There Are Some Subtle Warning Signs Surrounding The Juggernaut Dodgers

Let’s get this out of the way from the get-go – it’s really early, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, on paper, remain the best team in baseball by a longshot. That said, there are some early warning signs that this is a flawed ballclub, and might have to dig down deep in their pursuit of a second consecutive World Series championship.

The bottom line is actually pretty good – going into Monday night’s game, the Dodgers at 11-6, in 3rd place in the highly competitive NL West. However, their run differential stood dead even at 74 runs scored and against. They have also lost their last three series, on the road at the Phillies and Nationals and at home against the Cubs.

Now a single 16-0 loss to the Cubs last weekend had an outsized effect on their run differential, and we don’t want to overreact to a single outlier of game amid a small sample size overall. But there are a couple of worrisome factors here, and at least one of them carries over from last season.

That would be on the pitching side. Now it’s pretty obvious that the pitching talent employed by the Dodgers is more than formidable. They’ve ponied up big present and future dollars to bring aboard the likes of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell – and of course, the rehabbing Shohei Ohtani in recent offseasons. On a per inning and stuff basis they all flash brilliance. But what they haven’t delivered is bulk.

Only two Dodger hurlers exceeded the modest total of 90 innings pitched in 2024. Those were the presently injured Gavin Stone (140 1/3) and Glasnow (134). They muddled through and won it all anyway, with trading deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty (who has since returned to Detroit as a free agent) helping push them over the finish line. The club hoped that a fully healthy Yamamoto and Dustin May plus the acquisitions of Sasaki and Snell would enhance their overall starting pitcher innings bulk moving forward.

It hasn’t worked out that way. Snell is hurt, and while Yamamoto has been great in the early going, they simply aren’t getting enough innings from their other starters. Their starters pitched only 76 innings in their first 17 innings, an average of 4.47 innings per start. That’s dead last in the major leagues. Their starters have walked a whopping 50 batters in those 76 innings – no other MLB rotation has walked even 40 batters. Sasaki and Glasnow have been the biggest offenders, walking an unacceptable 22 batters in their first 26 1/3 innings. That’s not going to fly.

This has placed an incredible strain on their bullpen. In 2024, no Dodger reliever pitched more than 67 1/3 innings (if you guessed Ryan Yarbrough, you’re pretty good). In 2025, they have six, count ‘em six guys on pace to throw 75 or more innings. Now the cast of characters will change and workloads will fluctuate, but they are really testing the bend but don’t break principle with their pen at present.

So the pitching side of the equation was a concern in 2024 and remains so in 2025. They certainly have the talent and the depth to weather the storm, but the situation retains the potential to spin away from them. But their offense is bulletproof, right?

I’m not so sure. The Dodgers’ .225 batting average and .304 OBP are both below the MLB average at this point. It’s early, sure, and the club has been missing key cog Freddie Freeman thus far. But the club has struggled overall to date despite the fact that six of their nine primary regulars have posted OPS+ marks of 126 or better in the early going. Five of the six – Will Smith, Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman – stand at 143 or better. Freeman will soon step in for one of the laggards (likely Enrique Hernandez), leaving only Max Muncy and Andy Pages. Sure, the strugglers will bounce back a bit and a healthy Freeman will help, but their quick starters will regress a bit as a group.

Ohtani is a force of nature, but it is natural to expect their two top position players, Freeman and Betts, to begin to regress a bit at this stage of their respective careers with respect to both quantity and quality of performance. While it’s reasonable to expect the Dodgers’ team offense to be among the best in the National League, their days as a top-of-baseball juggernaut might be behind them. In addition, they simply lack depth in offensive talent, certainly in comparison to the pitching side. If someone gets hurt, the Hernandezes, Pageses and Chris Taylors remain their best options, and that’s of some concern.

Their division is not forgiving. The Padres and Giants are off to fantastic starts, and the Diamondbacks are a strong ballclub as well. Some of the models that continuously update playoff projections have the Dodgers as little better than 50-50 to make the postseason, let alone retain their title.

Now, I am not counting this bunch out. They started their season with a difficult trip to Japan, and injuries have hurt them. Their schedule has been pretty tough, with five games against the Cubs plus tough series with the Tigers, Braves and Phillies. Things are evening out, beginning with the ongoing set with the Rockies – the Dodgers won the opener 5-3 last night. But this is an imperfect club, with obvious weaknesses and questionable depth. But that last sentence applies to all 30 major league teams, none of which employ comparable top-end talent to the Dodgers. Ohtani will be back on the mound (so will Snell) and Freeman will be back at first base, and Sasaki and Glasnow’s walk rates will moderate. It will help, but will it be enough?