Freddie or Not

 

One thing I haven't heard enough people talk about with the 2023 Dodgers? Freeman and Heyward back together for the first time since 2014. I mean, 2014 Jason Heyward and 2023 Jason Heyward are miles apart in terms of skillset, but to have them in the same lineup again, and it still being a competitive lineup, is pretty cool. Would have been cooler if Kimbrel stuck around to complete the trifecta, but this is cool enough.

Anyway, Freddie Freeman's been at this for over a decade now and he's still undeniably one of the best first baseman in baseball, as well as one of the best pure hitters in baseball. Right now he has 300 home runs, over 1000 RBIs, a career .299 average and will surpass 2000 hits this year. The strangest part of this is that even at 33, I still refer to this as part of Freeman's peak period, from 26 [2016] til now. In this period he has a combined 36.1 WAR, and a combined 367 wBatting figure. Even on a team with Clayton Kershaw and Mookie Betts, we are looking at a future Hall of Famer in Freeman, and it's fantastic knowing that while still seeing him in his prime period.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, have withstood both unflattering preseason write-ups and competition from both the D-Backs and Padres to still be in first place with nearly 2 months in the books for 2023. They're doing this with a very injury-prone rotation, and, as Night Owl recently discussed, three starters that can't go for more than five innings for fear of falling apart [that's been Syndergaard since he came back, sad to say]. As of now, the next option is pitching prospects, and both Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller are now officially in the mix. Stone got pulled apart, ironically, by Freeman's old team, in a very 'trial by fire' sort of debut, and Miller is on for tonight against the same team. We'll see if they're truly ready over the next few weeks.

The lineup is still basically on the right track. The guys who are hitting are excellent, the guys who aren't are making things a little tougher. I'd love for Miguel Rojas, Miguel Vargas, David Peralta and J.D. Martinez to figure out this team, but I'm also not sure how long that will take. The heart of this lineup, the usual suspects like Muncy, Betts, Freeman, Smith and Outman, are making it worthwhile, but it's not a full team effort like a lot of earlier iterations of this club have been. If anything, they're more similar to the Yankees, who have a great early lineup but peter off and have too many injured starters. 

This is still a solid and entertaining team, but it is one in need of more depth and more unsung heroes. It can't just be the obvious heroes, it has to be everybody, and hopefully soon enough everybody else will show up.

Coming Tonight: The Giants wish.