Coming off back-to-back World Series losses, the Los Angeles Dodgers entered the 2019 season with a chip on their shoulders. Having tasted bitter defeat in consecutive years, the club vowed to quickly bounce back with a fast start.
The Dodgers have indeed lived up to their self-imposed goals. Entering play Friday, the club finds itself with the best record in the National League at 46-23. Moreover, Los Angeles boasts a 9.5-game lead over the second-place Colorado Rockies in the National League West.
The strong showing out of the gate is an improvement when compared to the start of the 2018 season, when the Dodgers noticeably struggled from the get go. At one point they found themselves 10 games under .500 and nine games out of first place in the NL West.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is pleased his team has learned from past mistakes and recently praised the group’s excellent start to the 2019 season, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Guys don’t want to have that feeling again. To get off to a good start, play good baseball, put ourselves in that same position – that’s our goal. That’s what it was in spring training and it’s good to see it kind of continue to keep that focus, that mindset.”
Despite the Dodgers getting off to a miserable start last season, the club ultimately bounced back and returned to the Fall Classic for a second consecutive year, where they fell to the Boston Red Sox in five games.
Coming up short in back-to-back World Series was deflating for many Dodgers players, including Justin Turner, who admitted that he would never get over the heartbreak and agonizing feeling. Rich Hill added the clubhouse was “pissed off” following consecutive losses in the World Series and are motivated to not experience that feeling again.
Roberts previously voiced confidence the Dodgers would avoid a World Series hangover a second time around.
Having retooled their roster over the offseason, in addition to noteworthy performances by Cody Bellinger, Alex Verdugo and Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Dodgers hope they have all of the right ingredients in place to finally get over the hump and end a three decades-long World Series drought.
