Dodgers clearly trying to stick it to Padres after already naming weekend rotation

The Los Angeles Dodgers confirmed their starting pitching for this coming weekend against the San Diego Padres — the first series of 2021 between the two division rivals — on … Sunday.

Though the Dodgers are trying to convince fans they’re not making a statement of sorts by doing this as early as they did and lining up all their best arms for those three days, that’s not going to fly.

The offseason arms race we just endured between these two teams only proves tensions are high and that the World Series champs want to stick it to the little guys who have been talking the talk.

Well, now it’s time to dance with the best team in baseball. And the Pads better be ready because the Dodgers are unloading on them early.

Classy, Mookie. Very classy. But this is not “just another series.” This is what’d you call a “set the tone” series.

Dodgers’ rotation against the Padres this weekend is stacked.

Padres general manager AJ Preller went out this offseason and made some serious additions in an effort to go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers, who ran through San Diego in the playoffs en route to a championship.

The acquisitions of Blake Snell, Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Ha-Seong Kim, Victor Caratini, Mark Melancon, and, of course, the mega contract extension for Fernando Tatis Jr. very much sent a message, but not one the Dodgers aren’t ready to respond to.

And when your starting rotation is looking like that, it’s evident what the Dodgers are trying to do: they don’t want any chatter about the Padres potentially getting in the way of their bid to repeat as World Series champions.

After Tuesday’s win, Roberts reminded everyone that the Dodgers are the best team in baseball and honestly not many people are going to argue with that. They just swept the Washington Nationals without Betts and Cody Bellinger. Their bench players are filling in seamlessly. The pitching staff has hit the ground running.

Though the Pads are off to a hot start of their own, and already twirled a no-hitter thanks to Musgrove, they have a lot of work to do if they want to even dream of unseating the Dodgers from their throne.

And it all starts this weekend with the Dodgers looking to silence the opposition as early as possible.

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