Dodgers Off-Season: FanGraphs Projections Has LA on Top of the NL West
The 2022 Dodger regular season was fun to watch, and now as they prepare for the 2023 season, there are a lot of questions at hand.
Will Trea Turner return to LA? Who will be LA's new center fielder? Will the Dodgers look in-house to complete their rotation?
So many questions and so few answers right now; eventually, we will find out what will happen in those cases.
Even though the Dodgers aren't a set team yet – they are still projected to win the NL West in 2023. Fangraphs own Dan Szymborski constructed a 2023 ZiPS projected standings for each division.
Szymborski says it was appropriate for him to leave the Dodgers atop the division for his predictions.
"The Dodgers have a lot of work to do this offseason, but they started off as an absurdly good team, leaving them at the top of the projected division. I doubt they'll enter the season with Ryan Pepiot in the rotation."
He has LA 20 games below their record-setting 111 wins in 2022 at 91 wins in 2023. Following the Padres at 87 wins, Giants and Arizona at 83 wins, and the Rockies in last place at 68 wins.
LA still has a lot of holes to fill. For the most part, the main core will be around in 2023, and I expect a fire burning in their belly, considering how the 2022 season ended.
At the moment, Pepiot as their fifth starter might be their Achilles heal on the pitching side of things, but we'll see what kind of a jump, if any, he'll take if he gets a more significant role this upcoming season.
Justin Verlander and Jacob deGrom are names that LA has been linked to and are proven players in this league.
The Dodgers have a ton of moves to make, so I'll take 91 wins to secure the NL West.