Seven Days in April

Seven Days in April: Dodgers Lead MLB

By David A. Avila

That team in Chavez Ravine has plowed into the front of the standings like one of those huge Caterpillar land moving tractors.

There is no stopping them.

Behind stalwart pitching in the starting rotation the Los Angeles Dodgers have moved to the front of not just the NL West, but the entire National League in terms of wins and many other categories.

Especially when it comes to pitching.

New additions such as Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and James Paxton have delivered as expected. Only young fireballer Bobby Miller has been erratic so far. But that can be expected from the youngster still learning that a fastball is not enough in this league.

And it also helps when baseball’s most powerful lineup and bench can put up an average of five runs a game. Any pitching staff loves to pitch knowing that they can allow a run or two without putting the team in jeopardy.

The top of the lineup is especially potent with Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith powering through the opposition. It’s a foursome that features both power and speed that can gobble up anything opposing pitching staffs can toss at them.

And if you think you can take a breather surviving the first four Dodger batters, you still have Max Muncy, Gavin Lux, and new pickup Teoscar Hernandez. If the opposition can hold the Dodgers off the first time through that lineup, it gets worse and worse as the visiting St. Louis Cardinals discovered in their visit to Dodger Stadium.

The Dodger offense has its most powerful lineup since 2022 when the now-departed Trea Turner was part of the lineup.

And expect even more from this version of the Dodger machine. Ohtani has yet to get his rhythm though he hit his first homer in the last home game versus the rival San Francisco Giants. He also hit a homer against the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

No lead is safe enough against this powerful lineup. As a team the Dodgers lead MLB with a .295 team batting average and have scored 64 runs at an average of five runs a game. No Dodger team has ever opened up the season with nine consecutive games of more than five runs scored.

Its early in the season but if the Dodgers can remain healthy and free of domestic problems, the team looks capable of winning another 100 games or more. Even without the aid of Ohtani’s pitching talent or assistance by ace pitchers Clayton Kershaw or Walker Buehler who are both expected to be activated later in the season.

Ohtani’s First Homer Ball

When Shohei Ohtani hit his first homer as a Dodgers into the right field Pavilion a female fan caught the ball. She was given hats, signed bats and signed balls. The problem is according to several social media sites the woman was bullied into accepting the token gifts.

Some fans were not pleased by the alleged act.

On one particular social media site the fan Ambar Roman was invited to speak on the topic and she explained that she was told by Dodger security that the ball would not be authenticated unless she agreed to their terms. She relented and agreed to their terms.

Roman, a Whittier resident, said she was OK with the gifts.

“Just the experience of it all, as a lifetime Dodger fan, that meant so much,” Roman told Dodger Nation. “I’m really grateful with what I got.”

Oakland As to Sacramento?

According to reports the Oakland A’s will not be playing in Oakland next year, nor Las Vegas as expected. Instead, the team will be in Sacramento for two years as construction of a new stadium is completed. Whether it is Las Vegas or some other destination Sacramento will be the A’s temporary home.

The A’s have agreed to a two-year stay at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramentio with an option for another year if the Las Vegas stadium is not completed or some other reason occurs, said MLB.com.

Recently, the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas closed its doors for good on Wednesday April 3. The hotel casino first opened in 1957. It is the site where the A’s baseball team will be playing once the baseball stadium on the Las Vegas strip is completed.

(Photo by Sportsnet)