As crazy as it sounds, the Dodgers have less than a week left until their 2024 campaign kicks off. Los Angeles will head to Seoul for two exhibition games -- one against the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO, and the other against Team Korea -- before playing a two-game regular season series against the Padres. After an exhilarating offseason, many Dodgers will make their debuts in Seoul, but there are certainly some question marks on the roster after recent injury updates as well.
It will be very intriguing for Dodger fans to see who will make the major league roster and who will be in the starting lineup in the first game against Yu Darvish, as plenty of non-injury roster questions have popped up over the course of spring training as well. These are the major storylines to monitor during the Dodgers' brief season-opening series.
4 Dodgers storylines to watch in Seoul Series vs Padres: Dodger Dingers?
The amount of power in this Dodgers lineup will definitely be something for fans to behold throughout the 2024 season, but why not get started early? During spring training, eight Dodgers hit two or more home runs, and although not all of those eight players will make the Seoul Series roster, an early-season power surge seems in order. Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández did not join the multi-homer spring training squad, but both of those two hit .400 in Spring Training and hit one homer each. Not to mention, both certainly have the reputations as power hitters and could leave the yard in Seoul.
Padres Game 1 starter Yu Darvish gave up 18 home runs in just 24 starts last year, and Freddie Freeman has three homers against Darvish in 31 career at-bats. After leading the Dodgers with three home runs in camp, could Freeman jumpstart the Dodgers' lineup early on? Absolutely. Notably, Shohei Ohtani has never faced off against Darvish, so Ohtani be another Dodger to show off his power early on. The newly-acquired Dodgers will try to establish themselves early on with some aggressive swings, and Dodgers fans should bank on a few of those swings connecting.