The Los Angeles Dodgers opened up the second half of the 2019 season by traveling to Fenway Park for a World Series rematch with the Boston Red Sox.
So far this season has been essentially opposite from a year ago for the two organizations. In 2018, the Red Sox had the best record in baseball the whole season, while the Dodgers started off slow and needed a Game 163 to win the National League West.
In 2019, the Dodgers own the best record at 62-33 after taking two out of three from the Red Sox, who started off slow and sit in third place in the American League East at 50-43.
One person who has noted the similarities between his Red Sox team a year ago and the Dodgers team he faced this weekend is David Price, who shared some high praise for Cody Bellinger and Los Angeles, via Marly Rivera of ESPN:
“Their starting pitching has thrown the ball exceptionally well. We as a group haven’t thrown to our capability yet. And look at Cody Bellinger, the season that he is having. They’re doing stuff we did last year. One through 25 on the roster. Everybody had their hand in it. That’s what the Dodgers have been doing this year and that’s what we look forward to getting back to.”
Price pitched extremely well in three games (two starts) against the Dodgers in Boston’s World Series win, although he didn’t quite have the same success when seeing much of the same players in Sunday’s rubber match.
One of the reasons for that was the Dodgers’ offseason addition of A.J. Pollock, who was brought in as a right-handed bat to help their struggles against left-handed pitching.
Pollock has missed most of the season due to injury, but he returned for the Red Sox series and hit two home runs in three games, including a three-run shot off Price in the first inning to help the Dodgers earn the series victory.
The Dodgers have shown all season that they are never out of any game and can win close contests late like they did on Sunday night, which is another similar quality they share with the 2018 Red Sox.
There is obviously still a lot of the season left to go, but it has become clear around the league that the Dodgers may be the team to beat right now, and Price showing them praise is just the latest example of that.
