Manager Dave Roberts and the Los Angeles Dodgers currently have the best record in baseball at 85-57 ahead of Sunday afternoon's tilt with the Cleveland Guardians at home. The Dodgers and Guardians have split the first two games of the series leading up to Sunday's matchup, but Roberts' team is sitting pretty with less than a month to go until MLB postseason action gets underway in October.
A large part of the Dodgers' hot streak as of late has been their acquisitions at the trade deadline, which included starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, utilityman Tommy Edman and reliever Michael Kopech.
Kopech in particular has raised eyebrows since joining Los Angeles, recording a record of 3-0 with a 0.59 ERA, including striking out 20 of 57 batters so far in his Dodgers tenure after a rough start to the season with the Chicago White Sox.
Recently, Roberts broke down the immense impact that those acquisitions have had, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
“I don’t want to even think about where we’d be (without them),” said Roberts. “These guys have been huge for us. They’ve already made a big impact for us.”
Meanwhile, Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Paul Sewald, who recently faced off against the Dodgers, couldn't help but reveal his exasperated reaction to their depth of talent.
“It’s like they have a magic formula over there,” said Sewald. “Look at what he’s doing.”
Is this the year for the Dodgers?
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The Dodgers have been compiling elite regular seasons for well over a decade now but only have one championship ring to show for it in the modern era, which occurred vs the Tampa Bay Rays in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 MLB season.
The Dodgers have since flamed out in the playoffs to the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, and last year to the Diamondbacks in shocking sweep fashion in the first round, begging the question of whether or not their regular season success was truly able to be translated into the postseason.
Last year, both Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman–who each finished near the top of the NL MVP voting–flamed out in epic fashion against the Diamondbacks. All of this of course preceded the gargantuan signing of free agent superstar Shohei Ohtani this past offseason, setting the stage for a season filled with expectations for Los Angeles in 2024.
In any case, the Dodgers and Guardians are set to get things underway at 4:10 PM ET on Sunday afternoon.
