Wednesday, April 02

Welcome back to the Dodgers Beat newsletter! The Tokyo Series -- and the regular season -- is nearly here. Let's take a look at what to expect for the Dodgers this year …

The Dodgers are used to having a target on their backs after making 12 consecutive trips to the postseason and winning two World Series in the past five years. For opposing teams, the prospect of toppling Los Angeles is even more enticing now that the team is fresh off a championship and another big offseason.

Manager Dave Roberts wants his team to wholeheartedly embrace the mentality of being the ones to beat.

"Flip it, and be the hunter instead of the hunted," Roberts said. "I think when you're the Dodgers, there's always a target. You can't run from it."

The time is now, as the Dodgers' quest to repeat as champions begins with Game 1 of the Tokyo Series vs. the Cubs on Tuesday (3 a.m. PT on FOX and MLB.TV). Here are some key topics to follow and predictions for the season ahead:

What needs to go right?

For a roster stacked with this much talent, all the Dodgers really need to do is to stay healthy. It's easier said than done: Last year, the pitching staff in particular was ravaged by injuries, leading to the team using 38 pitchers (not including Kiké Hernández and Miguel Rojas) over the course of the season. The Dodgers ended up having just enough pitching to get through their World Series run, but they don't want to struggle to patch together nine innings on the mound the way they had to at times last year.

Great unknown

There's a lot of excitement surrounding what Roki Sasaki might do in his first Major League season, but the fact of the matter is no one really knows what he'll bring to the Dodgers this year. He was lights-out in two Cactus League outings, but spring results can only indicate so much about regular-season performance. Sasaki could shove from the start, or he could take time to adjust to the big leagues. The talent is certainly there, but he remains a self-professed work in progress. Sasaki's MLB debut on Wednesday (3 a.m. PT on FS1 and MLB.TV) will be must-watch programming.

Team MVP will be … Shohei Ohtani

As the saying goes: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Ohtani is one of three former MVPs in the Dodgers' lineup, but it's hard not to give him the nod here, no matter how talented the roster is at large. He's slated to return as a two-way player this year, and his offseason shoulder surgery hasn't seemed to affect him at the plate. Ohtani came up big time and again in his first season with the Dodgers, and there's no reason to think that things will be any different this year. His return to the mound after a second major elbow surgery will be intriguing to follow.

Team Cy Young will be … Yoshinobu Yamamoto

The obvious pick here would be two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, who joined the Dodgers on a five-year, $182 million deal this past offseason. But Yamamoto had an equally decorated NPB career before making the jump to MLB. He was the standout this spring, impressing Roberts with his sharpness early on and a heightened confidence heading into his sophomore season in the Majors. Yamamoto received the honor of getting his first Opening Day starting assignment -- on home soil at the Tokyo Dome, no less -- and he'll look to set the tone for a big year.

Bold prediction

Why not aim for the stars here? The Dodgers will break the single-season win record of 116 games set by the 1906 Cubs and tied by the 2001 Mariners. This would be the ultimate best-case scenario, in which everyone stays healthy and performs up to their standards. In the early days of spring, several Dodgers speculated playfully about just how high their ceiling could be as a team -- and the expectations are certainly staggering.

Of course, the Dodgers aren't worried about stacking regular-season wins so long as they win the game that matters most: the last one. Repeating as champions is, without a doubt, the top priority.

• When Sasaki takes the mound for his debut, he'll be pitching for more than just himself. For the people of his hometown of Rikuzentakata, which was devastated by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, he represents hope.

• Ohtani went deep in his first at-bat as a Dodger at the Tokyo Dome -- because of course he did.

• The Tokyo Series is a full-circle experience for Roberts, who returned to the country where he was born as one of the most successful managers in baseball.

• Both the Dodgers and the Cubs have a rich history of Japanese ballplayers.

After the Dodgers play their first two regular-season games, they'll return to Southern California for a few more tuneups before the domestic opener vs. the Tigers on March 27. That means that the preseason edition of the Freeway Series is back, with the Dodgers hosting the Angels for one game and heading down south for two at the Big A from March 23-25.

Single-game tickets for the home exhibition -- and the regular-season slate at Dodger Stadium -- can be found here.

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