BALTIMORE — Two hours before first pitch at Camden Yards, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Jason Heyward was in full uniform. As relievers lounged on a clubhouse couch, Freddie Freeman ambled to the batting cage in sweats and Mookie Betts darted in and out in shorts, Heyward looked as if he were hours away from his debut.
This was not, as it might seem, the sign of a rejuvenated veteran of 14 major league seasons rediscovering his joy: Heyward has always done this, dating from his days with the Chicago Cubs, dating from the days when his on-field impact mirrored his off-field influence — before the latter started to outpace the former, seemingly for good.
Still, it is something different in this clubhouse, where stars come and go as they punch the clock, where stoicism has been the norm almost by design, where championship aspirations often took up too much room to allow new personalities to alter the vibe.
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But these Dodgers did not start the season with those same sky-high expectations. This year’s Dodgers were built to climb Kilimanjaro but not Everest — to win and contend and all that as usual but not to be so loaded as to eliminate the possibility of mediocrity entirely.
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and his front office did not splurge to keep Trea Turner, did not outbid Steve Cohen for Justin Verlander to bolster a shaky season-opening rotation and did not push for Aaron Judge just to refill star power after letting some depart. The Dodgers spent a little less than usual, planned to rely on a few more prospects than usual, seemed a little more willing to see what happens.
So that the Dodgers find themselves approaching the trade deadline atop the National League West, outlasting the teams that were finally supposed to pass them by — and that they have gotten there with the second-best run differential in the NL, suggesting they are not some midsummer fluke — almost qualifies as a pleasant surprise.
And that they are doing it at all, when three teams who spent more than the roughly $230 million they invested in their payroll this year are in danger of missing the playoffs, suggests they know a secret that other teams don’t. In a decade of planning to win, the Dodgers have never stumbled as the New York Mets, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres have this season. They have never completely fallen apart when they intended to contend, never missed the playoffs entirely when they meant to make them.
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“Things just don’t sort of spiral on us,” said Manager Dave Roberts, who took over before the 2016 season. “All the teams that we’ve had, they’re just very consistent of mind and of work. Certainly we have a lot of talent, but you can look around at teams that are very talent-laden, high payroll-laden that aren’t as consistent as we are. That’s a hallmark I’m pretty proud of.”
The Dodgers are writing the same old story with some new blood, with Heyward, shortstop Miguel Rojas and hitting-obsessed J.D. Martinez filling prominent clubhouse roles. That trio joined a roster more reliant on young players than usual and served as glue for a team that looked more vulnerable at times than it has in recent memory, even as it has looked a little more lighthearted.
“I’m having as much fun as I’ve ever had with a group of guys,” Roberts said.
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Managers have to say things like that, but Roberts was adamant that he means it. His players, from the outside, seem to be enjoying themselves more, too.
As they beat the streaking Texas Rangers on Friday night in Arlington, for example, the normally robotic Betts and Freeman and Max Muncy and others debuted a downright silly celebration when they reached base, waving their arms back and forth above their head before falling into giggles. Freeman’s wife, Chelsea, offered her version of the origin story on Instagram, providing video of Freddie dancing awkwardly at a recent Dodgers fundraising gala, something his teammates now seem determined to immortalize publicly.
Betts has not been prone to frivolity since joining the Dodgers. At times he has been too hurt, too frustrated or too serious to fully assume the star power his talent can unlock. But this year, as when he nearly collapsed into laughter doing Freeman’s dance at second base Friday or when he decided to try the Home Run Derby after years of resisting — or as he has compiled 27 homers and a .950 OPS in one of the best seasons of an already prolific career — something is different.
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Something is different for the Dodgers, too — namely that they were not expected to be a sure thing. The Padres spent more than the Dodgers this year in hopes of finally unseating them. The Arizona Diamondbacks led the division early and at times looked to have a stockpile of young talent similar to the one that helped the Dodgers get here in the first place.
Sure, this generation of Dodgers will never be an underdog. The Dodgers win so consistently that they’re no longer capable of surprise attacks. They spend too much to qualify for sympathy tax credits. They seem capable of securing superstars at any price but also of mining the clearance rack better than anyone, of removing the tarnish from veterans who had ceased to shine. And they are paranoid, so notoriously paranoid, that they seem certain they know something about winning that other franchises don’t. In fairness to them, it sure seems they do.
Maybe the Dodgers just got lucky, but even though they moved less aggressively this offseason than in years past, their moves paid off. When they let Justin Turner, a clubhouse staple, walk to Boston and replaced him with Martinez, a veteran mercenary, it seemed almost cold. Instead, Martinez seemed to revive his old Red Sox friend Betts.
Rojas has emerged as an infield leader, a tone setter, the kind of veteran who can push his team to play with urgency and watch it follow his lead. When the Dodgers brought in Heyward and David Peralta, it appeared they were creating a logjam — or at least complicating an outfield plan that was supposed to leave room for top prospect James Outman to show what he could do. If the season ended today, Heyward would have his highest OPS since 2012 (not counting the shortened 2020 season). Peralta is hitting .284 at 35. Outman is a rookie of the year contender.
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And when the Dodgers decided to rely on one of the shallowest Opening Day rotations they have had in years in the hopes that young arms would rise to the occasion, that seemed to be a recipe for disaster, even if Clayton Kershaw looked like his old self to start the season. Now Kershaw is injured, Walker Buehler is still recovering from Tommy John surgery, Dustin May needed another surgery, and Julio Urías’s ERA is nearly three full runs higher than it was last year. The normally dominant rotation is simply mediocre, but the Dodgers are winning anyway. And they have the money and prospect capital to upgrade it.
“Our guys have never shied away from making our ballclub better,” Roberts said of Friedman, who told the Los Angeles Times this past week that the Dodgers will be “aggressive” in seeking improvement. “I think everyone in that clubhouse has all the confidence in them, that they’ll do what makes sense.”
Upgrades to the rotation make sense for this team. Marcus Stroman and Lucas Giolito are among the formidable starters likely to be available, though if the Chicago White Sox decide to sell in full, Dylan Cease and others could be in play, too.
You could argue, of course, that Shohei Ohtani makes a lot of sense. But the Los Angeles Angels remain in contention and seem unlikely to trade him as long as that is true. Plus, the Dodgers might not want to give up prospects to get Ohtani a few months early when many see them as the favorites to acquire him when he becomes a free agent this offseason. They are still the Dodgers, after all.
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