It Took Longer Than Planned, But The Dodgers Are Back Together and Playing Great Baseball
The Los Angeles Dodgers had one of the weirder Aprils in recent memory. From the injuries to the paternity leaves to the random additions, the April Dodgers looked very different from the team we all expected when the season began. Did anyone expect Austin Wynns to play five games for the Dodgers in April of 2023? Because I know he didn’t.
The Dodgers didn’t get off to a great start in 2023, but the inconsistencies on the roster definitely didn’t help. It felt like the Dodgers had a new roster move everyday for a week straight, and that’s never a good sign, especially this early in the season.
Fortunately, though, it seems like April’s craziness is finally behind us.
The four Dodgers who went on the paternity list are all back. Yes, Caleb Ferguson will be going at some point, but then the Dodgers shouldn’t have to worry about that for a while.
On the injury side, Will Smith, who missed over two weeks with a concussion, is back and raking again in the No. 3 spot in the lineup. J.D. Martinez remains out, but he’s the only player on the offensive side of things who isn’t playing now — and Michael Busch is doing a solid job in his place.
So overall, the Dodgers finally seem to be getting on track together, and it’s showing on the field. The Dodgers have won four in a row, and have outscored their opponents 27-10 in that time span.
Following the Dodgers three-game sweep of the Cardinals, Freddie Freeman spoke about just how key it is to finally have everyone back.
“We would liked to have put this together a lot quicker than we did,” Freeman said. “Obviously, losing Will [Smith] for a while with his concussion, everyone felt like they were having babies at the same time. It’s just nice to get everybody back together again and obviously play good baseball. Pitching has been great and we’ve been scoring some runs all different kinds of ways.”
The Dodgers played a ton of small ball in the sweep of the Cardinals, and then mixed back in the home runs in Monday’s dominant win over the Phillies. This is the lineup we all envisioned when the year began, so it’s nice to see them putting it all together when they’re healthy.
“Just treading water the first few weeks, it’s nice to put it all together at the end of April and roll into May,” Freeman said. “It’s nice to play some good baseball in front of our home fans, too.”
The momentum of the Cardinals series already continued into May in the Dodgers’ 13-4 thrashing of the Phillies on Monday. And hopefully, it stays hot on Tuesday with the left-handed Matt Strahm on the mound.
The Dodgers have struggled to hit lefties all year, and even in this four-game winning streak, only mustered one run against the left-handed Jordan Montgomery on Saturday. So this will be a nice test to see where the offense is. Let’s hope they keep rolling.
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