Dodgers: An Opening Series Preview of the Best Rivalry in Baseball

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 01: Clayton Kershaw
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 01: Clayton Kershaw /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 03: Prior to Opening Day game the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres stand during the national anthem at Dodger Stadium on April 3, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Dodgers will take three of four, with their lone loss coming in game three. Not to take much away from Kenta Maeda, but it might take him some time to get comfortable and settle back into a rotation role – where he will likely be faced with making many in-game adjustments.

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Kershaw will improve to 6-0 on Opening Day and will throw at least 6.0 innings of shutout ball, with 10 or more strikeouts. Still, the best – and another Cy Young campaign has to start somewhere, right?

Wood will impress and surrender less than three runs in his start, while also compiling more than 8 strikeouts. Expect most of his strikeouts to come on that sharp slider.

Rich Hill might not go too deep into his start, and anything more than 6 innings could be a long shot unless he is cruising. All we need is efficiency out of Rich and the offense and bullpen can do the rest.

Overall, the Dodgers were playing good ball this spring – as they did for all of 2017, so there should not be any reason to start off slow. The right pieces seem to be in place, and the small amount of acquisitions over the offseason is somewhat of a testament to how good this team has remained and the confidence that the front office and coaching staff have in this special group of men.

Next: Dodgers Way: Predicting the 2018 MLB Award Winners

Opening Day is finally upon us, so for the ones that now count… It’s finally time for Dodger Baseball!