Despite setting an MLB record last season by putting 28 different players on the disabled list, which included losing Clayton Kershaw for 10 weeks, the Los Angeles Dodgers put together another season with 90-plus wins and claimed a fourth consecutive National League West title.
Los Angeles fell two wins shy of reaching their first World Series since 1988, and returned much of the same core this season. Throughout the spring Dodgers manager Dave Roberts touched on the disappointment and motivation that carried over from being eliminated in the 2016 NL Championship Series.
His club’s quest to avenge their postseason elimination and bring a World Series to Los Angeles began in emphatic fashion on Monday. Clayton Kershaw, making a seventh consecutive Opening Day start, allowed two runs (one earned) and had eight strikeouts over seven innings.
Joc Pederson hit a grand slam, finished with five RBI, Yasmani Grandal slugged two home runs, Corey Seager also homered, and the Dodgers routed the San Diego Padres, 14-3. They did so without any pregame message from Roberts.
“Just kind of seeing the mood, how we went about our pre-series meetings, the focus was there,” he explained. “I think for me to call the guys together was overkill. In my opinion, a meeting wasn’t needed. I think I made the right decision.”
Whereas Roberts spent last spring and a portion of the 2016 season instilling his leadership style and gaining the trust of the clubhouse, there’s no such obstacle this year. To a man, the Dodgers have bought into Roberts’ vision, and share a singular focus of hoisting a championship trophy come the fall.
