Cody Snavely
The 2023 Dodgers are off to a slow start, to say the least. After dropping another game to the Chicago Cubs, where they lost 13-0 and were nearly on the opposite end of a perfect game and currently sit one game under .500 Dodgers fans, including myself, are frustrated by what we are seeing over the past two weeks.
Since the 2017 season, the Dodgers have won over 100 games four times and had an MLB-best winning percentage of .717 in the shortened 2020 season, which also saw them win their first World Series in over thirty years. They have blessed us with the talents of Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, and Max Scherzer while creating memories that will last forever, such as Bellinger’s go-ahead home run in the NLCS to Julio’s last pitch in the World Series. However, this season is a lot different from years past.
As many fans already realize, it would be a miracle if this team wins over 100 games this season. But that doesn’t mean they won’t make the playoffs; it just means we can’t expect the same level of efficiency that we’ve seen in years past.
The kids need time to develop.
For starters, we all know the direction the front office took this off-season, letting many players walk and trying to stay under the luxury tax, a threshold they’ve been over for multiple seasons in a row. They decided to take a chance on young players such as Miguel Vargas, James Outman, and Gavin Lux, and so far, only Outman has shown up. Lux will miss the entire season and potentially the start of the 2024 season with his horrific injury.
With Vargas and other young players who are getting their chance to play, we have to understand that it is early and there will be growing pains, and we have to let these players get used to major league pitching.
The depth is very thin.
One of the biggest problems that the Dodgers face is their lack of depth, specifically in the infield. With Lux out for the season with a torn ACL, Miguel Rojas on the IL with a hamstring issue, and Chris Taylor batting below the Mendoza line, the Dodgers have a glaring hole at shortstop.
The whole is so massive that the Dodgers have now had to bring in star right fielder Mookie Betts to play there, which is just s sign of how dire the situation currently is with the infield. While it is only April, and we assume Rojas and Taylor will be healthy enough to take over at short again, the Dodgers, in my mind, will have to acquire some major league-ready talent to possibly play middle infield, especially with Vargas off to a slow start.
The bullpen is incomplete.
The Dodgers bullpen in 2023 is among one of the worst in the league, and with names such as Alex Vesia and Andre Jacking throwing BP regularly, it is hard for the Dodgers to keep games close. Even star reliever Evan Phillips is off to a shaky start so far, and he is someone that the Dodgers will need to count on the most.
If there is one silver lining, it is that the bullpen the Dodgers front office envisioned is not there yet, with key contributors such as Alex Reyes, Daniel Hudson, and Ryan Pepiot all out with injuries right now.
It is only April.
We must remember that it is only April, and the Dodgers are still only one game under .500 and in second place in the NL West. While these losses now are painful and embarrassing for a team with “World Series-level expectations,” we genuinely shouldn’t worry until around May or June if these same problems persist. The Dodgers have been the best team in baseball during the regular season since 2017 and yet have only one championship to show for it. The 111-win Dodgers team last year lost in the first round to the 89-win Padres, and the National League Champion Phillies barely made it in with 87 wins. So what we can take away from this is it doesn’t matter how you get in. It just matters that you do.
