Last season, the Los Angeles Dodgers had the best record in baseball at 98-64, en route to the franchise’s eighth World Series championship, while the Arizona Diamondbacks just missed out on the postseason.
With the offseason additions of Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, along with the re-signing of Teoscar Hernandez, L.A. enters the season as the favorite to repeat as champions.
Despite L.A.’s championship aspirations, ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez believes Arizona is among the teams that can knock off the defending champs.
And it starts with outfielder Corbin Carroll.
Corbin Carroll key to Diamondbacks taking down Dodgers
Carroll batted his career-worst .231 last season but still had 22 home runs and 74 RBIs.
Last season, Carroll got hot in August when he batted .280 with 11 home runs and 24 RBIs, his best month of 2024. It is all about consistency for Carroll to the D-backs’ success.
ESPN’s Gonzalez writes:
When Carroll is going right offensively, the D-backs’ offense elevates to another level. Look no further than August, when Carroll tapped back into his old self and the entire team led the sport in most major offensive categories. There’s no reason the Carroll of last August and September can’t translate for the full six-month season this year.
Arizona’s starting rotation over L.A.?
Arizona has a great problem with its pitching depth as spring training has been a battle for the last spots in the rotation.
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Zac Gallen was named the Opening Day starter. With Corbin Burnes, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson and Jordan Montgomery serving as viable starting options for manager Torey Lovullo, it is not an overreaction for why Gonzalez would take the Diamondbacks rotation over the Dodgers.
I’d actually take the D-backs’ rotation over that of the Dodgers. You read that right. The Dodgers’ group has a higher ceiling, but it’s also more volatile. At this point, I have more confidence in the quintet of Corbin Burnes, Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez, Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt, with the thought that Jordan Montgomery can’t possibly be worse than he was last season.
Pfaadt was the Diamondbacks starting pitcher with the most innings pitched at 181.2 in 2024, which was also the 16th most in the league. Burnes adds the ability to save Arizona’s bullpen arms. As an Oriole last season, Burnes pitched the sixth most innings in all of baseball at 194.1.
Ask ESPN senior MLB insider Jeff Passan his opinion on the matter, though, and he’s still backing the team in blue.
Though I’m not buying the argument that the Diamondbacks’ rotation is better than the Dodgers, it’s close enough to acknowledge that Arizona does indeed offer some formidable starting pitching, particularly Burnes and Gallen.
Given the Dodgers have won 11 of the past 12 NL West titles, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see them winning the division once more, especially given the firepower on the roster.
But as Gonzalez notes, anything can happen in October when postseason play gets underway.
Does that mean the D-backs will win the National League West? Probably not. But can they knock the Dodgers out in October again? I’d say they’re better equipped to do so than anyone else.
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