The Los Angeles Dodgers feel so close to a World Series that it would be an all-time tragedy if this wasn’t the year.
Draughts are something that only happens meteorologically in Los Angeles. Actual rain isn’t the only thing these days that is scarce in Hollywood; Championships have dried up as well.
It’s been since 2014 that a team from Los Angeles has won a title — the Kings winning the Stanley Cup. That was a coda to the decade of dominance everyone watched the Lakers have in basketball. These last two years seemed like the Dodgers would take that torch and run with it, but all hope was extinguished.
Losing to the Cubs in the NLCS two years ago and the World Series to Houston last season is a sting the Dodgers need to get over. Armed with perhaps the best pitcher in baseball (Clayton Kershaw) and a superteam lineup that makes the Warriors blush, all signs point to this being a World Series or bust year for Los Angeles.
Best Case Scenario
There’s no reason the Dodgers can’t make it back to the World Series. Losing Yu Darvish hurts, but remember that Los Angeles didn’t acquire him until the middle of the summer last year. The core of the team is well intact and Clayton Kershaw is a workhorse unlike any other in baseball.
This is as close to a dream team as the Dodgers could hope for, and half of it is homegrown. Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger could be to Los Angeles what Rizzo and Bryant are to the Cubs, with a splash of Stanton and Judge to boot. Yasiel Puig seems to have finally figured it out, and Justin Turner is going to be a massive addition when he returns to the lineup. All of this is without considering the likes of Chase Utley, Joc Pederson, Chris Taylor, and others that make up this fantastic Dodgers lineup.
Los Angeles was hard to beat last year, posting the best record in the Majors. Expect more of the same this year if the team can stay healthy.
Worst Case Scenario
Losing Justin Turner before the season even started was a blow, one that could be a precursor to a discombobulated season for the Dodgers. It’s extremely hard to reach back-to-back World Series, and Los Angeles wouldn’t be the first NL West team to falter the year after reaching the big game.
We all watched the San Francisco Giants take a step back last year thanks to injury, and that was after a year in which they almost stood in the way of history by beating the Cubs in the NLDS. Speaking of last year, the World Series champion Chicago Cubs sputtered for most of the season and came up short in defending their crown. Any number of things — from injuries to poor focus, to flat out bad luck — can derail a season. Erosion is slow in baseball, and when a team burns as hot as the Dodgers have the potential to, the risk of implosion is always something to keep an eye on.
Team MVP
Cody Bellinger – 1B
Kris Bryant followed up his NL Rookie of the Year by winning an MVP on his way to a World Series. Cody Bellinger is everything to the Dodgers that Bryant is to the Cubs, and repeating his success isn’t outside the realm of possibility. For most of last year, Bellinger was the most exciting rookie but was outshined from the other coast by Aaron Judge.
This year Bellinger can take full control of the narrative, and become a superstar face in Los Angeles. It’s still Kershaw’s team, but everything about Bellinger’s game last screams that he’s going to be one of the new faces of the league moving forward. What better place to establish himself as such than L.A., and there’s no need to wait beyond Year 2 for him to continue making an indelible mark on the game.
Prediction
A return to the World Series should be the goal, and it’s one that only a few teams stand in the way of. If San Francisco and Chicago reach full potential, that could be an issue, but all signs point to the Dodgers not only returning to the World Series but figuring out enough along the way to finally get over the hump.