The Los Angeles Dodgers overcame a plethora of injuries throughout the 2024 season to finish with the best record in Major League Baseball at 98-64 en route to winning the World Series.
Unlike recent seasons when the team clinched the National League West in early September, L.A. didn’t win the division until the final week of the regular season.
That was largely due to the impressive play of the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, who both posted top-three records after the All-Star break.
“It’s helped us a lot,” manager Dave Roberts answered when asked if the NL West race positively impacted the Dodgers.
“I still believe Arizona, the Padres, are two of the better teams in all of baseball, and we got to see a lot of them. Having to go through the Padres in that DS was just kind of a grind. So I certainly felt it prepared us for the rest of this postseason, absolutely.”
The Dodgers began their postseason journey with a matchup against the Padres in the NL Division Series. After losing two of the first three games, L.A. stormed back to eliminate San Diego in the best-of-five series.
The Dodgers did so on the backs of their patched-together pitching staff that threw 24 consecutive scoreless innings against the Padres to end the NLDS.
Roberts and multiple players have shared a belief that the winner of that NLDS matchup with the Padres was poised to be crowned World Series champion.
Dave Roberts praised for guiding Dodgers to title
Roberts just completed his ninth season as Dodgers manager and has long been considered one of the best skippers in baseball. However, his efforts last year were especially notable considering all of the adversity the team faced.
General manager Brandon Gomes praised Roberts for the job he did given the difficult circumstances.
Roberts is entering the final year of his contract, but all indications are that he will sign a long-term extension with the Dodgers.
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