After acquiring Freddie Freeman via free agency, many saw the Los Angeles Dodgers as the best team the National League has seen in a long while.
Adding Freeman to the likes of Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, and Clayton Kershaw to name a few.
This Dodgers team was stacked and everyone knew it.
Many saw it coming but it is still hard to believe how good the Dodgers have been.
Their current record is 80-34 and they sit six games ahead of the rest of the MLB for the best record.
Anything less than a World Series championship would be a disappointment for LA.
Many say manager Dave Roberts put an unnecessary target on their back after this quote in the offseason.
Dave Roberts went on the Dan Patrick show and had some bold predictions!!
“We are winning the #WorldSeries in 2022… We will win the World Series this year, put it on record.” pic.twitter.com/t95dBtRHBe— Sportskeeda Baseball (@sportskeeda_mlb) March 24, 2022
But, his team has responded to this comment and are playing at a championship level.
Since the All-Star break, the Dodgers are 20-4 and have won 13 of their last 14 games.
Los Angeles leads the MLB in runs scored and team OPS.
They are also top three in the National League in team batting average, hits, and home runs.
Freddie Freeman owns Major League leads in hits (140) and doubles (37). The last Major Leaguer to lead in both categories at the end of a season was Matt Carpenter in 2013.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) August 13, 2022
But, their elite hitting is not the only thing that makes them go.
They also carry the lowest team ERA and WHIP in the MLB with 2.88 and 1.06, respectively.
Even with their stop starter heading into the year, Walker Buehler, sidelined for most of the season.
This team is equally as good on the road as they are at home.
Of their 80 wins, 40 have come at home and 40 on the road.
They are well on their way to another 100+ win season.
They have three pitchers each in the top five in the MLB in wins.
Tony Gonsolin, Tyler Anderson, and Julio Urias are all names most did not expect to see atop the pitcher wins list.
With Gonsolin being the true breakout player having 14 wins and a 2.24 ERA.
The Dodgers’ consistency also stems from their top three hitters.
The aforementioned Betts, Freeman, and Turner, are all perennial All-Stars and provide LA with one of the most dangerous three-headed monsters in recent memory.
The Race For The NL Pennant
In the National League standings, the Dodgers lead the New York Mets by six games.
As they close in on the number one seed in the new look MLB playoffs, the Mets and reigning champion Atlanta Braves seem like the only true challengers in the way.
The Mets have good pitching but their lineup is nowhere near as talented as the Dodgers.
While the Braves are a well-balanced team led by MVP candidate Austin Riley.
The run differential of LA is +251 which is 130 runs higher than the Mets, who have the second-best differential.
Despite being a dominant regular season team and making the playoffs every year since 2013, the Dodgers have only won the world series once in that timeframe.
With that being in 2020, the 60-game shortened season.
Now is the time for the Dodgers to break through and win it again.
They have the best roster by far and anything short of the World Series championship would be a bust.