Coming off a season in which they were eliminated by the eventual World Series champion Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts often raved about his team’s drive and focus.
That turned into an MLB-best 104 wins, fifth consecutive NL West title and the organization’s first pennant since 1988. The Dodgers were a mere one game from ending their World Series drought, and now have begun another journey.
Gone are last August’s acquisitions, Yu Darvish and Tony Watson, and surprise contributor Brandon Morrow. But when Roberts addressed the clubhouse on Monday, he saw the majority of the team’s 2017 roster intact.
“It was more of continue to understand what we went through last year and it takes a certain type of player, person, team to rebound and refocus,” Roberts said of his Spring Training speech.
“And each day to get better to put ourselves in that same situation this year. The intent, the focus, the energy is very good to get us all back together. “It’s pretty clear that the mood is good among the guys — 26 guys from last year’s club and 26 guys who weren’t here last year — the mood, the focus, really good.”
The Dodgers were projected by Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA module to tie with the Houston Astros for the best record this season at 99-63. With that, Los Angeles is forecasted to win an unprecedented sixth consecutive NL West title.
Team leaders Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner have all acknowledged the need for the Dodgers as a group to move past the 2017 World Series, no matter how much the Game 7 loss still stings.
Another step toward doing so was taken Monday as the team held their first full-squad workout of the spring. And another checkpoint will come March 29, when the Dodgers open the 2018 season at Dodger Stadium against the San Francisco Giants.
