Los Angeles Dodgers: Team preview and prediction for 2020 season

Los Angeles Dodgers: 2020 Preview, Prediction

What may be for a bit of concern is the Dodgers’ pitching rotation. They lose three big pitchers for them in the offseason in Hyun-Jin Ryu, Rich Hill, and Kenta Maeda and bring in David Price, via the Mookie Betts trade, and Alex Wood who was dumped by the Reds.

Aside from a top two of Walker Buehler and the great Clayton Kershaw, the Dodger rotation is going to be predicated on youth and the banking on that youth being able to step up to the plate. David Price is a solid number three who was fantastic just two years ago for the Red Sox in their World Series run, but after him, there lies some serious questions and uncertainty.

Dustin May, Mitchell White, Josiah Gray, Tony Gonsolin, Julio Urias, and the newly-acquired Brusdar Graterol are all going to be seeing a lot of time this season trying to round out this Dodger rotation. All of them have fairly high ceilings, but we won’t know exactly how they’ll fare until everything plays out.

In the cases of May and Urias, both guys have a good amount of big-league experience under their belts, so I would say those two are the main ones to watch. 2020, though, is a big year for Urias because he’s had a lot of time in the big leagues and he has yet to really establish himself.

Don’t get me wrong, I like this Dodger rotation and I like all these young guys coming u, but I think they’re going to need to another veteran arm in their rotation if they want to finally break through and win a title.

As for their bullpen……look, it’s solid. I know Kenley Jansen has been trending downward these last couple of seasons, but look at what the Dodgers still have around him in power arms like Pedro Baez and Joe Kelly. Now they bring in Blake Treinen from Oakland, so that’s another power right-hander who may also be able to slide into that closer role if Kenley is indeed struggling again.

They have good lefties in Scott Alexander and Adam Kolarek, plus they also have long relief help in Ross Stripling, Caleb Ferguson, Dennis Santana, and Jimmy Nelson who they brought over from Milwaukee.

Their pitching staff has definitely been stronger in the past, but it’s still very strong. I think we’re going to see a lot of these younger guys come up and make big impacts. Dustin May is going to have a big year and Brusdar Graterol is going to come up and slide into a major bull[pen role.

All in all, the strength of the Dodgers is their lineup, but their pitching staff isn’t by any means a hindrance.