Saturday, May 23

Welcome back to the Dodgers Beat newsletter!

One year ago, as the Dodgers set out to do what no big league club had done in a quarter century -- repeat as champions -- manager Dave Roberts had a message for his team: Be the hunter, not the hunted.

Every World Series champion has a target on its back the following year. That was especially true for the 2025 Dodgers, who refused to rest on their laurels and made several notable additions in free agency. Rather than play under attack, Roberts wanted his team to go on the offensive.

Roberts' message was more or less the same this year, with the Dodgers looking to join the Yankees and A's as the only Major League clubs to three-peat, but with a twist. Starting from the first day of full-squad workouts, Roberts instructed his team: Be a greyhound. 

"Just looking forward," Roberts said. "There's going to be distractions, but we just got to keep our blinders on and not worry about who's to the side of us and who's chasing us."

Here's a look ahead at what could be a statement season for the Dodgers:

What needs to go right: Do the little things, all year long

They may be back-to-back champions, but the Dodgers went through some ugly stretches last season. Once the calendar flipped to October, they played their best baseball, but that wasn't the case from start to finish. They don't need to vie for a regular-season win record, but it would serve the Dodgers well to secure a first-round bye for the postseason. Other than the obvious -- staying healthy -- they need to produce more consistent offense and play cleaner defense on a regular basis to accomplish that.

Great unknown: Roki Sasaki

Sasaki had a redemptive postseason, thriving in a new relief role. He will start this season in the Dodgers' rotation, but he has not done much to give the team confidence this spring. If we learned anything from his bullpen stint, it's that it may only be a matter of putting things together for Sasaki, who dominated in Nippon Professional Baseball and came to the Majors with sky-high expectations last year. He'll get the chance to do so at the big league level -- and should get an extended look with starters Blake Snell and Gavin Stone beginning the season on the injured list.

Team MVP will be ... Shohei Ohtani

This feels like a lazy choice, but what else can you say? There are multiple Dodgers who could be in the MVP conversation this year. New addition Kyle Tucker could be primed for his best season yet. Mookie Betts is determined to get himself back into consideration, and it's hard to count out Freddie Freeman, even in his age-36 season. But if Ohtani stays healthy and effective on the mound for the whole year -- in addition to what he contributes at the plate -- there's really no contest. He's won four unanimous MVPs for a reason.

Team Cy Young will be ... Yoshinobu Yamamoto

A healthy, dominant Ohtani could make a serious run at this piece of hardware, but the World Series MVP gets the nod. Yamamoto showed the baseball world exactly why the Dodgers committed $325 million and 12 years to him before he had thrown a big league pitch after he emerged as the team's ace and astonished on the postseason stage last year. He came to L.A. as a three-time winner of NPB's top pitching honor, the Eiji Sawamura Award. It feels like only a matter of time until he earns the Major League equivalent.

Bold prediction: The three-peat bid will succeed

Does this really count as bold when the Dodgers are the favorites? Historically speaking, yes. Being a back-to-back champion is uncommon enough. Three-peating is a rarity. The Dodgers learned how difficult it was to defend their title last year, and that experience should inform how they handle this year. Going back to back to back is unlikely. But this Dodgers team might just get it done.

During the past few Spring Trainings, Roberts has declared his pick to click. This year, he's going with center fielder Andy Pages.

“It's definitely not a chalk play. But I think that Andy Pages is going to take it, I really do," Roberts said. "He hit 27 homers last year, but I think this year, I wouldn't be surprised to [see him] make an All-Star team."

Roberts has a mixed track record with his selections. He was right on the nose with Teoscar Hernández in 2024, but he missed with Michael Conforto in '25. It's hard to go wrong with Pages, though, who was incredibly valuable last year in the regular season.

Pages ended the year on an inauspicious note, recording a .211 OPS in the postseason and getting benched for the last two games of the World Series. But he still made an impact as a defensive replacement in Game 7, making a fantastic catch to send the clincher to extra innings.

His poor postseason at the plate did not carry over to his performance this spring. Roberts has especially been impressed by how "intentional" Pages has been with his work, which he sees as a sign of growth.

“He was a young player a few years ago that didn't like the weight room, really didn't work with intent, but now offensively, defensively, very consistent and on par with our superstar players," Roberts said. "And on top of that, he's learned to be a better hitter, a Major League hitter, and not just a slugger.”

Spring games are nearly behind us, and Opening Day is fast approaching. I'd like to do a mailbag for my next newsletter, so please submit any questions you have!

The Dodgers return to Dodger Stadium tonight for the first of their two home Freeway Series exhibitions against the Angels, with Sasaki and Ohtani lined up to start. For more information and tickets, click here.

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