There was a lot of talk about the Dodgers’ decision to let many of their top 2022 contributors walk this past offseason. Trea Turner, Cody Bellinger and longtime Dodger and team leader Justin Turner all found new homes, and that last one didn’t make a lot of Dodger fans very happy.
However, it felt like it was time for a change in the clubhouse, especially coming off the Dodgers’ defeat at the hands of the San Diego Padres in the NLDS.
So out went the Turners and Bellinger, and in came a new era of Dodger baseball — okay, maybe not exactly “new.” Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are still here, so too are Will Smith and Max Muncy. Chris Taylor is still around and not much has changed on the pitching side of things with Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias and more.
But still, the Dodgers clubhouse feels different this year. Obviously, the loss of JT is weird, but there are a lot of new veteran presences in there, and some young ones, too.
J.D. Martinez, Jason Heyward, David Peralta, Noah Syndergaard and Miguel Rojas are some of those veteran guys, while James Outman and Miguel Vargas are bringing the youth. While this team may not be as talented on paper as the one that won 111 games last season, they’re definitely having a lot of fun. After Wednesday’s 10-5 comeback win against the Giants to win the series, Muncy told Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic that this is one of the “funnest groups” he’s even been a part of.
“We lost some faces that had been here a long time. Just having this group find out who we are, that takes time,” Muncy said. “It takes a little time, but I feel like we’re starting to discover it. It’s a really fun group. This is one of the funnest groups I’ve been a part of so far, and we’re just getting started.”
The Dodgers have gone to the “Choo Choo celebration” early in the year, thanks to Peralta. And the dugout was especially fired up after Freeman’s 15-pitch at-bat on Wednesday.
Sometimes, when you aren’t winning every game, and, instead, grinding together, you can become even closer. Obviously, we’re just 13 games into the season, but these Dodgers seem to really like playing together and, more so, for each other. They know they aren’t going to win 111 games this season, and will likely be fighting with the Padres (and maybe Diamondbacks) for the NL West all year long.
This season isn’t going to be like last season, but maybe that’s a good thing. This team’s goal isn’t to win 111 games and make the postseason — this team wants to win another World Series.
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