The growing rivalry in the National League West between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will be fun to watch in 2021 after both teams made significant upgrades to their rosters during the offseason.
The Padres’ big move was acquiring Tampa Bay Rays ace Blake Snell, who the Dodgers just saw with facing him in the World Series. Snell pitched very well in both Games 2 and 6, but was infamously removed by manager Kevin Cash in the latter, which led to L.A. winning the title.
Both the Dodgers and Padres rosters are filled with star power, which should make for a close division race. One player Snell is not looking forward to facing is Mookie Betts, who is a lifetime .304/.370/.522 hitter off him when both played in the American League East.
After the Boston Red Sox traded Betts to the Dodgers, Snell thanked them for getting the former AL MVP out of his division. That was short-lived though as they are once again in the same division, just in a different league on the opposite side of the country.
Because of that, Snell has rescinded his thank you to the Red Sox, via Fox Sports San Diego:
“I said a while ago when Boston traded Mookie, I was super excited, thanking Boston. So now I’ve got to face Mookie even more. I’m taking my ‘thank you’ back. I’m not thanking Boston anymore.”
In addition to Snell, the Padres also bolstered their rotation with the acquisition of Yu Darvish in hopes of closing the gap between them and the Dodgers. Unfortunately for San Diego, L.A. countered by signing reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer, improving a roster that is coming off a championship season.
The Dodgers’ first series against the Padres will begin on April 16 at Petco Park, so it won’t be long before everyone gets to see how these teams stack up against each other.
PECOTA projects Dodgers to have best record in 2021
In their annual record projections for the 2021 season, PECOTA has the Dodgers winning the NL West for the ninth straight season at 103-59. They are high on the Padres as well as they are projected to have the third-best record in baseball at 95-67.
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