The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the midst of an unprecedented stretch that includes 11 consecutive playoff appearances, 10 National League West titles, three pennants and one World Series championship.
Since the start of 2013, the Dodgers lead all of baseball with 1,067 wins, which is nearly 100 more than the next team (New York Yankees, 980). While that hasn’t always translated to success in the postseason, the club’s decision-makers consistently put a contender on the field.
The Dodgers have an advantage with their financial resources but there are many other factors that contribute to building a sustainable winner.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman attributed the organization’s accomplishments to every department being on the same page, per Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times:
“It boils down to putting guys in the best position to succeed,” said Friedman, now the team’s president of baseball operations. “When we’re looking to acquire a pitcher by free agent or trade, I think our scouts, analysts and pitching coaches work really well together to identify the levers we want to pull to increase the likelihood of success.
“I think the secret sauce for us is how well our groups work together. The collaboration between our really talented pitching group to our performance group, to our training staff as well as the people who play a role in identifying the talent on the front end. … I think that communication and collaboration is a huge part of why we’ve had success.
The Dodgers have an impressive group beyond the players that includes the coaching and training staffs, scouting department and front office, among others.
The team’s future appears as bright as ever after a historic offseason that brought in the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tesocar Hernández and James Paxton.
Although the current Dodgers roster has shown some holes, the team remains in first place in the NL West and are considered a 2024 World Series favorite.
Dodgers benefiting from reputation of helping pitchers
Key to the Dodgers’ success in recent years has been their ability to help pitchers get back on track. The team not only uses analytics and technology to do so, but they also place an emphasis on proper strength and conditioning, and rest.
That approach is holding particularly true this year as the Dodgers ease Yamamoto through his first career MLB season and manage Paxton’s workload.
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