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What Does 60-Game Season Mean For The Los Angeles Dodgers?

Jeff Spiegel
6 Min Read
Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Matt Beaty, Joc Pederson, A.J. Pollock and Chris Taylor celebrate after a win
Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports

Take “normal” and then subtract 102 games. Welcome to 2020, folks.

After finally “agreeing” to play the 2020 season, Major League Baseball announced this year would consist of just 60 games — a mere 37% of a normal campaign. Yes, it’s baseball -— but it’s definitely different. And there may be some reason to be worried.

Yes, of course about a second wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19), but even strictly talking about baseball, a 60-game season could be trouble for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Is this good news? In some ways, yes. But there’s also some bad news here as well, so let’s break it down.

Positives for Dodgers in 60-game season

The Dodgers are the best team in the National League (and it might not be that close). As long as there’s a 2020 season, the Dodgers will be the NL favorites (they are +150 to win the NL, with the next closest team at +650).

In fact, they’re currently the World Series favorites as well (+325, with the New York Yankees second at +375).

Part of the reason for this is because of the Dodgers’ division. Yes, 60 games will reduce the margin for error, but all the Dodgers need to worry about is winning the NL West for an eighth consecutive year.

And, well, that’s a group that still includes the San Francisco Giants (over/under win total: 25.5), Colorado Rockies (27.5), Arizona Diamondbacks (31) and San Diego Padres (31).

So yes, having a shortened 2020 is better than having no season because this is yet another year in which the Dodgers have a real chance at winning a World Series. Say what you will, but any team who gets through the gauntlet of the postseason will be honored as a “normal” champion — Dodgers or otherwise.

There’s also that Mookie Betts guy. Seeing him play 60 games as a Dodger after giving up Alex Verdugo and others is better than not seeing him at all.

One other thing that’s worth mentioning: injuries will affect teams more greatly this year than ever before. Missing one game will be equivalent to missing three, and so if you have a guy miss a few weeks it could be catastrophic.

So, while missing Cody Bellinger or Betts would be devastating for the Dodgers, they’re also more prepared to weather injury storms given their insane depth. This one is a double-edged sword, but it’s ultimately a plus.

Unfortunately, though, it’s not all good…

Dangers for Dodgers in short season

The shortened season genuinely can inspire fear. The more games in a season, the better odds of the best teams separating themselves. Every game fewer than 162 is bad news for the Dodgers, and this year they’ve got 102 pieces of bad news.

Furthermore, the Dodgers have been winning the NL West exactly once in the past four seasons at the 60-game mark (obviously won the division by season’s end each time). They were over .500 just twice, and once they were actually six games under.

Of course, a natural response is something along these lines: “Yeah, but if they knew the season was just 60-games long, things would have been different.” That is understandable and easy to agree with.

There will definitely be more urgency this season, but also it would be shortsighted to believe things are that simple.

Who’s to say if players “care less” at the beginning of the season than the end. The middle? Perhaps. But it feels like the first few weeks of the season would be pretty high-level stuff most of the time.

Also, if players struggle out of the gates traditionally, that will still be a problem. It’s not like hitters care less about their average or home run totals in May than in October. In some ways this season will be a weird experiment to see which of these theories is real.

Is there something to guys “turning it on” for the stretch run? Or do some players just come out of Spring (Summer) Training slowly?

In the end, the headline is clear: baseball is back, and that’s a good thing.

But it’s not all good for the Dodgers. Making the postseason this year will be a greater challenge in some ways than it has been in a long time. And yet, if they can just get there, they might end up with their best chance of winning it all.

Alright 2020, let’s get it.

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By Jeff Spiegel
Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a local newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Dodgers and Raiders since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNation.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Dodger I'm going past and present (sort of) on this one. Recently, I was a die hard Yasiel Puig guy. The energy he played with was amazing and the hope and expectation he brought every single night was captivating. Whether it was a rifle from the warning track to throw a guy out at second, an aggressive bat flip or licking his bat, I was here for ALL of the Yasiel Puig era. Past tense, I'd go with Eric Gagné. This wasn't so much about Gagné himself as it was the experience of cheering for him. Yes, he was on steroids — but the dude was unlike any pitcher I've ever seen — he was NASTY. I still stand by the claim that if I needed one out and my life depended on it, and could choose any pitcher from any era to get me that out, I'm taking roided up Gagné in a heartbeat. Favorite Dodger Moment A few jump to mind immediately. Being born in November of 1988, I missed the last World Series by weeks — which also meant I didn't get to see the Dodgers win a playoff game until I was nearly 16. They had made the playoffs in 1995 and 1996, but were swept both times. In 2004, though, I got to see them win behind a complete game shutout from Jose Lima, and that was pretty freaking special. The next in-person moment that came to mind was the Manny Ramirez bobblehead night pinch-hit grand slam from 2009. Vin Scully claimed it was the loudest he had heard Dodger Stadium in 20 years, and it's hard to disagree. As far as ones I didn't get to see live, I'll throw one more out there: the back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs that tied a game against the Padres in 2006 (plus the walk-off from Nomar Garciaparra in extra innings) was an all-timer. Obviously, the impending Dodgers World Series will quickly jump to the top of this list...