This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat publication. To learn the total publication, click on right here. And subscribe to get it repeatedly in your inbox.
The expertise of taking part in regular-season video games in South Korea for the primary time was definitely memorable for the gamers, employees and the baseball followers in Asia. The environment inside Gocheok Sky Dome was distinctive and one to recollect.
Off the sphere, in fact, the Dodgers did must navigate by means of some distractions. There was getting adjusted to a time zone on the opposite facet of the world, which naturally impacts sleep, plus attending to know a distinct tradition. Then, there was the reported scenario surrounding Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, which resulted in Mizuhara’s firing earlier than the second sport.
The Dodgers declined to say a lot concerning the scenario and supervisor Dave Roberts insisted there was by no means any consideration to Ohtani not being within the lineup in opposition to the Padres. Ohtani declined to remark after the sport.
Anyway, with the group touchdown again in Los Angeles early Friday morning and the common season quickly to be in full swing, let’s check out a pair takeaways from the Dodgers’ two-game sequence in opposition to the Padres, which resulted in a break up.
Betts is able to leadOhtani is the Dodgers’ new shiny toy, but it surely was Betts who led the cost in opposition to the Padres, and it’s been the 2023 Nationwide League Most Invaluable Participant runner-up who has proven essentially the most give attention to the roster because the begin of the spring.
Betts went 6-for-9 with a house run and 7 RBIs within the two-game set, reaching base safely in eight of his 11 plate appearances. From the second Betts bought to Spring Coaching in Arizona, he has seemed like a participant decided to make a major influence this season.
That turned particularly clear halfway by means of spring when Los Angeles made a defensive shift in the course of the diamond, shifting Betts to shortstop and Gavin Lux to second base. Because the transfer, Betts has had some good days and he’s had some unhealthy days. However by means of two regular-season video games, Betts has greater than held his personal.
There’s an extended solution to go, however Betts is on a mission to indicate everybody why he’s top-of-the-line gamers on this planet.
“That is what I anticipate of myself,” Betts mentioned after Thursday’s 15-11 loss. “I maintain myself to a really excessive customary. I did OK. I missed a pair balls at this time that I would like to wash up, however I anticipate greatness out of myself.”
Too early to panic with Yamamoto?The fact is that there was at all times going to be a whole lot of skepticism round Yoshinobu Yamamoto. That’s simply what comes with signing the largest contract for a pitcher in Main League historical past regardless of not throwing a pitch within the Majors previous to Thursday’s sport.
Yamamoto, in fact, didn’t do himself any favors in his Main League debut, permitting 5 runs on 4 hits and finishing just one inning. That mentioned, it was Yamamoto’s first profession begin within the Majors. The transition from Japan’s Nippon Skilled Baseball league to the Majors does take a while.
The Dodgers proceed to imagine in Yamamoto, and the right-hander does deserve a while to show them proper.
“I really feel remorse that I simply couldn’t maintain the group within the sport from the get-go,” Yamamoto mentioned by means of interpreter Yoshihiro Sonado. “So I do really feel a duty for it. Like I mentioned, I simply must prepare for the following outing.”
Infield protection stays an enormous concernThe largest on-field query mark Los Angeles confronted this spring was its infield protection. Lux was going to get the primary crack at dealing with shortstop on an on a regular basis foundation, however some throwing woes early in spring pressured the Dodgers to flip their center infielders.
Betts and Lux truly turned in stable defensive efforts in each video games in opposition to the Padres. The identical can’t be mentioned for Max Muncy, who got here into camp in significantly better form and had robust defensive performances in Cactus League play and within the two exhibition video games in Seoul.
Muncy struggled mightily on Thursday, nonetheless, committing two errors that resulted in runs for the Padres. The Dodgers’ third baseman additionally had a few different shaky performs over the previous two video games. Lux, however, quieted a number of the noise that constructed all through the spring, constantly making robust throws to first base.
Nearly as good as Los Angeles’ lineup might be this season, the group is constructed on run prevention. With a purpose to maximize that, the Dodgers must be significantly better defensively, significantly within the infield.
Roberts put it merely: “Defensively, we weren’t good both.”
