After their latest proposal was turned down by the Players Association, Major League Baseball moved forward to implement a 60-game schedule for the 2020 regular season.
With the two sides agreeing to a Spring Training 2.0 start date of July 1 and health and safety protocols, business will pick up this week. Beginning Friday at 9 a.m. PT, the league’s transactions freeze will be lifted, allowing teams to once again make roster changes.
Then in less than a week’s time, camps for all 30 teams will reopen. However, players will instead participate in organized workouts at their home ballparks instead of Spring Training facilities due to the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreaks in Arizona and Florida.
As for Opening Day, teams will play their first game of the regular season either July 23 or July 24. Because of the shortened schedule, there will be little room for error in what figures to be one of the most unique seasons in MLB history.
For the Los Angeles Dodgers, who look to return to the World Series with a revamped roster that includes Mookie Betts, they hope to get off to a fast start — something they have accomplished with consistency over the course of their streak of winning seven consecutive National League West titles.
Let’s look back at how the Dodgers have fared over their first 60 games of the regular season when dating back to 2013.
2013
If the 2013 season consisted of only 60 games, the Dodgers would have secured a top-10 pick in the following year’s MLB Draft. The club posted a 27-33 record — good for last place in the NL West.
However, over their final 60 games, L.A. went 38-22. They finished the year with a 92-70 record, clinching their first of what’s become seven straight NL West titles, and first overall since 2009.
2014
The Dodgers played considerably better over their first 60 games of the 2014 season. The club jumped out to a 31-29 start, which appears mediocre on the surface, but it was good enough for second place in the NL West and a theoretical Wild Card spot.
2015
Improving from the previous season, the Dodgers posted an excellent 35-25 record after the first 60 games of the 2015 season. They led the NL West at that point and never looked back, cruising to a third straight division title.
2016
Taking a small step back from the previous year, the Dodgers won 32 of their first 60 games during the 2016 season.
That was sufficient for second place in the NL West at the time, but the club eventually solidified a fourth straight division title by going 34-26 over their final 60 contests.
2017
Matching their performance from 2015, the Dodgers went 35-25 over the first 60 games of the 2017 season. That was good for second place in the NL West, but L.A. nonetheless turned it around and won a fifth straight division title en route to their first World Series appearance since 1988.
2018
Though manager Dave Roberts denied it was due to a World Series hangover, the Dodgers got off to a slow start in 2018. They won as many games as they lost, going 30-30 through the first 60 games of the season.
Locked into third place at that point, L.A. needed to leapfrog two teams in the NL West standings. It took a Game 163 with the Colorado Rockies to determine a winner, but the Dodgers went on to win their sixth consecutive division title while advancing to a second straight Fall Classic.
2019
The Dodgers posted a 41-19 record after 60 games in 2019 — their best mark of the seven-year span — giving them a commanding nine-game lead over the second-place Colorado Rockies in the NL West.
Moreover, the Dodgers’ 41-19 record was good for the best record in the NL, which marked a seven-game advantage over the Milwaukee Brewers.
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