The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the 2018 season with sky-high expectations after falling just one win short of a World Series championship last November. Despite the disappointing end result, the club maintained stability and returned the majority of its core.
Confident in its existing group of players, the Dodgers’ front office didn’t feel obliged to make a splashy acquisition over the offseason. That’s due in part because of a desire to remain under the $197 million luxury for the 2018 season.
With that in mind, the Dodgers allowed a trio of key pitchers in Yu Darvish, Brandon Morrow and Tony Watson depart for larger contracts with other teams. They attempted to improve on the fringes by adding the likes of Scott Alexander and Tom Koehler to fortify the bullpen.
But an abundance of injuries depleted the Dodgers’ depth in the early going. Not only that, but key players regressed while not being able to capitalize on situations they excelled in last season.
In the wake of the Dodgers’ slow start, Friedman placed the blame squarely on his shoulders while defending Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
“I’m very comfortable in saying that, if we had to assign blame at this point, it should be me who is taking that, and not Doc.”
Despite the Dodgers’ struggles to date, they have suddenly won six of the last seven and are a mere 3.5 games behind the first-place Colorado Rockies in the National League West.
Los Angeles began to play better baseball once Justin Turner was activated off the disabled list, evident by their three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals last weekend. To do so, the Dodgers defeated two of the better right-handed pitchers in Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.
The Dodgers hope Clayton Kershaw has the same effect on the starting rotation, as he completed a bullpen session this week and will next throw a simulated game at Dodger Stadium. That could leave him on track to return Thursday for the series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies.
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