While the 2023 regular season has not quite started off on the right foot for the Los Angeles Dodgers, things are beginning to turn around for the club -- and fast.
Entering Tuesday tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the division with a 12-11 record, the Dodgers have a clear advantage over the rest of the NL West thanks to the top-shelf roster they've assembled that's put together a +19 run differential so far.
Under the direction of president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, this club still has "perennial contender" written all over it. Since Friedman took over in 2015, multiple high-end players have been brought up as homegrown talent (including Walker Buehler, Dustin May, Will Smith, Gavin Lux etc.) or acquired via trade or free agency.
While some of the moves he's made -- like missing out on most of the top-tier free agents in the 2022-2023 offseason, trading away Yordan Alvarez, and signing some aging starters to awful contracts a while back -- have not all been well-received, he deserves his fair share of praise as well.
Life isn't easy when you're calling the shots for one of the most storied franchies. Nobody bats 1.000 in this sport.