The front office did not built the 2023 Los Angeles Dodgers to win a division. Instead of signing some of the big free agents during the offseason, the Dodgers decided to give 1-year contracts to veterans like JD Martinez, David Peralta and Miguel Rojas.
Experts expected the 2023 Dodgers to be a wild card team only because of the winning culture that follows the franchise. The Dodgers were expected to make the playoffs only based on the culture that it has in place.
No one predicted the Dodgers were going to win 100 games, run away with the division and have the second best record in the National League. Yet, here they are, one game away from being eliminated from the playoffs after overcoming every possible bump thrown at them.
What happened? Where did the magic from the season go? If there’s any team in the elusive history of the Dodgers to overcome a 2-game deficit in the National League Divisional Series, it is this team.
The same Dodgers team that won 100 games with a group of rookies making spot starts in the rotation.
Yes, that Dodgers team, the team that finished the season with four players hitting 100 RBI each.
Game 3 in Arizona
The Dodgers have overcome so much this season that their overachieving is keeping the hope alive. They will begin their fight for their lives today in Arizona as Lance Lynn will make his post season Dodgers debut against Brandon Pfaadt.
The last time Lynn took the mound in October, he was pitching for the White Sox against the Astros in 2021. He pitched 3.2 innings and gave up five runs on six hits. Lynn owns a 5-5 record with a 5.28 ERA in the playoffs.
Hopefully the MVPs at the top of the order figure it out. The Dodgers need Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman to break out of their slumps.
During their first two games of the series, Mookie went 0-for-7, meanwhile Freeman is 1-for-6 with two walks. These two finished the season playing MVP-caliber baseball. The Dodgers won 100 games because of Betts and Freeman. The season depends on these two players waking up.
In the year that has been so improbable, Dodger fans hope the impossible will happen. The Dodgers need to win 3 games in a row to clinch a spot in the National League Championship Series. To quote one of LA’s biggest villains, Kevin Garnett, “Anything is possible.”
