The Dodgers offense remains a force to be reckoned with, and it was backed by strong pitching to take three out of four games against the Cardinals in the first week of the season on the domestic portion of the schedule.
1. The depth behind big three
The big three of Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman are an imposing gauntlet for opposing pitchers to face, but the depth behind them really adds a dimension to the Dodgers attack. It’s very difficult for pitchers to get through that entire lineup three, four, or maybe more times every night.
Teoscar Hernández homered three times and doubled twice in four games against St. Louis, for instance. Max Muncy had two hits Sunday, including a game-winning home run to win the series finale, a contest in which he didn’t even start.
The starting rotation for the Dodgers really stood out this weekend, with Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Gavin Stone combining to allow only four runs in 22 innings, with 27 strikeouts against only three walks.
That’s a combination for a winning week, even if the series against St. Louis looked like it might be a split until the Dodgers’ last time up on Sunday.
2. Batter of the week
Mookie Betts started the season on fire, and kept it going by homering in each of the first three games against the Cardinals. Betts drove in five runs and reached base 10 times in his 18 trips to the plate, scoring a team-leading seven runs with a 1.709 OPS. And that’s with an 0-for-4 on Sunday.
He was so hot at the plate that he didn’t make an out in consecutive plate appearances for any of his first five games this season.
Betts on Saturday also made a pair of nice defensive plays going to his right at shortstop, the types of plays that have given him trouble in the past at what is still a new position for him.
“Everybody here sees all the work I put in, so I was actually really proud of myself for making this plays,” Betts said Saturday night. “I gave myself a little pat on the back, and maybe I’ll have a milkshake tonight.”
3. Pitcher of the week
Bobby Miller was dominant on Friday night against the Cardinals, allowing only two singles and a walk in six scoreless innings. He struck out 11, matching the most by any pitcher in the majors so far this season.
After finishing off his 11th strikeout in his final pitch of the game, Miller let out a roar on the mound, and was greeted in kind with a standing ovation from the Dodger Stadium crowd on his way back to the dugout.
“That was awesome, I haven’t felt anything like that before,” Miller said. “That definitely gives me a lot of confidence out there, hearing the fans, them roaring like that.”
Eleven strikeouts were two more than Miller’s previous major league career high. His only minor league game with more was on September 1, 2022, when Miller struck out 14 in his third start for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
4. Hernandez and Muncy made the Dodgers look even more formidable moving forward
The Dodgers trailed 4-2 in the eighth when Hernandez reached across the plate and lifted a home run to left field to bring the Dodgers within a run. Muncy, who didn’t even start the game against left-hander Steven Matz, still made an impact.
He entered the game in the sixth inning and delivered a pinch-hit single to load the bases in advance of an RBI ground out from James Outman for the second run.
In the eighth against Cardinals left-hander John King, it was vintage Muncy as he crushed a 2-1 slider into the seats in right, holding his pose for a split second before flipping his bat to the ground.
“It’s fun,” said Muncy, who conveyed that initially with his bat flip. “It felt good for me personally, but most importantly it gave our team a chance to win and that’s what I’ve always cared about the most, putting our team in the best position to win.”
5. Miscellany
The 24-year-old Miller struck out all three batters in the first inning on Friday en route to his career-high game. On Saturday, the 25-year-old Yamamoto struck out all three in the first inning in his dazzling Dodger Stadium debut. Then Sunday, 25-year-old Stone also struck out all three batters he faced.
