Dodgers officially hottest-starting defending champion in MLB history

Is being the best ever at something…good? Asking for a Dodgers.

Trailing 5-3 in the seventh inning Thursday night and only having lost once since an Opening Day dissolution at the hands of the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles flipped the switch with two outs and just one man on.

Following a Chris Taylor forceout, Justin Turner worked a walk, a clearly-scattered Yency Almonte uncorked a wild pitch, and Max Muncy went to work, tattooing a baseball deep into the night to snag a 6-5 lead.

That homer — combined with a still-relentless effort over the next few innings — officially made Los Angeles’ 26-man wrecking crew the hottest-starting defending World Champion in the history of this great game.

Winning the 60-game title was pretty awesome, right?

Well, this Dodgers team would really like to win another one with their fans at their back for a full 162-game slate.

The Dodgers are the hottest-starting defending World Series champ…ever.

So far, so good on Bill Plaschke’s record-setting prediction, huh? We’re only one-third kidding.

This weekend, Los Angeles gets their first shot at the San Diego Padres, a team so desperate to make noise that they plan on activating Fernando Tatis Jr. probably ahead of schedule while downplaying the risk of their own actions.

They’ll face a Dodgers team that has its rotation lined up perfectly (and well in advance), and features seven offensive players who’ve hit an extremely impressive benchmark, evoking the damned 1932 Yankees in the process.

Does the schedule get harder? Sure. But “at Oakland” and Washington were supposed to be challenges, which the Dodgers summarily handled at a 5-1 clip.

It’s refreshing, above all else, to watch a great team not rest on its laurels the season after a major triumph. Now that we know the Dodgers have what it takes to start well, and remain overflowing with talent, it’s time for the mass media to flip the switch to their next narrative: does LA need to be kicked in the teeth before it truly has what it takes to defend a championship?

Does a scrappy team like Boston or San Diego need to come in here and fire them up in order to set them straight?

We’ll eagerly await that flood of takes as this ridiculous roster continues to historically lay waste to everything in its path.

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