Dave Roberts Confirms Dodgers' Lineup Order May Be Different Throughout Season

This is called "first-world problems."

Historically, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts likes to play the matchup game when constructing a lineup. He also tends to prefer a balanced lineup with regard to handedness - right, left, right, left, etc.

These tendencies caused the Dodgers to use 132 unique lineups in 2023. In 2024, Roberts believes the lineup will continue to remain fluid and that the top three in the order may not be the top three at the end of the year.

Dave Roberts on the construction of the Dodgers’ lineup this year:

“I don’t think that we’re gonna nail it from the outset.”

The first three on Opening Day might not be the same for the rest of the season, but Roberts want Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani to be a…

— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) February 3, 2024

Arguably, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman formed the best duo at the top of the lineup in baseball. Both finished second and third, respectively, in MVP voting and combined for 209 RBIs.

Betts has primarily hit leadoff during his 10-year career. He's hit first in 998 games and just 267 times in every other position in the lineup combined. His OPS does drop the further down the order he goes — starting with a .915 OPS hitting first.

Freeman, for his part, has actually hit third in the lineup the most over his career. He's logged 1,146 games batting third and only 363 batting second. He performs slightly better hitting second with a .944 OPS compared to a .906 OPS in the three-hole.

Now, the Dodgers add two-way superstar and two-time American League MVP Shohei Ohtani to that mix. In his career, Ohtani has hit best batting second with an absurd 1.013 OPS. Not much could break up a dynamic duo of Betts and Freeman, but Ohtani is the kind of player who could do that.

Perhaps, the Dodgers use a more traditional lineup-building strategy of having a speedy, contact hitter at the top. The Dodgers do get Gavin Lux back who was hitting close to .300 in 2022 before going down with a neck injury. 

Dave Roberts and the Dodgers have to find a way to deploy three of the best hitters in all of baseball. No matter what, this is a good problem to have.