One yr after ending second to the Giants within the NL West and being knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual champion Atlanta Braves, the Dodgers are gunning once more for a World Collection title.
And supervisor Dave Roberts is assured in his staff.
“We are going to win the World Collection in 2022,” Roberts stated Thursday on the Dan Patrick Present. “We are going to win the World Collection this yr. Put it on report.”
It appears Roberts needed to make a press release to his staff and to the remainder of the baseball world that the Dodgers’ expectations are sky-high getting into 2022. And he has good purpose.
Roberts gained the title with the Dodgers within the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, then completed one recreation behind the Giants for the division crown and MLB’s finest report. Los Angeles beat the Giants in a tense five-game divisional sequence earlier than the Braves knocked them out in six video games within the NLCS.
The Dodgers responded by signing the face of the Braves, first baseman Freddie Freeman, to a six-year, $162 million contract in free company after dropping shortstop Corey Seager to the Rangers. Additionally they gained’t have 2021 midseason pitching acquisition Max Scherzer, who was lights-out for them after arriving from Washington final fall. Trea Turner, who they acquired alongside Scherzer, is anticipated to take Seager’s spot at quick.
The Giants, like they did final season, have taken a much less star-studded method to constructing their 2022 roster as president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has centered on shoring up the rotation — re-signing Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wooden whereas including Alex Cobb and Carlos Rondón — and creating a versatile group of place gamers to match up towards quite a lot of opponents. San Francisco let its huge midseason acquisition stroll in free company, too, as Kris Bryant signed a seven-year, $182 million take care of the Rockies.
Roberts’ response was born out of a finish-the-sentence immediate from Patrick: The Dodgers will win the World Collection if…
“We play a full season and there's a postseason,” Roberts stated.
In answering the spirit of Patrick’s immediate, a few key to the Dodgers’ success, Roberts pointed to his pitching workers.
“We're profitable the World Collection if our beginning workers stays wholesome,” Roberts stated. “I do know that’s imprecise however that’s my reply.”
Each the Dodgers and the Giants have taken steps lately to make sure their beginning pitchers aren’t overtaxed, planning to make use of greater than the usual five-man rotation over the course of the yr. Whichever staff is simpler in doing so this season might have a leg up within the divisional race — and a shot at assembly Roberts’ acknowledged purpose.
"We're profitable the World Collection in 2022… We are going to win the World Collection this yr, put it on report."
–#Dodgers Supervisor Dave Roberts pic.twitter.com/wGtl1CRnwO
— Dan Patrick Present (@dpshow) March 24, 2022