LOS ANGELES — So far, so good for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After entering the 2024 campaign with sky-high expectations thanks to a historic offseason, the Dodgers mostly lived up to them during their first homestand of the season. Following a two-game split with the San Diego Padres in Seoul last week, the Dodgers returned home to LA and took three of four from the St. Louis Cardinals before sweeping the rival San Francisco Giants. As the team now gets set for its first domestic road trip of the season, they do so with the best record in the National League at 7-2.
Against St. Louis in particular, it was the Dodgers’ pitching that carried the way. Across all four games, starting pitchers Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Gavin Stone combined to allow just four earned runs over 22 innings pitched. The bullpen also locked games down, with Evan Phillips and Daniel Hudson each earning a save during the series.
Meanwhile on offense, it has been the Mookie Betts show thus far for the Dodgers. The all-everything utility man has come out of the gate on fire, recording multiple hits in five of the team’s first nine games. He also has five home runs already—the most of any player in baseball—to go along with 10 RBIs.
Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who signed with the Dodgers in the offseason after spending last season in Seattle, has four home runs and 14 RBIs of his own. Catcher Will Smith is batting an incredible .482 on the young campaign, while star first baseman Freddie Freeman has been his usual dependable self with a .382 average.
Not to mention two-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, who has enjoyed a very solid start to his time in Dodger blue, including smashing his first home run with the team in Wednesday night’s 5-4 win over the Giants.
Obviously, it is a long season, and we are just over 5% of the way through the schedule. But if the early returns are any indication, Los Angeles will be just as much of a force to be reckoned with in 2024 as many predicted.