The Dodgers have unequivocally proven themselves to be frauds
It gives me great pleasure to announce this indisputable fact
All the hype during Spring Training was all about the Dodgers. “Look at all the All-Stars they have! Look at how many MVPs are in their lineup! They’re unbeatable! They’re unstoppable!”
Sure, on paper it seemed like the experts had it right. When the 7-8-9 in your lineup is Chris Taylor-Cody Bellinger-Gavin Lux, that’s an intimidating flex. When your rotation is nothing but Cy Young candidates, that’s a terrifying hill to climb, night after night. When David Price is on your team, and he’s buried so far on your depth chart that he doesn’t even show up, that’s a team that should win night after night.
And yet, after three games, the Dodgers record stands at a shocking 1-2. They’re on pace to win just 54 games, which would be their worst record since 1908. Truly, the way this season started for the Dodgers has been an utter disaster. And there’s no reason to think it’ll get any better.
Let’s start out with the caliber of opponent they’ve faced. The Dodgers played three games against the Colorado Rockies, generally agreed to be one of the worst teams in the National League. And yet, against this should-be inferior competition, they won just one of their three games. The only logical conclusion here is that against better teams, the Dodgers will do even worse. But even allowing for some regression back towards the mean, the Dodgers will still just maintain their current pathetic pace.
In other words, they’re cooked. It’s just common sense baseball analysis.
Let’s look at the vaunted Dodger offense. They stroll into Coors Field, world-beaters that they’re supposed to be, and expect to hit the ball all over the park, and out of the park, and possibly force MLB to implement a mercy rule just so the game ever ends. Anyone would have expected that. Everyone did expect that.
Instead, the Dodgers scored a mere 11 runs over their three games in Colorado, putting runs on the board in just 4 individual innings out of the 27 they played. They only hit one homer, and it came from Austin Barnes. Will Smith? 1 for 6. Freddie Freeman? 2 for 12. The Turners Justin and Trea? Each 3 for 13. Mookie Betts? 3 for 13. Cody Bellinger? 2 for 11. And those six players had just one extra base hit between them.
I know what you’re thinking. Sure, the hitters might have had a bad series, but what about the pitchers? Again, the Dodgers are found wanting. Walker Buehler had a perfectly okay start, giving up two runs in five innings, but Tony Gonsolin only went three, and Julio Urias had a disaster start, allowing six runs in just two innings. That’s nothing special from a rotation that has been touted as very special.
And then there’s the bullpen. They were supposed to be untouchable, with Blake Treinen in particular a monster who would ransack a lineup like it was the US Capitol. But what happened on Saturday? Against Connor Joe — Connor Joe, who wasn’t good enough to last a full season on the 2019 Giants as a Rule 5 pick and was then discarded by the Dodgers too — Treinen gave up the game winning homer.
This is very telling. There is no Dodger magic. The team is done, and they should trade all of their good players right now, while other, dumber teams still think that those players are worth something. The Los Angeles Dodgers, meanwhile, as a smart team should trade all of their formerly good players for prospects and just rebuild. It’s time to start thinking about 2023, guys. You’re not going anywhere this year.