Opening day for the 2024 MLB season is just days away, with that comes a whole new year of expectations, triumph, and heartbreak for these teams.
With the start of the season nearing, there is no better time for a season preview for Southern California’s three teams the Angels, Dodgers, and Padres. The Dodgers and Padres begin regular season play on March 20 in Seoul, South Korea, for MLB’s International Series. The Angels and the rest of MLB will begin regular season play on March 28.
Here is an in-depth look at the Angels, Dodgers, and Padres heading into the 2024 season.
Angels
A new era of Angels baseball kicks off in 2024. This will be the club’s first season without two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who left the team in free agency this offseason, joining the Dodgers on a 10-year $700 million contract. Now, the Angels turn the page to the post-Ohtani era, with a new manager in Ron Washington and a youth movement featuring the likes of Logan O’Hoppe, Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel, Reid Detmers, and Patrick Sandoval.
Mike Trout returns for his 14th season with the team, and the team is hoping he can stay on the field and help this team reach the postseason for the first time since 2014. The biggest thing stopping Mike Trout over the last few seasons has been his ability to stay healthy. He hasn’t played over 120 games since 2019 when he won MVP. Although Trout hasn’t played much over the last five seasons, when he is playing he is still one of the best players in baseball. Trout is the key to the Angels’ success.
Looking at the rest of this Angels roster heading into 2024, some promising young talent is spread out around the roster on both the pitching and position player sides. Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel are some infielders that the Angels have a lot of stock in for the future. Logan O’Hoppe burst onto the scene last season before suffering a torn labrum. O’Hoppe possesses power at the catching position that doesn’t come around often, in a fully healthy season its possible for him to hit 25-30 home runs.
Pitching is the Angels’ biggest question heading into the 2024 season. Last season the pitching staff had a collective 4.64 era ranking 23rd in baseball. Additions to the bullpen in the offseason should help stabilize some of the issues that faced the Angels pitching last season. However the starting rotation is lacking and going to need to fill the 132 innings pitched by Shohei Ohtani last year.
Young southpaws Reid Detmers and Patrick Sandoval have shown promise in being front line top of the rotation starters however, they struggled in 2023. Other rotation options include Griffin Canning, Chase Silseth, Tyler Anderson, and Jose Suarez.
Overall the Angels have lots of holes on their roster and have patched some of them up, however over the course of a 162 game season those patches could open up and the Angels could be facing significant problems in 2024. If all goes well, this is a roster that is filled with young, exciting talent that should hit and produce runs, and if the pitching can be at their best should provide quality innings. The Angels seemed destined to finish in 3rd or 4th place in the division in 2024.
Dodgers
The Dodgers spent $1.18 billion dollars this offseason, bringing in two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani from the Angels to a 10-year $700 million contract. Japanese right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was signed to a 12-year $325 million contract. As well as acquiring Tyler Glasnow, Teoscar Hernandez, Jason Heyward, and Kike Hernandez. The Dodgers have made all of these moves and spent all this money on top-end talent with one goal in mind, to win the World Series.
The Dodgers have arguably the most talented lineup in baseball, featuring superstars Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Max Muncy, and newly acquired Shohei Ohtani. With a top three of Betts, Ohtani, and Freeman this lineup will feature three former MVPs.
A player on the offensive side for the Dodgers that’s not one of their superstars to watch for a potential breakout season is outfielder James Outman. Outman enters his second season at the big league level and he has the potential to be a 20-25 home run player, and with so many superstar players in the Dodgers lineup, Outman could be a sneaky middle of the order batter that could do some serious damage.
On the pitching side of things, the Dodgers have completely revamped this rotation with the acquisitions of Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto while also bringing back young flamethrower Bobby Miller, veteran lefty James Paxton, and long-time Dodger legend Clayton Kershaw. Miller is someone who projects very well entering his second season. He pitched 124 innings in 2023 posting a 3.76 era with 119 strikeouts. His curveball was an absolutely devastating pitch, opposing batters hit .184 and whiffed at the pitch 36% of the time. Not to mention Miller’s fastball sits at 99 mph.
All of this talent and hype surrounding the Dodgers means nothing unless they win the World Series. 11 straight playoff appearances for the Dodgers with three trips to the World Series but only one title to show for it is not what the organization or the fans expect from the team. The Dodgers will make the playoffs in the 2024 season, their offense will be among the best in the entire sport, and the same goes for the pitching staff. The only thing looming over this Dodgers team is the amount of pressure and expectations they have set for themselves after spending a billion dollars in the offseason and after building a super team. The Dodgers should be expected to win north of 100 games and are the favorites to win the World Series.
Padres
After a disappointing 2023 season in which they missed the playoffs, the San Diego Padres made a ton of moves this offseason, trading away superstar outfielder Juan Soto to the New York Yankees, an letting reigning CY Young award winner Blake Snell leave in free agency and join the division rival San Francisco Giants. While also losing Josh Hader, Seth Lugo, and Michael Wacha in the pitching staff.
The Padres did bring in some talented players though. Most recently trading for pitcher Dylan Cease from the Chicago Whitesox. Cease finished second in the 2022 AL CY Young voting. Cease had a down year in 2023 but the expectations for him are still very high, he has pitched in over 150 innings over the last three years and posses the arsenal to be a top pitcher in the game.
The Padres rotation still has Joe Musgrove, and Yu Darvish, who have consistently been top pitchers in baseball for the last few seasons. New additions to the rotation in Michael King and Jhony Brito provide high-upside young arms that haven’t seen much experience as starters, but each of these pitchers has the skillset to manage the load of a starting pitcher.
The Padres lineup is where the real firepower on this team lies. With Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr, Xander Bogaerts, Ha-Seong Kim, and Jake Cronenworth. Tatis Jr returned in 2023 from a suspension that took him out for the entire 2022 season, he put up good numbers with 25 home runs, 29 stolen bases, and also won the platinum glove in right field.
Expect a potential MVP season from Tatis Jr in 2024, he is a true five tool player with the ability to hit 40 home runs, steal 30-40 bases, and play a premium level defense in right field. Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts are two veterans in the infield who should bounce back from some down seasons in 2023.
Overall for the Padres, they have tons of really talented players in the rotation and in the lineup. What hurts them is that they play in the NL West, which has the Dodgers, Giants, and Diamondbacks, all teams who either made the playoffs in 2023 or significantly added to their roster over the offseason. The players the Padres lost in the offseason are significant losses and the Padres will really feel their losses. The Padres ceiling seems to be second place in the division with postseason birth, but at their floor, the Padres could have another disappointing season and finish as low as fourth place and miss out on the playoffs.
