Is LA still class of NL?
Our Dodgers off season report looks at the starting pitcher and wonders if Clayton Kershaw can still lead a dominant staff.
Five issues facing the Dodgers:
The rotation:
One of the Dodgers’ great strengths in their back-to-back National League championship seasons of 2017 and 2018 was the depth in their starting rotation. By limiting pitchers’ ingame workloads and making liberal use of the 10-day disabled list, the Dodgers tapped into their wealth of arms to keep all of them fresh.
Most of the same cast should return for 2019, but outside of 24-year-old Walker Buehler, the club’s entire opening-day rotation will likely be comprised of guys over 30. They still have the numbers to stash credible big-league starters in Class AAA, just not quite a full staff’s worth like they have had in the recent past.
Clayton Kershaw?
The 2018 version of Kershaw was undoubtedly a valuable pitcher, throwing 1611⁄3 innings across 26 starts with a 2.73 ERA, but he just wasn’t nearly as dominant in the first year of his thirties as he was for most of his twenties.
Kershaw saw a huge dip in fastball velocity and with it a significant decrease in his swinging-strike rate as he dealt with some nagging injuries last season, and time, as they say, is undefeated. The Dodgers re-upped with their ace on a three-year, $93 million extension. He might be worth the money, but it seems unlikely he’ll regain the otherworldly dominance of his early career.
The offense:
The Dodgers entered the offseason with a crowded outfield picture and cleared it up a bit with a salaryshedding December trade that sent Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig to Cincinnati for two low-level prospects and the final year of Homer Bailey’s contract.
That pair will be replaced in the outfield mix by free agent A.J. Pollock and rookie Alex Verdugo, but Pollock comes with a spotty health history and Verdugo with very little MLB experience. They’ll also miss switch-hitting catcher Yasmani Grandal, who posted a sturdy .815 OPS for Los Angeles in 2018. He signed with Milwaukee.
Corey Seager:
The Dodgers’ All-Star shortstop hit the injured list in late April, endured season-ending Tommy John surgery in early May, then had arthroscopic surgery on his left hip. Seager is one of the best all-around players in the game when he’s healthy, and his successful return would represent as big an impact as the addition of Bryce Harper or Manny Machado.
The Dodgers hope to have him back early in the season, if not necessarily by opening day.
Is Max Muncy for real?
Los Angeles has shown an incredible knack for pulling players off the scrapheap and helping them turn themselves into superstars. In 2018, Max Muncy joined the likes of Justin Turner and Chris Taylor among the Dodgers’ uncovered treasures, leading the team with 35 homers and a .582 slugging while shuffling between four defensive positions. His .391 on-base percentage in 2018 suggests it wasn’t just a fluky power surge, and he’ll enter 2019 as a fixture in the lineup.