Dodgers in rarefied air thanks to their depth and power in the lineup

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup this season has been incredibly productive.

Things are looking very different in this unusual 2020 season, but one facet that remains unchanged is the dominance of the Los Angeles Dodgers, as Dave Roberts once again has his team in the postseason. Adding Mookie Betts gave the Dodgers one of the league’s most fearsome lineups from top to bottom, and they’ve been so hot of late that they’ve joined a category previously occupied by only two other teams in MLB history.

Los Angeles’ decision to bank on a deep, balanced approach in the lineup that lives and dies by the home run ball has paid dividends, as they became the third team in MLB history to have five players hit 10 or more home runs in the first 50 games of a season, joining the 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs and the 2000 Anaheim Angels.

Mookie Betts and Corey Seager are making up for Cody Bellinger’s slightly down season

Even though Cody Bellinger isn’t replicating his MVP season from 2019, his parade of overqualified secondary stars, like Corey Seager and Max Muncy, have helped the Dodgers continue to mash even when No. 35 is in the middle of a slump.

The ’56 Redlegs has three players top 35 home runs and won 91 games, but they missed out on a pennant. The 2000 Angels won just 82 games as their pitching staff let them down. Hopefully, Roberts and the Dodgers can stay hot enough to avoid being resigned to the same dubious fate.

The Dodgers were expected to roll through the NL West, and they’ve ended up in the postseason despite some stern resistance from the hotshot San Diego Padres. With six or seven legitimate star players that can catch fire on any given night, the Dodgers look like the presumptive World Series favorites.