t care about his pedigree.
5. Ryder Ryan has to be in the mix.
6. Antione Kelly has to be on a watchlist.
7. There may be a surprise… or two.
“Sasaki was confirmed to be part of the starting pitching rotation earlier Tuesday when manager Dave Roberts said that he doesn’t “see a world in which Roki Sasaki doesn’t [open the season] as a starter,” as reported by the LA Times’ Jack Vita”.
“I guess I’m betting on the performance to continue to trend up, to be good enough, and to only get better with the talent that he has and the work that he’s put in,” Roberts added.
“The severity of the hand injury was not immediately clear, but it seems Kim and the Dodgers have avoided anything of significance. According to Jack Harris of the California Post, there is minimal concern over Kim’s injury”.
Nice
4:05 PM ET
Diamondbacks (80-82)
Dodgers (93-69)
SP Brandon Pfaadt R
0-0 .00 ERA
SP Tyler Glasnow R
0-0 .00 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
2B Miguel Rojas R
RF Kyle Tucker L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
3B Max Muncy L
CF Andy Pages R
LF Alex Call R
DH S. Espinal R
C E. Alfonzo S
73° Wind 8 mph Out
“Andrew Friedman anticipates Ohtani being in the Dodgers’ Opening Day rotation, but the team has not yet identified which game he would start”.
Watching the wbc last night I couldn’t help but think about some of the players who are playing for other teams . A majority of them will never sniff the major leagues. But they are there and they are playing their hearts out! While I admit I don’t get the warm fuzzy feeling some do, I enjoy watching the games. Of course I want the USA to win , but I look forward to the regular season starting much more. Now I admit, I love watching Judge hit! I like the heck out of Kyle S. Never been a big fan of Harper, but love his at bats. And it might seem petty to most, but when Bregman is up, I tend to take my bathroom break. My hope is that the boys in red white and blue win this thing and no one gets injured.
Back in LA. , Wrobleski looks fantastic. Emmit isn’t quite as sharp as he might like. Ryan is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Could he possibly take Trienan’s spot ? I’m expecting a monster season from Glasnow! No need to rush Snell. Ohtani ? I’m still a little on the side of him being a hitter only. BUT! I realize that he is a BEAST on the mound! Sasaki? Does anyone have a clue what he is? Starter? Reliever? Star? Bust? The Dodgers probably don’t win the World Series without his bullpen work last season! Could the Dodgers make trade for a reliable starter and move a Sheehan and an outfield prospect? Small sample size, but Scott seems to be healthy and ready to be a big time reliever again. Diaz and the “old” Tanner in the back of that bullpen? Good luck to the rest of baseball! Dryer, Vesia, Casparius. As I said before, maybe Ryan instead of Trienan? Evan Phillips back later? Could be the best group of relievers in a Dodger uniform in a long time!
Offensively, the starters are super! I’m just waiting to see how the bench plays out. The one thing that scares me? They let Senzel walk away. I believe they could really regret it. Dalton? How will he handle not playing every day? Winning is the ultimate goal for most players. A few just want to play everyday!
WBC 2026 Tournament Status (as of March 10)
Pool Team Record Status
A Puerto Rico 3-0 Qualified
Canada 1-1 In Contention
Cuba 2-1 In Contention
Panama 1-3 Eliminated
Colombia 1-3 Eliminated
B USA 3-0 Qualified
Italy 2-0 In Contention
Mexico 2-1 In Contention
Great Britain 1-3 Eliminated
Brazil 0-4 Eliminated
C Japan 3-0 Qualified
South Korea 2-2 Qualified
Australia 2-2 Eliminated
Chinese Taipei 2-2 Eliminated
Czechia 0-3 Eliminated
D Dominican Rep. 3-0 Qualified
Venezuela 3-0 Qualified
Israel 1-2 Eliminated
Netherlands 1-2 Eliminated
Nicaragua 0-4 Eliminated
Key Quarterfinal Details
Qualified Teams: Japan, South Korea, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and the United States.
Considering we won the damn thing with three late solo homers, I tend to agree.