Dodgers: The Four Most Interesting Series of the 2018 Season

The Dodgers 2018 schedule features plenty of good matchups, but there are four series that stand out.

The Dodgers 2018 schedule has some very interesting themes to it.  The first theme is that the Dodgers seem to play the Giants and Diamondbacks almost every week in the first month of the regular season.  In fact, the Dodgers first ten games are against only the Giants and Dbacks with seven of those ten coming against the hated ones.  The month of April also concludes with the Giants and Diamondbacks.

The other main theme of the Dodgers regular season is that the interleague games come primarily against the American League West this season.  The Dodgers play the Oakland A’s early on in April, and they also play the Rangers and Astros in addition to their regular freeway series games.  The AL West figures to be a bit better this season with the Angels adding some All-Star caliber players, so the interleague schedule is no cake walk.  There are four other series that should catch the eye of Dodger fans.

Cubs vs Dodgers (June 18th to June 20th)

While the Giants will forever be the arch nemesis of the Dodgers, there appears to be a new age rivalry forming in baseball.  The Dodgers and Cubs have taken turns knocking one another out in the NLCS the past two seasons and perhaps this year will feature the rubber match.  The Cubs have further fueled the rivalry by adding Brandon Morrow and Yu Darvish this offseason in an attempt to weaken the Dodgers.

The Dodgers countered losing Darvish and Morrow by trading for reliever Scott Alexander who will be a key piece in the Dodgers 2018 bullpen.  While the Dodgers have not added another starting pitcher yet, they will return a solid five-man rotation with mega-prospect Walker Buehler hoping to break out this season.  The Dodgers and Cubs will also play at Dodger stadium the week after this series so there is a good chance that Yu Darvish will square off against the Dodgers at some point in the two series.

Offensively the Cubs didn’t tweak much on offense, so their only big changes were adding Morrow and Darvish.  While Darvish is a very talented pitcher, the Dodgers have to be happy that it appears Jake Arrieta will no longer be with the Cubs.  Arrieta was a Dodger killer and pitched a no-hitter against them a few years ago and also accounted for their only NLCS win last season.  The Dodgers and Cubs appear destined for another memorable season in their newfound rivalry.

Angels vs Dodgers (July 6th to 8th)

The Dodgers and Angels yearly freeway series always seem to be one-sided. While the Angels once owned the Dodgers, the Dodgers have beaten up on the fake LA team the past few seasons.  The Angels got a lot better this offseason.  They added Ohtani, Kinsler, and Justin Upton amongst others so Mike Trout will finally have a quality supporting cast offensively when he faces the Dodgers this season.

Ohtani is the biggest addition to the Angels although it remains to be seen whether his bigger impact will come with his bat or arm.  Kershaw introduced himself to Ohtani this week, and with this series set to use the designated hitter, there is a good chance that Ohtani will serve as the DH for at least one of the games this series.  While it is no guarantee that Kershaw will pitch in this series, all we can do is hope that Clayton is scheduled to pitch this series so he can once again face off with the highly hyped Shohei Ohtani.

The Angels rotation will depend heavily on Ohtani, and a few injury bouncebacks from Tyler Skaggs, Matt Shoemaker, and one time Dodger Andrew Heaney.  The Dodgers will have the benefit of using the DH this series so if Matt Kemp is still a Dodger in July; then he will likely get to serve as the DH and give the Dodgers a real designated hitter for once.

Dodgers vs Astros (August 3rd to 5th)

The images of the last World Series still hurt and thanks to MLB.TV any Dodger fans who use that will be destined for daily reminders of an opportunity lost.  The Dodgers and Astros will renew their acquaintances with one another in August as the teams will square off for the first time since the World Series.

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The Astros didn’t do much this offseason as expected, but they did acquire former Pirates ace Gerrit Cole who they hope will rebound from a few lackluster seasons in Pittsburgh.  The Astros one notable loss this offseason was Luke Gregerson who helped their bullpen in the playoffs and is a former closer.  The Astros every day starting lineup figures to be the exact same as it was in the fall classic while the Dodgers are the same except for left field which could be filled by Matt Kemp.

The Dodgers bullpen will be a bit different this time around as Kenta Maeda will not be a part of the bullpen.  He could still face the Astros but it would have to be a start since he is going to be the Dodgers fourth and only right-handed starting pitcher in the rotation.  There is a chance that Walker Buehler could be in the rotation by August and he would face a stiff challenge in the Astros if he pitches against them.

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While its unlikely the Dodgers and Astros will meet in the World Series once again this season, it is certainly still possible as both teams figure to be the teams to beat in their respective leagues.  When they face off in August it’s safe to say that the Astros will not be nicely welcomed by Dodger fans.  Hopefully the Dodger players take out their anger from last October’s series and sweep the Astros.  While it wont heal the loss of a World Series, it will provide a boost to their morale.