2018 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 129th for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 61st season in Los Angeles, California. They played their home games at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers suffered a season-ending injury to star shortstop Corey Seager early in the season and started the season 16–26, but went 76–45 to close out the season.
2018 Los Angeles Dodgers
92–71 (.564)
1st
SportsNet LA
KTLA 5 (occasional simulcasts)
(Joe Davis, Charley Steiner, Orel Hershiser, Nomar Garciaparra)
(Spanish audio feed)
(Pepe Yñiguez, Fernando Valenzuela, Manny Mota)
They defeated the Colorado Rockies in the National League West tie-breaker game to claim their sixth straight National League West Championship and became the first team to win six straight division championships since the New York Yankees won nine straight from 1998 to 2006 and only the third overall (the Atlanta Braves won 14 from 1991 to 2005).[1] They opened the playoffs by defeating the Atlanta Braves in four games in the NLDS and defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games in the NLCS. It was the third straight NLCS appearance for the Dodgers, a franchise record and the second consecutive National League pennant. They lost to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, their second straight World Series loss. The Dodgers became the first team to lose back-to-back World Series since the Texas Rangers did so in 2010 and 2011, and the first National League team to do so since the Braves in 1991 and 1992.
Offseason[edit]
Coaching/Front Office changes[edit]
Assistant hitting coach Tim Hyers left the Dodgers to become the hitting coach for the Boston Red Sox while farm director Gabe Kapler left to become manager of the Philadelphia Phillies and his assistant Jeremy Zoll became farm director for the Minnesota Twins.[2] The Dodgers also chose to part ways with long-time bullpen catcher Rob Flippo, who had been in his position since the 2002 season.[3] On November 13, Vice-President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos left his position to become Executive Vice-President/General manager of the Atlanta Braves.[4] On December 1, the Dodgers announced the hiring of Luis Ortiz and Brant Brown to the dual role of assistant hitting coach/minor league hitting coordinator.[5] They also announced that Brandon Gomes would replace Kapler as Director of Player Development and that Ron Porterfield would take on the new post of Director of Player Health.[6] The Dodgers coaching staff lost two more members in December when bullpen coach Josh Bard left to become bench coach for the New York Yankees and Quality Assurance Coach Juan Castro left to become Director of Operations for the Tijuana Toros.[7] On January 2, they replaced Bard by hiring former MLB pitcher Mark Prior to be the team's bullpen coach.[8]
Roster departures[edit]
On November 2, 2017, the day after the 2017 World Series, several Dodgers players became free agents. They were pitchers Yu Darvish, Brandon Morrow and Tony Watson, second baseman Chase Utley and outfielders Curtis Granderson and Franklin Gutiérrez.[9] On November 5, they declined the 2018 option on outfielder Andre Ethier, making him a free agent.[10] Outfielder O'Koyea Dickson was outrighted to the minors and removed from the 40-man roster on November 6.[11] On November 20, the Dodgers designated RHP Josh Ravin for assignment and LHP Grant Dayton was claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves.[12]
Trades[edit]
On December 16, the Dodgers traded first baseman Adrián González, utility player Charlie Culberson, pitchers Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy, and cash considerations to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for outfielder Matt Kemp.[13] On January 4, the Dodgers made a three-team trade with the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals that sent minor league utility player Jake Peter and pitcher Scott Alexander to the Dodgers, pitchers Joakim Soria and Luis Avilán to the White Sox and pitcher Trevor Oaks and minor league infielder Erick Mejia to the Royals.[14]
Free agent signings[edit]
On December 20, the Dodgers signed a one-year contract with free agent pitcher Tom Koehler.[15]
Statistics[edit]
Batting[edit]
List does not include pitchers. Stats in bold are the team leaders..
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Walks; SO = Strikeouts; SB = Stolen bases; Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On-base percentage; SLG = Slugging; OPS = On Base + Slugging