Cody Snavely
The year 2023 is officially over, and the Dodgers and their fans turn to 2024 with much more hope and optimism. The Dodgers have been busy revamping much of their rotation this winter while also bringing in two of the top three free agents, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. A new year also brings new goals and those famous resolutions, and I have three that the Dodgers will want to accomplish by the end of 2024.
Playing deep into October
Let’s kick off our list with the most obvious goal for the Dodgers: to get past the first round in the NLDS and hopefully march through October with a World Series appearance/win. The last two seasons have ended in major disappointments with quick first-round exits to two NL West rival teams, the Padres and the Diamondbacks.
After the team’s embarrassing sweep at the hands of Arizona, who won the National League Pennant, Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers decided to go “all in” during the offseason. December saw the Dodgers bring in Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow. However, the team has continued to be active in the free agent and trade market linked to names such as Shane Bieber, Emmanuel Clase, Josh Hader, Dylan Cease, and others. The pressure to win the World Series may be the highest they’ve ever been in the Andrew Friedman era.
Since the 2020 World Series, the Dodgers have only made it to the NLCS once, where they lost to an 89-win Braves team in six games. After a historic 111-win season in 2022 and a 100-win season in 2023, the Dodgers look poised to have another great regular season. However, the Guggenheim partners did not bring Ohtani here for regular-season success. The goal now and forever is to win the whole damn thing.
Tyler Glasnow takes the next step forward
One of the Dodgers’ goals this offseason was to revamp the starting rotation. One name that will be a big part of that new rotation is right-handed pitcher Tyler Glasnow. The Dodgers gave up a young arm in Ryan Pepiot for a pitcher many perceive to be injury-prone. The Dodgers are taking a massive risk in Tyler Glasnow and giving him an extension; however, the injury concern may be overblown.
Tyler Glasnow, throughout his career, has had multiple stints on the IL, missing most of the time with an elbow injury that ended up needing Tommy John surgery. Glasnow, in 2023, pitched his best/healthiest season of his career, tossing 120 IP along with 21 starts, 162 strikeouts, and a 3.53 ERA. The Dodgers will need Glasnow to take the next step in his career by trying to build off his career high in innings.
Glasnow is ranked as the 10th best odds to win the NL Cy Young at +1900. Those odd makers and people across the league expect the Dodgers pitching lab to help Glasnow’s pitching and, hopefully, his health. An entire season with nearly thirty starts from Glasnow will lead to great things for the Dodgers 2024 season.
Play better against left-handed pitching
One theme that has stuck around for the Dodgers year after year is their inability to hit left-handed pitching well. During the 2023 season, the Dodgers collectively hit .246/.334/.453 with an OPS of .787 against lefties. Across the board, the team’s offensive numbers were down, and with teams such as the Braves adding left-handed pitchers to their bullpen and rotation, it will need to be solved come October.
The Dodgers lineup, as it stands, is very lefty-heavy with bats such as Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani, Max Muncy, Gavin Lux, James Outman, and Jason Heyward, who are all expected to get the bulk of at-bats. While the Dodgers have right-handed hitters such as Chris Taylor and Mookie Betts on their roster, they need a more impactful righty bat to plug into their lineup.
Here on DodgersBeat, I have already argued that names such as Tommy Pham, Adam Duvall, or perhaps Lane Thomas could all be viable options in the outfield. However, one internal option who is likely to get the shot is Miguel Vargas. In his stint at the MLB, Vargas has not gotten off to a hot start. 2023 is a season that Vargas would like to forget, putting up a slash line of .195/.305/.367 and an OPS+ at 81. These numbers led to Vargas getting optioned back to AAA, where his offensive numbers improved. Upon his demotion, Vargas improved his slash line across the board, hitting .288/.407/.886 with 10 HR and 43 RBI.
Conclusion
The 2024 MLB season is less than six weeks away. As the MLB offseason gets closer to the end, the Dodgers have goals as big as any team in the league. As mentioned, the ultimate resolution is for the Dodgers to put it all together for their eighth World Series title.
