Dodgers and Padres fans from all over the globe were treated to regular season baseball one week before the fan bases of 28 other teams. That treat though, did not come without sacrifice for fans here in the states and especially on the West Coast. Dodger fans were tasked with waking up at, or staying up until, for that matter, 3 AM PT to watch our favorite team take on the Padres in the 2024 Seoul Series. Many Dodger fans were taken back to memories of opening the season in Australia against the Diamondbacks in what was also a 2 game set.
While adjusting our sleep schedules was tough, Dodger fans who stuck it out had the chance to watch two thrilling games that set the tone for an exciting season to come. It was especially great to see many members of Dodgers Twitter live tweet as it was a normal 7:10 pm game. That aspect really helped the feeling of baseball season finally arriving, sink in. Among the excitement of waking up to watch baseball, there are five things that stood out to me the most in these two games that are worth discussing and keeping an eye out for, throughout the season.
Mookie Betts has not Missed a Beat
It would be a crime to start this list off without mentioning the man that looked like the best player on both teams throughout the series. If you were not aware before, I do not think you would have been able to tell that Betts was anointed the team’s Opening Day Shortstop a couple short weeks prior to the series. He looked extremely comfortable at the toughest infield position to play, and made some excellent plates on hard hit balls his way.
More notably, Betts was on fire at the plate, going a total of 6-for-9 in the two games, and totaling a wOBA (Weighted on base average – better counterpart to OBP in my opinion) of .804. While sustaining a wOBA of .804 for the season is not sustainable, Betts had 4 batted balls of at least 96 MPH or higher, which included a double that would have been a homer in 17/30 Major League ballparks. And please do not worry about would-be homers because he followed that double up with a homerun that would have gone out in any MLB stadium. Mookie looked like the guy who was locked in and carried the Dodgers offense last season with how hard he was hitting the ball and consistently he was on base and making things happen over the first two games.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Rough Introduction
There is no nice way to phrase it, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a rude awakening in his first MLB start. Those that are familiar with his game know that he relies on command to be successful, and said command was not there in his MLB debut. This was predominantly evident in his splitter usage, which is an out pitch for him traditionally. Yamamoto was only able to locate one splitter at the bottom of the zone, and the rest landed over the plate, or far out of the strike zone where hitters were able to lay off of. His other pitches (fastball, cutter, and curveball) were not there either as he threw 19 balls out of 43 total pitches.
Aside from Yamamoto’s lack of command, he allowed the Padres to square up the baseball as well. Of the 6 balls in play he allowed, 4 were sent off the bat at 95 MPH or higher, and one, a double by Luis Campusano, was not tracked. Needless to say, Padres hitters were on top of almost EVERYTHING that man threw them
While none of the data highlighted above is pretty, baseball fans have to think this start is nothing more than a wrinkle for the Japanese right-hander. Yamamoto has proven on many big stages he is more than a capable starting pitcher that can get major league hitters out at a high level. He had multiple teams offering him $300m+ during his free agency period for a reason, and I’d rather put more stock into the track record that netted him those offers, as opposed to one start in which he was not his normal self.
A Tale of 2 Bullpens
Over the last few years, possibly a little bit more than that, the bullpen has been a strength for the Dodgers. This season’s high leverage guys going into the season seemed to be a combination of Evan Phillips, Daniel Hudson, Brusdar Graterol (injured), Ryan Braiser, and Blake Treinen (injured). When the high leverage situations came in Game 1 after Glasnow was removed, we indeed saw Braiser, Hudson, Phillips, with Joe Kelly sprinkled in, and they did not disappoint. In 4 innings of combined work, the 4 right-handers managed to not give up a single run, allowed only 2 hits combined, and all registered pitches above 95.5 MPH, demonstrating having their respective velocities at expected levels to start the season. Needless to say, these 4 guys had a tough job from the get-go, and showed out immediately.
Where to begin with the lower leverage guys that were tasked with 8 innings in Game 2? Granted, the pitchers who took the mound were tasked with getting a combined 24 outs, which was likely a lot more than they expected. Nonetheless, the workloads did not seem abnormal for the individuals themselves throwing, and the results were not there. Each reliever who threw at least 1 inning (Gus Varland threw 0.1) gave up at least 1 ER with the exception of Ryan Yarborough, who looked fantastic in his 1.2 innings of work, inducing soft contact, allowing an average exit velocity of 80.7 MPH on batted balls.
While Yarborough mitigated damage, Michael Grove, Alex Vesia, Kyle Hurt, and J.P. Feyereisen allowed a combined 10 ER. It seemed like the Padres had an answer for each of them, almost every inning. It seems like the bridge to the high leverage guys or the lower leverage part of the bullpen has been a wrinkle for the Dodgers in the beginning of each season over the last few years. It certainly seemed like Grove and even Hurt may be experiencing growing pains in new roles, but the Dodgers would definitely expect more out of experienced relievers like Vesia and Feyereisen. The Dodger bullpen generally strengthens as a unit throughout the season, so hopefully, this is an anomaly.
An Oscar may not be Glasnow’s only Award in 2024…
The Dodgers were quick to lock up Glasnow for the next 4 years with a hefty payday upon acquiring him from the Tampa Bay Rays this offseason. The Dodgers were hampered by inconsistent starting pitching throughout the end of last season and their short playoff run. Glasnow certainly looked like a solution to said problem with how he threw the ball in Game 1.
Glasnow went 5 innings, allowing 2 ER to the Padres offense, and in my opinion, putting on a performance well enough to win games for the Dodgers down the line. He earned a no decision, although I do think pitching win-loss record is an outdated stat. Going 5 innings, throwing 81 pitches, and only allowing 2 ER to an offense that exploded for 15 runs the next day, deserves some praise.
His curveball was really the only pitch that was really lacking, as it was evident he had trouble with his control, given how many he threw in the dirt. Aside from that, he generated 13 swings and misses, shades of the Glasnow that many saw as an ace in Tampa Bay. Glasnow’s fastball topped out at 98.3 MPH, and averaged 96.3 MPH. On top of his velocity aiding his success, he allowed an average exit velocity of 81 MPH on batted balls, mitigating hard contact. Dodger fans can live with those 2 runs, given his effectiveness and signs of pitching like the guy that was and potentially still is, seen as an ace.
The Offense Performed as Advertised
We covered Mookie at the top because of his contributions, but he was not the only Dodger swinging the bat well. Prized free agent acquisition, Shohei Ohtani, aided in the Dodgers scoring more so in Game 1, where he notched 2 base hits, which included a 112+ MPH screamer that was the hardest batted ball by a Dodger since 2021, and a run driven in. While his Game 2 may have been quiet in the box score, he registered 4 batted balls over 98 MPH, and 3 OVER 100 MPH in the game. He led the team in hard hits, so fans have to imagine base hits will be falling very, very soon. Their Big 3 counterpart, Freddie Freeman may have also had a quiet box score line, going 1-for-6 in the 2 game set, but on top of his 2 walks, every ball he put in play was a hard hit, spelling more good signs for Dodgers fans.
As for the rest of the lineup, cleanup hitter Will Smith, looked excellent, putting up 5 base hits, which included a 4-for-4 performance in Game 2, with 2 hard hits. He certainly looked like the top 2 catcher that many Dodger and MLB fans bill him as. Gavin Lux, Jason Heyward, and Max Muncy joined the party as well, each registering multi-hit games in Game 2, with Heyward and Lux notching multiple hard hits each. Heyward and Enrique Hernandez had key sacrifice flies in Game 1 that set the table for the Dodgers to stay in the game and grab the lead, and Teoscar Hernandez had a key hit in Game 1 that allowed him to be on base as the eventual go-ahead run in the closely contested matchup. James Outman was quiet in the hit colum, but had 2 batted balls over 100 MPH, suggesting he could have been a victim of bad luck because he surely squared up the ball on those two tries.
While the summary above spells a really good 2 game set for any offense, the biggest takeaway in my eyes, was that the Dodgers were down in Game 2 9-2 at one point, and roared all the way back to get the game within a run. Obviously the Dodgers were not victorious, but nearly erasing a 7-run deficit, putting up 11 runs, and staying in the game until the last inning, tells me a lot about this offense that we will be fortunate enough to watch for 162 games. It was only 2 games, but they sure lived up to the billing of the potent offense they were seen as in the offseason. We should be in store for an exciting year as Dodger fans.
*All stats were used from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant
Original Post Date: 3/27/24