Blockbuster Trade, Veteran DFA’d, Shohei Ohtani History and More Bold Predictions for the Dodgers 2025 Season

The Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to do what no Major League Baseball team has done in 25 years this season: Repeat as World Series champions.

Before the Dodgers can even think about that, though, they have to play 160 more regular season games with a massive target on their back.

After a special 2024 season, the Dodgers took the heat up a notch by adding several of the top free agents to an already dominant roster.

Additionally, the Dodgers are expecting the reigning National League Most Valuable Player in Shohei Ohtani to debut for L.A. as a pitcher, in a moment sure to go down in Dodgers history.

As the team gets set to re-open their 2025 season at Dodger Stadium, Dodgers Nation came up with five bold predictions for the 2025 season.

More news: Predicting Every Dodgers Stat Leader for the 2025 Season

1. Shohei Ohtani hits 50 home runs, steals 30 bases, and strikes out 100 batters.

The first bold prediction starts with Ohtani, and has him putting together one of the greatest stat lines ever in 2025.

In 2023 — the last season he pitched — Ohtani became the first player in MLB history with at least 40 home runs, 20 stolen bases, and 100 strikeouts in the same seson. This year, he’ll take it to another level.

Ohtani will have another 50-home-run season (after hitting a career-high 54 in 2025), and while he won’t steal another 50 bases as he returns to pitching, he’ll still add another 30 stolen bases.

Then, on the pitching side, he’ll reach the 100-strikeout threshold, putting the finishes touches on a stat line only ever seen in video games.

Bonus prediction: Ohtani will win his fourth MVP award. But at this point, that’s not really that bold.

2. Three Dodgers finish in the Top 10 of Cy Young award voting.

Ohtani isn’t the only pitcher the Dodgers are adding this year, as the team signed two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell in free agency, and then added Roki Sasaki, who chose L.A. over the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.

Those three are joining Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the returning Tyler Glasnow to form one of the best rotations on paper in MLB history.

While the Dodgers plan on using a six-man rotation once Ohtani returns — and will likely be careful with their pitchers throughout the year to ensure they’re healthy in October — the talent on the squad will shine, and three different pitchers will finish in the Top 10 of the Cy Young award voting.

3. Seven Dodgers hit 20 or more home runs.

Last year, the Dodgers had four players with at least 20 home runs. They would have had six if not for injuries.

So this year, let’s take it up one more notch.

Seven Dodgers — Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, Max Muncy, Will Smith, and Michael Conforto — will all reach the 20-home-run threshold in a dominant offensive year for the Boys in Blue.

The last time a Dodgers team did that was 2018. The players? Muncy, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Yasmani Grandal, Yasiel Puig, Kiké Hernández, and Matt Kemp.

4. The Dodgers trade Tony Gonsolin before the deadline.

The Dodgers have an embarrassment of riches in the rotation. After being scarred from having just three healthy starters available last postseason, the Dodgers made sure to have more than enough for 2025.

However, injuries have already started to pile up, including to Gonsolin, who hasn’t pitched since 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Gonsolin appeared to have the inside track to being the No. 5 starter out of camp, but hurt his back, and is opening the season on the injured list.

No one currently in the Dodgers rotation will play themselves out of a spot, so injuries will be the only way Gonsolin gets an opportunity.

However, with the influx of pitching depth behind him — Bobby Miller, Justin Wrobleski, Landon Knack, and Nick Frasso, as well as Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan at some point — the Dodgers won’t need Gonsolin, and will instead find a pitcher-needy team to take a chance on him finding his 2022 All-Star form.

5. The Dodgers move on from Chris Taylor before the end of the regular season.

Taylor has been a candidate to be moved for the last few seasons, but due to his high price tag, he’s stuck around the organization.

The Dodgers value Taylor’s versatility and the impact he’s made on the organization, but as he’s finally in his last year of the four-year, $60 million deal he signed (he has a club option for 2026 that would surely be declined), the Dodgers will move on from Taylor at some point this season.

If Taylor is on the roster through the end of July, he will reach 10 years of service time, and receive the full pension benefits that come with it.

If he continues to struggle, though, the Dodgers could decide to move on from the former All-Star, and bring up one of their top hitting prospects waiting for an opportunity such as Dalton Rushing or Alex Freeland.

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

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