When they are healthy, and even when they are not, the Los Angeles Dodgers are head and shoulders the best team in baseball.
They are the ideal organization for their fans: they have money to spend on players and are not afraid to use them, but they have invested so much time, financial resources, and energy in putting together a strong analytics team that they can produce their own stars and key contributors, too.
As a result, the team is a juggernaut.
“The @Dodgers are an absolute wagon. They’re 41-9 through their last 50 games,” MLB tweeted on Friday afternoon.
The @Dodgers are an absolute wagon.
They're 41-9 through their last 50 games. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ScO1mLyJIu
— MLB (@MLB) August 26, 2022
Playing 50 games and winning 41 without your two best starters, Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler, is nothing short of amazing.
The Dodgers Have Worked Wonders With Their Roster
The Dodgers, for example, took Tyler Anderson and turned him into a 2.73-ERA pitcher.
They took Tony Gonsolin, a pitcher that had shown flashes in the past but injuries always got in the way, and turned him into a 2.10-ERA pitcher and a legitimate Cy Young award contender.
They took Andrew Heaney, who posted an ERA over five with the Los Angeles Angels and the New York Yankees last year, and have him posting a 1.94 ERA over nine starts.
Everything they touch, they turn it into gold, but that’s definitely not by chance or luck: there is an entire organizational culture and work methodology devoted to getting the best out of a player’s physical gifts.
They are the ultimate baseball club, in the precise sense of the word: they produce good players, and good players yield excellent results.
They will be a tough team to beat come playoffs time, and can be considered World Series favorites at this point.
NEXT: Dodgers Insider Breaks Down The Tight NL Cy Young Race