Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Today we start a series looking at the NL West, position by position, and we meet our new sports columnist.
NL West, the catchers
It seems like a good time to look at the starting lineups for all the teams in the NL West. The Dodgers are prohibitive favorites to win the division, with some prognosticators thinking they will be the only team in the division to finish above .500.
Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection has the NL West finishing like this.
1. Dodgers, 105-57
2. San Francisco, 81-81
2. San Diego, 81-81
4. Arizona, 79-83
5. Colorado, 61-101
It seems to me at least one other team will finish above .500, but, that’s why they play the games. A lot of projections had Toronto not even making the postseason last year. So take it with a grain of salt.
Now, let’s look at the catchers, ranked from best to worst. Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page.
Dodgers
Will Smith
Last season: .296/.404/.497, 20 doubles, 17 homers, 61 RBIs
Career: .264/.358/.476, 128 OPS+
Smith, who turns 31 on March 28, is the best catcher in baseball and he is a steal at only $14 million a season through 2033. Of catchers who started at least 81 games last season, he was eighth in caught stealing at 25.5%. Some will argue that Cal Raleigh or Alejandro Kirk are better, but when you consider the total package, I put Smith first. Of course, if Raleigh’s huge step up in offense that he took last season is for real, then he could certainly slot ahead of Smith.
Arizona
Gabriel Moreno
Last season: .285/.353/.433, 12 doubles, nine homers, 40 RBIs
Career: .281/.349/.404, 108 OPS+
Moreno has inflammation in his right elbow, but it appears he will be ready for opening day. He has had quite a few injuries the last couple of seasons.
Colorado
Hunter Goodman
Last season: .278/.323/.520, 28 doubles, 31 homers, 91 RBIs
Career: .248/.292/.482, 102 OPS+
Goodman was one of the few bright spots for the Rockies, who lost 119 games last season. Last season was his first good season at the plate. He was an All-Star and won the Silver Slugger award. Earlier this spring training, he had this to say about his defense: “I mean, last year for the whole first half, was kind of like I was in fight-or-flight mode the whole game behind the dish. So just trying to get to where I’m comfortable on the plate and working to get these guys strikes and call better games and stuff like that.”
San Francisco
Patrick Bailey
Last season: .222/.277/.325, six homers, 55 RBIs
Career: .230/.287/.340, 78 OPS+
Bailey is solid defensively, and has proven to be a master at when to challenge a ball/strike call under the new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System (more on that in a future newsletter). Bailey has also focused on his swing in the offseason and has been a much better hitter this spring.
San Diego
Freddy Fermin
Last season: .251/.297/.339, 13 doubles, five homers, 26 RBIs
Career: .264/.309/.376, 91 OPS+
The Padres acquired Fermin from the Royals at the trade deadline last season, and loved how he handled the pitching staff, much like the Dodgers with Ben Rortvedt. He will be backed up Luis Campusano, who hit .336 in triple A but isn’t exactly Johnny Bench behind the plate.
Meet our new columnist
We have a new columnist at The Times, Mirjam Swanson. She will be covering all sports, but here’s guessing she will be writing quite a bit of opinion about the Dodgers. So, let’s get to know her.
Q. Welcome to The Times. What was the road that led you here?
Swanson: Thank you! Oh, it’s been a long and windy road, scenic let’s say. I grew up in Southern California, so it was always my dream to work for the L.A. Times. But journalism is a tough business. And I know I’m not the only mom out there who has turned down and/or taken jobs based on what was best for her children. Plus, I’ve always had this problem of getting really into whatever I’m covering, whether it was action sports or local politics or World Series runs. So while the dream of working at the Times persisted, I was also always happy with what was right in front of me, never desperate to move on. But here I am now, finally, better for the journey, I think.
Q. You will be an all-sports columnist, but we’ll focus on the Dodgers since this is a Dodgers newsletter. Do you have a favorite moment in Dodger history?
Swanson: The moment in Dodgers history that will stick with me most is …
… hmm. The Dodgers’ history books could fill a library — where to start?
I was in the backseat of the family car on a freeway somewhere in Southern California listening to Kirk Gibson put his signature on the improbable 1988 season with his impossibly clutch pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the World Series. And I was in the ballpark when Gibby met Freddie in 2024, feeling the stadium shake and watching on a TV in the overflow media workspace, feeling awe and angst. Freddie Freeman with grand timing that night, right on deadline.
Watched Shohei Ohtani turn Game 4 of the 2025 NLCS into a Little League game with 10 strikeouts and three home runs. There might never be a greater individual game — or there might be. Put nothing past Ohtani, including the inconceivable.
And I won’t forget my L.A. neighborhood erupting over Miguel Rojas’ “no-way!” ninth-inning solo shot in Game 7 of last season’s World Series.
But all of that is a long and windy way to arrive at this: It’s Andy Pages’ catch.
That’s not recency bias, either. It’s that the play was so confounding, so unexpected, the plot twist no one saw coming. Violent and athletic and hilarious. A whole movie in 10 seconds.
We might not have expected it to be Rojas to hit that season-saving home run, but our brains are trained to accept seeing a home run in such a moment. But an outfielder coming out of nowhere, running down and over his own teammate to make an improbable, impossible season-saving catch for the final out in the ninth inning of Game 7? Wasn’t on my bingo card.
I think about that play daily, it was so cool.
Q. What do you see as the biggest obstacle for the team this season?
Swanson: The answer is health, of course. But the Dodgers are so deep, they’ve done as much as a club can to fortify itself against inevitable injuries and ailments throughout a season, so it feels like less of a concern than it’s supposed to be.
So it’ll be mental. Having to handle the weight of trying to three-peat, of everyone either desperately wanting to see them do it or rooting desperately against them doing it. Every other team is going to treat their games against the Dodgers like it’s the World Series. That should make for good baseball, but it also will test these guys’ psychological stamina.
Manager Dave Roberts said the other night that he felt more pressure to repeat than three-peat, and that at this point, the Dodgers are playing with house money. That might be true, but there’s no ignoring the historic opportunity, either. Heady stuff for a team that’s set up as well as a team can be to do it if players can keep their edge.
Q. I get quite a bit of email from fans saying Roberts is overrated and that anyone could manage this team to the World Series. What are your thoughts on Roberts as a manager?
Swanson: I know some of these people.
And I hope they’re on no one’s jury, because evidence evidently means nothing to them.
A guy I know, an otherwise relatively rational dude, told me after the Dodgers repeated: “The only bad thing about this is Dave Roberts is going to be around longer.”
As if there was any bad thing for fans of the team about the Dodgers’ repeating. You really have to want to be unhappy about something if you’re anti-the manager who has won three World Series crowns in six seasons.
As if it’s automatic to pilot a team with so many talented players, to keep them happy and motivated and locked in, to manage these millionaires with understandable egos. That’s actually so much harder to do than to coach up a team of prospects with modest expectations.
And to pull so many of the right levers along the way, too?
Yeah, Roberts is elite at what he does. And apparently his haters are elite at what they do too.
Q. Is a lockout inevitable after the season, and does baseball need a salary cap?
Swanson: Sigh.
Yes, probably.
No, probably not.
All the salary cap is going to do is save the smarter-than-you Dodgers’ ownership group money while everyone keeps chasing them. It won’t level the playing field, but it will give owners cover for not paying their players as much as they could — and possibly cost us all priceless opportunities to watch Ohtani play baseball while the owners and players arm wrestle over finances offstage.
Sigh.
Q. Lastly, how many games will the Dodgers win this season?
Swanson: Fewer than 100.
Yes, they’re the most talented team money could buy. But every other team is going to give everything it has in every game against the Dodgers. And the Dodgers aren’t going to match that energy every time out — or 117 times out, if you’re hoping the major league record + World Series three-peat combo is on the menu.
The regular season isn’t what it’s really about for the Dodgers. They’ll be conservative with their approach, they won’t push anyone to do anything that could diminish their performance in the postseason. They’re going to play it cool … until they’re not.
And it’s going to drive observers along the way nuts, because it will cost them some games. But let’s try not to fret too much, Dodgers fans. Try not be too hard on Roberts.
Because only one number really matters: Three.
Dodger Stadium has a new field name
The Dodgers agreed to a deal granting Uniqlo naming rights to the field at Dodger Stadium. Though not officially announced by the Dodgers, the name likely will be Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.
Uniqlo is a Japan-based clothing brand. This is just another example of the revenue the Dodgers are generating because of Shohei Ohtani.
But here’s guessing that no one will call it Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.
Opening day starter will be…
Dave Roberts said Monday that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be the opening day starter on March 26 against Arizona at Dodger Stadium. It will be the second straight opening day start for Yamamoto, and after all he did in the postseason last year, it is much deserved.
And the number is….
Some of you who haven’t seen any spring training games have asked what numbers the new Dodgers are wearing.
Edwin Díaz is wearing No. 3, last worn by Chris Taylor and also worn by such Dodger luminaries as Steve Sax, Willie Davis and Billy Cox. He becomes the 40th Dodger to wear No. 3.
Kyle Tucker is wearing No. 23, last worn by Michael Conforto (I hope that’s not a bad omen) and also worn by, among others, Adrián González, Eric Karros, Kirk Gibson, Jim Wynn, Claude Osteen and Don Zimmer.
In case you missed it
Yoshinobu Yamamoto named Dodgers’ opening-day starter for second straight season
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani apologizes for ‘shortcomings’ in Japan’s early exit from WBC
Dodgers reportedly agree to deal with Uniqlo for naming rights to Dodger Stadium field
Swanson: Yoshinobu Yamamoto might not wear a cape, but he has super powers
‘Bigger than baseball.’ Why being in Puerto Rico for WBC meant so much to Kiké Hernández
Blake Snell throws first bullpen session of spring training, taking key step forward
Dodgers prospect James Tibbs III attempts to show staying power after multiple trades
And finally
Kyle Tucker hits his first home run with the Dodgers. Watch and listen here.
Until next time….
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
