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The Los Angeles Dodgers return to Toronto’s Rogers Centre on Monday night to play a three-game series against the Blue Jays, giving baseball fans a peek at what a potential World Series rematch could look like.
It’s the only time the teams will meet in the regular season this year.
While Toronto has worked to make its lineup even better since the Dodgers defeated them 5-4 in extra innings of Game 7 on Nov. 1, L.A. has likewise added to what it already had.
Sonja Chen, the Dodgers beat reporter for MLB.com, says L.A. spent money in the off-season to upgrade its outfield and its bullpen, while maintaining the core group that won it all.
In other words, the back-to-back champion Dodgers haven’t weakened. If anything, Chen says L.A. is fielding a better team than they did last year.
“They have the roster they think can win them a third straight championship,” she said in a recent telephone interview.
For Tom Verducci, the present-day Dodgers remind him of the late ’90s New York Yankees, the last baseball dynasty to win three World Series in a row from 1998 to 2000.
“I think the Dodgers are clearly the team to beat,” says Verducci, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who recently published a deep dive into L.A.’s blueprint for success.
More talent than ever
So who have the defending champions added? Let’s take a look.
First came Edwin Díaz, the top closer available on the free-agent market. The Dodgers signed him to a three-year deal worth $69 million US, to shore up the bullpen.
Later came the news that outfielder and four-time all-star Kyle Tucker would join the Dodgers on a four-year deal worth $240 million.
Tucker joins a long list of players the Blue Jays tried to sign, but who ended up playing for L.A. — including two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and pitcher Roki Sasaki.
The total value of the contracts for Díaz and Tucker total more than $300 million. But the Dodgers are among baseball’s top spenders, and the organization has used salary deferrals to manage the financial burden of some of its player contracts.
L.A. also re-signed veteran infielder Miguel Rojas, who Jays fans will remember for his ninth inning home run that tied up Game 7 of the World Series for the Dodgers. He then threw out Isiah Kiner-Falefa at home plate in the bottom of the ninth.
The Dodgers also re-signed Enrique Hernández (who starts the year on the injured list), agreed to a one-year extension with third baseman Max Muncy, and also came to terms with reliever Evan Phillips (also on the injured list).
Verducci says the Dodgers have enough talent at both the major- and minor-league levels, to keep the ballclub on target during the marathon regular season.
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“They can withstand these injuries as well or better than anyone else,” he said.
Chen says the list of injured Dodgers, which also includes two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell and infielder Tommy Edman, is also a group of players who will provide real impact when they return to action.
Also, first baseman Freddie Freeman, shortstop Mookie Betts and catcher Will Smith haven’t gone anywhere, leaving the Dodgers just as strong as they were in those spots last year.
Superstar Ohtani has years to go in his contract with the Dodgers, and remains a threat whether he’s on the mound (he threw six innings of shutout ball in his season debut) or in the batter’s box.
“The championship core is still here and still locked up for the long term future,” said Chen, matter of factly.
Verducci believes this current edition of the Dodgers has the potential “to be the best in the dynasty.”
A sweep to start
The Dodgers started their season with a series sweep — just like the Jays — with three straight victories over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the MVP of last year’s World Series, got the first win of the season for L.A. with a six-inning, six-strikeout performance, in which he gave up just two runs on March 26. The Dodgers won 8-2.
Emmet Sheehan had a shakier start the next day, but the Dodgers still prevailed 5-4.
Tyler Glasnow gave the Dodgers another six-inning, six-strikeout performance in the final game of the series that L.A. won 3-2.
The Dodgers then went 1 for 3 in their second series against the Cleveland Guardians, which included Yamamoto’s first loss of the year.
Even with a winning start through those early series, Chen says the Dodgers still haven’t fully got going just yet.
“They haven’t put it all together,” she said.
Chen says the Blue Jays’ pitchers may be in a position to give the Dodgers some trouble, given the slow start at the plate for some members of the L.A. ballclub.
Canada’s Sportsnet reports that Toronto’s likely starters for the Dodgers series are Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer.
Muncy, the Dodgers’ third baseman, has said coming back to Toronto “will be the World Series rematch,” before the team settles into the daily grind of baseball’s 162-game-long regular season.
“Once we get past Toronto, it’ll be … Groundhog Day for the next six months,” he told the Foul Territory podcast this week.
Until the playoffs, that is.
