Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Dodgers

 

Well...they did it again. 

The Dodgers ensured that baseball would have a back-to-back World Series winner, which really hadn't happened since the '00 Yanks. Teams had tried, the Astros had tried tons of times, the Phils sure tried, but nobody was able to until the Dodgers came along, perfected their already-great 2024 team and won against a really tough Jays squad in an incredible Game 7. As annoying as it may have been to see the richest team win out, they did so in a full squad effort with some incredible performances and some great clutch moments from reliable pieces. It's everything you want in a World Series team.

This also means that Enrique Hernandez needs to be studied. Not many other people have the ability to hit .200 during the regular season and .300 during the postseason. What the hell happens to this guy in October? Does he just get rejuvenated by pumpkin spice lattes?? In 92 regular season games he hit .203 with 10 homers and 35 RBIs. Then in 17 postseason games he hits .250 with 16 hits, 7 RBIs and 1 homer, all pretty much coming at crucial moments. This is what the Dodgers brought Hernandez back for, and he's done everything they've expected.

2026 Prediction: The same, but something tells me he won't have as extensive an October stat line for some reason.

One of the first big one-upmanship moves the Dodgers made during the offseason was signing Tanner Scott to be their closer...followed by signing Kirby Yates to be their setup man. Scott in the ninth in LA looked like a slam dunk, and for a while it was. Ultimately, both injuries and strains ballooned Scott's ERA, leaving the year with a 4.74 ERA, only 23 saves and a -0.6 WAR. He was all out for the whole playoff season, meaning the Dodgers needed to plug Alex Vesia, and later Roki Sasaki, into the ninth in his stead.

2026 Prediction: There will be more missed time, but I think by the second half, Scott will have reclaimed his Miami mojo almost completely.

As a late add-on, the Dodgers also brought on Michael Conforto, after a couple years in San Francisco. Conforto is clearly nowhere near Mets levels of offensive production, but he's good for decent power every so often. Despite getting far too many opportunities in LA, Conforto was a disappointment this year, hitting .199 with 12 homers and 36 RBIs in 138 games. Absolutely atrocious, and with poor defense as well. He did not factor into their October.

2026 Prediction: If anybody takes a chance on him, it'll be on a minor league deal, and it'll be for platoon DH appearances.

Brusdar Graterol being out and Evan Phillips struggling and getting cut means one of the longer-tenured relievers left in LA is now Alex Vesia, who had another strong year this year with a 3.02 ERA and 80 Ks in 68 games, plus 5 saves filling in for Scott. His equally strong October, going 2-0 in 7 appearances, was cut short due to an unspeakable family tragedy. He'd make no World Series appearances, but everybody on both teams would mark their caps in tribute to Vesia and his family.

2026 Prediction: Comes back in full force, notches 15 saves before the last few full seasons catch up with him.

An underrated smart move by the Dodgers was adding Korean superutilityman Hyeseong Kim in the offseason. Kim fit in as a defensive sub and bench fit, and did really well, hitting .280 with 17 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 71 games. He was mostly used as a defensive sub/pinch runner in October, which does the trick [I mean, it gets you a ring at the end of the day]. 

2026 Prediction: An injury is going to ensure that Kim has more playing time. I'm thinking a Ha-Seong Kim style come to prominence. Or even mid-2010s Tommy La Stella.

Emmet Sheehan may have been one of the keys to the Dodgers' World Series win. Yes. Somehow so many people got hurt that Emmet Sheehan saved this team by being around at the exact most opportune time and playing so many different roles. During the regular season he filled in as almost every starter was getting injured, and did very well for himself, with a 2.82 ERA in 15 appearances, going 6-3 with 89 Ks. Not bad for a guy who hadn't been healthy since mid-2023. Then he became the role-player extraordinaire in the playoffs, going in for long work in extras on multiple occasions. He may have ended up with a high ERA, but what that doesn't show is how many scrapes he got this team out of. Without him, that ring doesn't happen.

2026 Prediction: So here's the thing. If everything goes to plan next year, the Dodgers' rotation will consist of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and potentially Roki Sasaki. But Sheehan's now right under there in the depth chart. Unless the Dodgers swing another starter for some reason, Sheehan has a decent shot at cracking the opening day rotation, or at the very least being the 'break in case of emergency' starter this year. I think it'll go better for Sheehan than it did for Ross Stripling.

Coming Tomorrow- The Giants ended the season at .500, and were one embarrassing downfall away from a competitive year. So naturally I've got a bunch from them.