Los Angeles Dodgers 2018 Season Review and 2019 Outlook
It was another great season for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018 as they won the National League West and reached the World Series.
The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to dominate the National League West winning the division for the sixth straight season.
Things weren’t quite as easy in 2018 though as they continued to get push from the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rockies actually forced the Dodgers to play a tie-breaker gamer for the division, which the Dodgers obviously won.
On top of that, the Dodgers got out to a very slow start with Justin Turner on the disabled list.
They were just 16-26 on May 16 and were dead last in the NL West, 8.5 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Turner made is 2018 debut on May 15, which ultimately sparked the team back into contention.
After that May 16 loss to the Miami Marlins, the Dodgers ended up going 76-45 the rest of the way.
It wasn’t until July 12 that the Dodgers took over first place in the division.
The Dodgers crushed their rivals at the end of the regular season, sweeping the San Francisco Giants, in order to keep pace with the Rockies for first place.
In game 163 the Dodgers sent rookie Walker Buehler to the mound and he gave up one hit and three walks over 6.2 innings of shutout baseball as LA went on to win 5-2.
The Dodgers took care of a young Atlanta Braves team in the division round winning the series 3-1.
That was not the case in the NLCS as they went toe-to-toe with the Milwaukee Brewers before winning game seven.
And though it won’t show with the 4-1 result, they were pretty competitive with the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.
Even though for most fans reaching the World Series would be a great accomplishment, I think most Dodgers fans will not be satisfied until they win the title.
What Went Right
The Dodgers didn’t make a ton — if any — big moves last offseason as they looked to stay under the luxury tax.
The one big move they made was dumping several bad contracts to the Atlanta Braves and acquiring Matt Kemp.
It was thought at the time that the Dodgers would simply cut Kemp, but he came into Spring Training looking good and carried the Dodgers through the first part of the season.
They also made a small move in trading for Scott Alexander, and he ended up being a big piece of the bullpen.
During the season they made several trades to bolster the lineup acquiring Brian Dozier, David Freese, John Axford, and the big fish in Manny Machado.
While Machado wasn’t great with the Dodgers, it’s hard to make a case that he didn’t make the Dodgers and better team.
But what really made the Dodgers great in 2018 was their pitching staff and home runs.
They finished second in all of baseball with a staff ERA of 3.38, and they were second in home runs with 235 (nobody was catching the New York Yankees bombers at 267).
That is what carried them to a first place finish in the NL West and another World Series appearance.
What Went Wrong
It’s hard to find a lot of negatives for a team that won their division and reached the World Series.
But if there is one thing that I think plagued the Dodgers in 2018 and kept them from ultimately winnings the World Series, it was the strikeouts.
When you have a lineup full of guys swinging for the downs, you also have a lineup full of guys who swing and miss a lot.
The Dodgers struck out the eighth most time in baseball last season with 1,436 strikeouts.
Typically those kinds of lineups don’t have a lot of success in the postseason where you face a lot of power arms, and I think that caught up with them against the Red Sox in the World Series.
You saw it happen at times in the NLCS against the Brewers, but they were still able to scrape by with some big hits.
But when the long ball went away in the World Series, they seemed lost on offense.
As far as moves that didn’t work out, Dozier was atrocious with the Dodgers hitting just .182 in 143 at-bats. Axford was equally as terrible with a 17.18 ERA in just 3.2 innings pitched.
Also, when Kenley Jansen was injuried late in the regular season the bullpen looked mediocre and struggled to find someone else to close out games.
Surprise Performances
Every season there are a couple of surprise performances on every team that they weren’t expecting, especially on teams who win a lot of games as the Los Angeles Dodgers did.
The Dodgers had three such players in 2018 with Kemp, Buehler, and Max Muncy all breaking out unexpectedly.
As we talked about previously, the Dodgers were planning on cutting Kemp after trading for him in what was a salary dump.
Instead, Kemp went on to hit .290 with 21 home runs and 85 RBI in 146 games played and 462 at-bats. He did cool off a bit in the second half when he hit just .255 with 6 home runs and 25 RBI, but he was pretty much all the Dodgers had on offense in April and most of May.
Muncy was just as much of a surprise for the Dodgers in 2018. After hitting just .195 over parts of two season with the Oakland Athletics, the then 27-year-old Muncy hit .263 with 35 home runs and 79 RBI for the Dodgers in 2018.
While he struggled a bit in the postseason striking out 23 times in 50 at-bats, he did hit two home runs in the NLDS and one huge walk-off home run in game three of the World Series in the 18th inning.
And while Buehler was a top prospect who many thought would be a good major league pitcher someday, I didn’t think many expected him to have the season he put up in 2018.
He made 23 starts for the Dodgers, which included 13 quality starts, and finished the regular season with an ERA of 2.62 in 137.1 innings pitched with 151 strikeouts.
Buehler also started that game three in the World Series that the Dodgers eventually won. He started the game and tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits with seven strikeouts.
Outlook for 2019
The outlook is the same for the Los Angeles Dodgers every season, and that’s to win the World Series.
Fans are tired of hearing about how they haven’t won the title since 1988 (the year I was born).
They’ve reached the World Series in two straight years now, so just getting there isn’t going to fly — they need to win.
The first thing the Dodgers did this offseason was extended their ace Clayton Kershaw for three more seasons at $93 million.
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They also signed
to a three-year $25 million deal after watching him dominate them in the World Series with the Red Sox. He will most likely help bolster the bullpen, but he also has plenty of experience as a starter if needed.
The Dodgers have opened up the lineup and shed salary by trading Kemp, Yasiel Puig, and Alex Wood to the Cincinnati Reds for some minor league players.
There are also rumors that they are looking to move Joc Pederson, leading many to believe they are trying to make room and clear money for Bryce Harper.
JT Realmuto has also been mentioned as a possible trade target for the Dodgers who need a catcher.
With the Diamondbacks, Giants, and Padres all in some sort of rebuild, there isn’t much competition for the Dodgers in their division.
Next. Are the Los Angeles Dodgers a mystery team on Manny Machado?. dark
It would be a complete shock if they don’t at least reach the postseason again, and with a big move or two, they could be the NL favorites to reach the World Series in 2019.