Do you think the Dodgers can win more or less than 96 games in 2023?
Despite breezing to a MLB-best 111 regular season wins to go OVER a 97-win total over/under, the Dodgers were sent packing for the offseason after dropping the 2022 NLDS to the San Diego Padres.
Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, a top-notch pitching rotation, and a strong crop of young players are still around. J.D. Martinez, Miguel Rojas and Noah Syndergaard were added over the winter.
Trea Turner, Justin Turner, and Cody Bellinger, all key contributors in recent years, are gone. Walker Buhler (elbow surgery) and Gavin Lux (torn ACL) are out for all of 2023.
Yet, the Dodgers, expected to challenge for another World Series berth, are listed at a 95.5-win total over/under at a host of US sportsbooks. MLB regular season win totals, released last month by US sportsbooks, can be a profitable market to pursue for baseball bettors looking for a solid return on investment.
Do you think the Dodgers can go OVER 95.5 wins in 2023. Here is more on my best MLB UNDER bet to make before the start of the regular season. (Check your favorite sportsbook for updated MLB win totals, odds, etc.)
Los Angeles Dodgers U95.5 (+105)
The Dodgers, a popular bet to make the 2023 World Series, are counting on Rojas and Syndergaard, in part, to fill the holes left by big injuries to Lux and Buhler.
Martinez, who reportedly wanted to retire as a Red Sox, is being bet on to pick up some of the offensive slack alongside Betts and Freeman, while Max Muncy and Chris Taylor look to rebound from down years. I'm not betting on any of it.
Clayton Kershaw's health aside, the Dodgers, to me, have the feel of a team trusting a lot of players who could be way past their prime (namely Martinez, Rojas, and Syndergaard) while banking on good players (Muncy, Taylor, and Will Smith) to play above said expectations.
Julio Urias and Dustin May will give L.A. a chance on most nights, but getting positive results, or wins, when the rotation turns to Syndergaard and Kershaw is definitely no guarantee.
The lost of both Andrew Heaney and Tyler Anderson could also hamper the pitching depth at some point in 2023.
Lastly, the NL West, featuring the loaded Padres (Xander Bogaerts), retooled Giants (Sean Manaea, Mitch Haniger, Michael Conforto), and upstart D'Backs, is no cake. Although, the Dodgers, thanks to the reworked schedule allowing for just 13 games vs. divisional opponents, will see less of the NL West this season.
Still, I am not sold on the bottom of the Dodgers' lineup and their middle infield, especially with Lux out for 2023. I've also seen plenty of Rojas, a standout for years on a bottom-tier Marlins team, to know better.
(UNDER 95.5 wins is my bet on the 2023 Los Angeles Dodgers).
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