NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts knows the team has things to improve on after Thursday's season-opening 8-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Betts said the reigning World Series champions have to match their opponent's focus on a daily basis in their quest to repeat.

"We have a really good team, but we have to go out and play too. We can't just be good on paper," he said.

The Rockies took advantage of several Dodgers mistakes Thursday.

Los Angeles committed two errors and lost a run on a Cody Bellinger home run when Justin Turner misread the ball and got passed by Bellinger on the base path as he was trying to run back to first, resulting in Bellinger being called out:

Cody Bellinger hit a home run with Justin Turner on base, but Turner thought it was caught for an out and ran back to first base.

Bellinger passed Turner on the bases and was ruled out.

The home run counted for one run instead of two. pic.twitter.com/ErecD0td3d

— ESPN (@espn) April 1, 2021

Betts, who has won five consecutive Gold Glove awards, misplayed a fly ball in the third inning that helped the Rockies score a run.

The Dodgers also finished 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base.

Still, the Dodgers had a chance to tie or take the lead in the ninth inning when they loaded the bases with one out. However, Rockies closer Daniel Bard struck out pinch hitter Matt Beaty and got Betts to line out to end the game.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Monday that Dustin May has won the club's fifth-starter role over David Price to open the 2021 MLB season. 

May also beat out Jimmy Nelson for a spot in the Dodgers rotation. Both Price and Nelson will join Tony Gonsolin, another pitcher with starter experience, as part of the bullpen.

"It was easy, it was tough—just a lot of variables that I really just don't wanna get into," Roberts told reporters. "I just think that we feel good with David, Jimmy and Tony in the pen getting left, getting right out, taking down two, three, four innings. Potentially at some point, I expect those guys to even finish a game if it makes sense."

Price was acquired by L.A. last February as part of the blockbuster Mookie Betts trade, but he opted out of the 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Dodgers went on to capture the World Series with a postseason rotation that included May and Gonsolin.

That didn't stop the front office from upgrading a staff led by Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler. They signed reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer to a three-year, $102 million contract and also brought in Nelson for depth.

It created a logjam to fill the five rotation spots, with Julio Urias also having earned one with a 1.17 ERA across 23 innings during last year's playoffs.

So the Dodgers will open the season with Kershaw, Bauer, Buehler, Urias and May in the rotation with the other fifth-starter candidates moving to the pen.

In early March, Price explained he reached out to president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman during the offseason to encourage the Bauer pursuit.

"Whatever makes the 2021 Dodgers better, I'm all for it," Price said.

Between a star-studded rotation with no shortage of replacement options should injuries arise and a powerful lineup led by Betts, Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger, the Dodgers are in prime position to make a serious run toward a championship repeat.

Los Angeles kicks off the regular season with a seven-game road trip beginning with Opening Day on Thursday against the Colorado Rockies.

In 2020, the Los Angeles Dodgers were an unstoppable force as they went 43-17 in the regular season and then won their first World Series since 1988.

Now that Opening Day of the 2021 season is nearly upon Major League Baseball, the big question is if an immovable object will find its way into the Dodgers' path.

For now, the odds this will happen aren't great. According to DraftKings, the over/under for the Dodgers' win total is a whopping 102.5 games. That's seven more than the next-best team.

Led by Mookie Betts and Corey Seager, the Dodgers still have much of a lineup that led the majors in runs last season. They also added reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer to a Clayton Kershaw-led pitching staff that finished second in runs allowed.

In a typical year, working against the Dodgers would be the reality that no team has repeated as World Series champions since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. The difference this year, though, is that the Dodgers might be spared from a hangover since they played only 78 games throughout last year's coronavirus pandemic-shortened season.

Even still, it's time to sort their threats in the National League and American League from the not so real to the oh so real.

   

Meet the National League Also-Rans

We have to at least mention the Pittsburgh Pirates (O/U 58.5) and Colorado Rockies (63.5), but...well, that's really all that either rebuilding club deserves.

Somewhere above the Rockies in the West are the Arizona Diamondbacks (74.5) and San Francisco Giants (75.5), yet neither is anywhere even close to the Dodgers.

The Giants don't have the arms to balance a collection of bats who achieved the franchise's highest OPS+ in 2020. The D-backs, meanwhile, are coming off a last-place finish and are now the "meh" version of a baseball team.

Then there's the Central, wherein the St. Louis Cardinals (86.5), Milwaukee Brewers (82.5), Cincinnati Reds (82.5) and Chicago Cubs (78.5) will be trying to get back to October after all four made it last season. Yet it's not so easy to determine which of them is the favorite, much less if any of them is actually a match for the Dodgers.

Maybe the Cardinals if Jack Flaherty pitches like it's the latter half of 2019 and Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt carry the lineup. Maybe the Brewers if they clone Christian Yelich and Brandon Woodruff. Maybe the Cubs if Kris Bryant and Javier Baez remember how to hit and the 2015 version of Jake Arrieta shows up. Maybe the Reds if they actually re-signed Bauer and just forgot to tell everyone.

Which brings us to the East, where the Miami Marlins (71.5) are looking at a long road back to the playoffs after the rest of the division loaded up this offseason. So long, in fact, that it's here where this conversation can shift gears.

   

Meet the National League Threats

Are the Washington Nationals (84.5) and Philadelphia Phillies (80.5) the teams to beat in the East? Not exactly, which naturally narrows their paths to the postseason.

Nevertheless, either club could cause trouble for the Dodgers in a postseason series.

Only two years ago, Washington dispatched Los Angeles in a division series. Anthony Rendon has since departed, but still around are two aces (Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg) and one slugger (Juan Soto) who gave the Dodgers fits in '19.

The Phillies could throw two aces (Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler) at the Dodgers in a National League Division Series setting. And with J.T. Realmuto and Didi Gregorius back alongside Bryce Harper in what looks like a deep lineup, Philadelphia likewise could have the bats to overpower Los Angeles' arms.

But if there are two teams in the East that the Dodgers should fear, they're Atlanta (91.5) and the New York Mets (90.5).

Atlanta darn near beat L.A. in last year's National League Championship Series, taking a 3-1 lead only to let it slip away. Yet to its credit, Atlanta re-signed Marcell Ozuna for a lineup that scored only one fewer run than the Dodgers in 2020. And with Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly in and Mike Soroka on the comeback trail, Atlanta won't need Max Fried and Ian Anderson to carry so much weight for the rotation.

Speaking of pitching, the Mets shouldn't be much worse off in their rotation once Carlos Carrasco (hamstring) and Noah Syndergaard (Tommy John surgery) return alongside two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom and Marcus Stroman. Their bullpen also features three of last year's nine best strikeout artists: Edwin Diaz, Trevor May and Miguel Castro.

Further, New York actually finished ahead of Atlanta in OPS+ last season. Now it has James McCann and Francisco Lindor, the latter of whom has joined Pete Alonso in angling for a comeback season with a red-hot spring training.

The NL therefore features two clubs with an outside chance at dethroning the Dodgers, plus two more with a more realistic chance. There's also one team that poses a legitimate threat, and it's called the San Diego Padres (94.5).

By going 37-23, the Padres came closer to the Dodgers than any other NL team last season. That effort was paced by a Manny Machado- and Fernando Tatis Jr.-led lineup that ranked third in runs and fourth in home runs. What's more, the San Diego defense also easily led the majors in outs above average.

Those bands are still together, and now the Padres have the arms to match. In incumbent ace Dinelson Lamet and newcomers Blake Snell, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, San Diego boasts a foursome of starters who whiffed a combined 11.7 batters per nine innings with a 2.61 ERA last year.

The Padres are so good they might even deny the Dodgers what would be their ninth straight division title. Failing that, their all-around firepower would give them more than a fighting chance in a playoff showdown.

   

Meet the American League Last Hopes

If nobody in the NL proves capable of stopping the Dodgers, it will, of course, be up to the AL champion to do the job.

The Houston Astros (87.5) and Tampa Bay Rays (85.5) have represented the league in the last two Fall Classics and are still in the championship hunt. However, whether either is World Series material is debatable.

With Gerrit Cole and George Springer gone via free agency and Justin Verlander recovering from Tommy John surgery, three of the defining stars of Houston's recent dynasty have exited the picture. And without Snell, Morton and possibly Nick Anderson (elbow tear), the Rays aren't likely to be the same run-prevention juggernaut they were in 2020.

The Oakland Athletics (86.5) also had an offseason of departures, including shortstop Marcus Semien and closer Liam Hendriks. The Los Angeles Angels (83.5) were more active in adding Alex Cobb, Jose Quintana and Jose Iglesias, but they might have erred in targeting depth in lieu of stars to help support Rendon and Mike Trout.

More interesting are the Minnesota Twins (88.5) and Toronto Blue Jays (86.5), yet much will need to go right for either club to rise as a favorite for the pennant.

Above all, the Twins need their offense to return to the form that led it to a record 307 home runs in 2019. To that end, the club's regression in 2020 and ice-cold performance in spring training are bad omens.

With Springer and Semien now on their side and with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio on the up and up, things are looking better for the Toronto lineup. But without a proper co-ace for Hyun Jin Ryu and with closer Kirby Yates (Tommy John surgery) done for the year, the roster is lopsided.

This brings us, at last, to the two AL teams with the fewest nits to pick: the New York Yankees (95.5) and Chicago White Sox (91.5).

Even with slugger Eloy Jimenez out for as many as six months with a pectoral injury, the White Sox still have much of a lineup that led the AL in home runs last season. And if Yoan Moncada bounces back and Luis Robert breaks out, Jimenez's power won't even be missed that much.

Arguably even scarier is who the White Sox have on the mound. Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel and Lance Lynn comprise perhaps the AL's best trio of starters. In the bullpen are Hendriks, baseball's top reliever since 2019, and two flame-throwing firemen: Garrett Crochet and Michael Kopech.

Despite their lofty expectations, there's plenty that could derail the Yankees. For instance, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton might be bitten by the injury bug again. And after throwing a total of 18 combined pitches in 2020, Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon might not be up to the task of supporting Cole.

But in the event that Judge and Stanton stay healthy while Gleyber Torres and Gary Sanchez bounce back, New York will have a silly amount of power underneath table-setter DJ LeMahieu.

The Yankees will also have three aces if Kluber and Taillon pan out, plus a potential fourth upon Luis Severino's return from Tommy John surgery. Assuming Zack Britton heals well from his own elbow surgery, he and Aroldis Chapman will form a devastating duo in the late innings.

On paper, neither the White Sox nor Yankees are as strong as the Dodgers. But if either meets Los Angeles in the Fall Classic, their slugging bats or power arms could help them deny the Dodgers a second straight championship.

   

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

   

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San Diego Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. is getting into the NFT world with the announcement that he will release three limited-edition pieces in April. 

Tatis announced on Thursday that he is working with Impossible Brief to put together his NFT collection:

https://twitter.com/SportsNation/status/1375054865240494085

Per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, Tatis' NFT collection will consist of "three open edition pieces available for a limited time, one limited edition baseball memorabilia themed piece and an ultra-rare, one-of-one."

Tatis has emerged as arguably the face of Major League Baseball through his first two seasons with the Padres. The 22-year-old finished fourth in NL MVP voting last year after hitting .277/.366/.571 with 17 homers and 45 RBI in 59 games. 

The Padres rewarded Tatis by signing him to a 14-year, $340 million contract extension in February. He's got the potential to win multiple MVP awards and is the centerpiece of one of the best teams in MLB. 

While an official release date has yet to be announced, Feinsand noted the pieces are expected to be available in mid-April.   

San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. exited Tuesday's game against the Cincinnati Reds with a shoulder injury, according to MLB.com's AJ Cassavell.

"The Padres' star shortstop ranged to his right to make a play, then made a long throw across the diamond to retire Reds second baseman Jonathan India," Cassavell wrote. "Tatis was removed immediately and walked off the field with his hand on his right hip after being assessed by manager Jayce Tingler and a team trainer."

The third-year man established himself as a National League MVP candidate last season with a .277 batting average, 17 home runs and 45 RBI in 59 games. Ultimately, he finished fourth in the voting.

On Aug. 16, 2019, it was announced that Tatis was dealing with a back injury that would cost him the remainder of the 2019 season. Prior to getting shut down, he was enjoying a huge statistical year with a slash line of .317/.379/.590 to go along with 22 home runs, 53 RBI and 16 stolen bases for the up-and-coming Padres.

The son of former Major League third baseman Fernando Tatis, Tatis Jr. seems likely to surpass what his father accomplished in 11 big league seasons with the Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos, Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets.

Tatis Jr. was heralded as one of the top prospects in baseball prior to getting called up, and he didn't disappoint as he is now widely considered the face of the franchise in San Diego along with Manny Machado.

At just 22 years of age, Tatis looks like he is going to be a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate, which is why playing it safe with him from an injury perspective is so important.

One year after the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Mookie Betts, one fan decided to troll the Boston Red Sox about the trade.

A Dodgers fan rented a billboard right next to Fenway Park thanking the Red Sox for giving them the former American League MVP:

I’m a fool. Someone take my credit card away 😂 pic.twitter.com/7qQV2Gm01P

— aLex (@alexuur) March 22, 2021

.@alexuur's favorite memory was @mookiebetts' home run in the 2020 World Series and in return, he wanted to show some love to Boston. #ThankYouBoston

This billboard can be found at 60–62 Brookline Ave Boston, MA 02215 RIGHT NEXT to Fenway Park. pic.twitter.com/WQSygsAxbn

— Pantone 294 (@Pantone294) March 22, 2021

Boston traded Betts and David Price to the Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Alex Verdugo and prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong in February 2020.

One common explanation for why the Red Sox decided to deal their best homegrown player since at least Dustin Pedroia was the ownership wanted to avoid paying the luxury tax penalty in 2020 after missing the playoffs in 2019.

Betts, who was entering his final year of team control at the time of the trade, reportedly turned down a $300 million extension offer from the Red Sox, per The Athletic's Andy McCullough. 

"I don't regret turning down that," Betts told reporters prior to the start of last season. "Once I make a decision, I make a decision. I'm not going back and questioning myself. I don't worry about that. The market will be what the market is. We'll just cross that bridge when we get there. But for right now, it's just the safety and health that I'm worried about."

After the Dodgers acquired Betts, they signed him to a 12-year, $365 million contract extension that tied him to the organization through the 2032 season. 

The deal paid immediate dividends for the Dodgers, who won their first World Series title since 1988 last season. Betts finished second in NL MVP voting after posting a .292/.366/.562 slash line with 16 homers, 39 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 55 games during the regular season. 

Boston missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year and finished last in the AL East with a 24-36 record in 2020. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed 2020 National League Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer and will get 2012 American League Cy Young winner David Price back in its rotation, but neither one of them was about to unseat the ace when it came to starting Opening Day. 

Pedro Moura of The Athletic noted Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed Clayton Kershaw will start the April 1 opener against the Colorado Rockies.

"There's really no wrong decision," Roberts said, per ESPN's Alden Gonzalez. "I just feel that he's earned it, he's the right guy for the spot for 2021—for every reason I just think it makes the most sense."

Los Angeles may have the deepest rotation in the league with Kershaw, Bauer, Price, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin. It could use a six-man rotation throughout the year to keep the arms fresh for the stretch run for a potential thrilling National League West race with the San Diego Padres.

San Diego added Yu Darvish and Blake Snell to a roster that already made the playoffs last year in what could be the best division race in the league.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, they have a future Hall of Famer in Kershaw to kick them off on the right foot as the Opening Day starter. The southpaw has a NL MVP, three NL Cy Youngs, five ERA titles, eight All-Star selections and now a World Series crown on his illustrious resume.

He should still be at the backend of his prime at 33 years old throughout the 2021 campaign and was brilliant during the shortened 2020 season with a 2.16 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 62 strikeouts in 58.1 innings.

It was more of the same for Kershaw, who finished with an ERA below 3.00 in 11 of the last 12 seasons.

If he does so again in 2021, look for the Dodgers to challenge for another World Series title.

The Arizona Diamondbacks will be without first base coach Dave McKay in the immediate future after he suffered a broken rib and lacerated spleen from falling in the dugout.

"He's fine; everything's good," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said Friday, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "He's just going to need to step away."

Lovullo said McKay was wearing new shoes when he tripped and fell. McKay underwent a "little procedure to cauterize the spleen, and everything is thumbs-up right now," he said.

The expectation is McKay will return to the Diamondbacks in about one week. Their Opening Day game is against the San Diego Padres on April 1.

McKay has been with the Diamondbacks since 2014, per the AP. He also played for the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics from 1975 through 1982 as a second baseman, third baseman and shortstop.

He finished his playing career with a .229/.266/.313 slash line, 21 home runs and 170 RBI.

The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series during the shortened 2020 campaign even though David Price opted out.

While the southpaw is one of the best pitchers of his generation, he also wanted to make it clear to Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman that he was willing to take whatever role was needed of him in 2021 to ensure that success continues.

Alden Gonzalez of ESPN reported Price reached out to Friedman to reveal as much, particularly when Los Angeles was pursuing eventual signee Trevor Bauer as a possible addition.

"Whatever makes the 2021 Dodgers better, I'm all for it," Price said.

Los Angeles won that championship with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin making most of the starts and could very well rely on that combination of pitchers again in 2021.

Throw in Bauer, who won the 2020 National League Cy Young as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, and Price, a five-time All-Star and the 2012 American League Cy Young winner, and there appears to be a logjam if the strategy is to use a traditional five-man rotation.

Gonzalez noted the plan has yet to be publicly finalized, although they could all see time in April as the Dodgers look to account for additional innings with the season going from 60 games in 2020 to the usual 162 in 2021.

Manager Dave Roberts could use more than one starter in a single game, especially early in the season, to preserve some of the arms for the stretch run and playoffs.

Price's comments seem to indicate he would be fine with that, even if it means coming out of the bullpen at times.

The Dodgers may need all of those pitchers to reach their potential if they are going to hold off the San Diego Padres in the National League West. San Diego made the playoffs in 2020 for the first time since 2006 and added four-time All-Star Yu Darvish and 2018 American League Cy Young winner Blake Snell this offseason.

They should pose quite the challenge for Los Angeles no matter what role Price and the others pitchers assume.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts condemned racism and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in a recent email sent to the entire Dodgers organization (via Dennis Lin and Pedro Moura of The Athletic):

"I have just come to a peace about speaking out about things that I believe are right. And this particular situation towards Asians, Asian Americans, is something that obviously affects me personally, having a mother from Okinawa, Japan. Seeing what's going on in our country, I just felt that I wanted to internally put something together for our organization, showing my support toward Asian Americans in our organization and acknowledge what's going in our country and around the world that I just don't believe is right."

Roberts, whose mother is Japanese and father is Black, said he was alerted to the importance of the moment after Jeremy Lin spoke out against racism directed toward Asian Americans amid a rise in racism and violence against the Asian American community. Lin also revealed he was called "coronavirus" on the court during a G League game. 

Anti-Asian violence has spiked in the United States since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with about 3,000 incidents across all 50 states, per CNN.com.

Lin called on others to support Asian Americans, speak up and stand against violence:

❤️ pic.twitter.com/BTailOSS28

— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) February 27, 2021

In his letter to the organization, Roberts criticized past and current racism against Asian Americans.

"Unfortunately, anti-Asian sentiment is a part of American history (see 1880s, 1940s, or the 1980s as examples) and it has resurfaced again during the pandemic as some seem to blame the world's problems on one ethnic group," the email read. "To blame Asian Americans at all for the global pandemic is just plain wrong."

Roberts said numerous staffers of all backgrounds have thanked him for the message, and traveling secretary Scott Akasaki also heard positive feedback.

"I've received a couple of text messages from Asian American staff members, and they said that Dave's letter meant so much to them, because for one of the first times they felt seen and they felt heard," Akasaki said.

Roberts also notably provided support for Black players in August when the team chose not to play following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, standing alongside Dodgers stars Mookie Betts and Kenley Jansen at a press conference.