MLB 2024 Playoffs

MLB Baseball 2024 Playoff Action Including the Dodgers

 

By David A. Avila

Baseball’s marathon season is over. Here comes the sprint.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have proven to be adept at winning marathons, but not so much the sprints.

For the last two seasons the team from L.A. was kicked out early by Arizona and San Diego despite winning more than 100 games in 2023 and 2022. Will this year be different?

One significant change is the addition of Shohei Ohtani.

The Japanese superstar did not come alone. He was also joined by pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and slugger Teoscar Hernandez. The mid-season acquisitions of Michael Kopech, Jack Flaherty and Tommy Edman helped push the Dodgers over the hump this year.

Despite losing starting pitchers like Clayton Kershaw, Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and Tyler Glasnow, somehow the team survived.

At the end of the year there was one major reason they emerged on top of the NL West and that was the ability to score runs and hold the other team from scoring as many. After 162 games here are the leaders in batting and pitching.

Leaders in runs scored:  NL                                    AL

                                     L.A. 842                    NYY 815

                                     Phi. 784                    Bal   786

                                     SD  760                    Hou  740

                                        Mil  777                    Cle 708

                                     NY  768                    KC 735

                                        Atl   704                    Det 682

 

Leaders in pitching:       NL                                  AL

 (runs allowed)          Atl   607                    Cle   621

                                  Mil   641                    Det   642

                                  Phi   671                   Hou   649

                                 SD   669                      NYY  668

                                 LA 686                      KC 644

                                 NY   697                      Bal 699

 

The Dodgers led all MLB in runs scored. Though their pitching suffered more than any other year, they were able to simply out-score the opposition led by one of the strongest batting lineups ever seen in baseball.

In terms of depth, few other teams could match the Dodgers with the ability to overcome injuries to Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, and Chris Taylor. Aside from the staggering injuries to the pitching staff, the ability to inject other players and continue to lead the loaded NL West speaks volumes on the Dodgers depth.

They were deep in talent.

But the playoffs always come down to which team is the hottest.

Last year the Arizona Diamondbacks nearly won the World Series with their speed and ability to score runs and stop the opposition. The D-Backs led all of baseball this year in scoring runs with 886, but allowed 788 runs as their pitching faltered miserably in 2024. It’s the reason they were bumped out of the playoffs by one game by the Mets and Braves.

Which team will emerge in this year’s playoffs?

 

Players to Watch

In the American League the Yankees are back with a loaded team. They pounded their way to the AL East title with their home run combo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto who together hit 99 homers.

In the National League the Dodgers won 98 games to lead all of baseball. Shohei Ohtani led the NL in homers with 54 and runs batted in with 130. He also stole 59 bases and had an OPS of 1.036. He was a one-man wrecking crew in September and was named Player of the Month.

Other stars to watch include Kansa City with Bobby Witt who can slug and steal. He batted .332 with 32 homers and 31 stolen bases. In Cleveland there is Jose Ramirez who had 39 homers with 41 stolen bases.

Each team had major contributors such as the Mets with Francisco Lindor, the Padres with Jurickson Profar, and Baltimore with Gunnar Henderson.

Pitching was the key for Detroit ending their playoff drought after 10 years. Tarik Skubal led the Tigers with 18 wins and a 2.39 ERA. Kansas had Seth Lugo who they signed away from San Diego and won 16 games for the Royals.

Of course, pitching is what the Astros do best every year and Framber Valdez and his 2.91 ERA led the team.

Anything can happen in the playoffs.

It’s like throwing dice.