Among the 25 World Series champions since 2000, how did the 2020 Dodgers land in this spot?
The Dodgers, save Mookie Betts, were not a team full of stars having star-caliber seasons. Betts led the majors in wins above replacement, putting up nearly four of them in just 60 games in an absurd display at the plate and in the field. Other than that, what the Dodgers won with was volume.
Justin Turner did not have his very best season. Corey Seager has had better ones, too. It didn’t matter, because almost every regular was firing on more than enough cylinders to propel Los Angeles to the best winning percentage of any World Series winner of the century. Betts wasn’t actually the Dodgers’ best hitter in 2020: that was catcher Will Smith, who hit .289/.401/.579 in 37 games. Smith finished one point of on-base percentage above Justin Turner, who batted .307/.401/.460. AJ Pollock was tied with Betts for the team lead in homers with 16. Cody Bellinger hit just .239, but still had a .789 OPS thanks to racking up walks and extra-base hits. Joc Pederson and Enrique Hernandez fell flat, but were picked up by performances off of the bench from utility man Chris Taylor (.270/.366/.476 in 56 games) and Edwin Rios, who regularly filled in for Turner at third. All told, the Dodgers hit .256/.338/.483, in a league that batted .245/.322/.418.
The rotation was similarly built: Walker Buehler was the “worst” among the traditional starting five thanks to a 3.44 ERA — the league-average ERA in 2020 was a full run higher than that. Kershaw (2.16), Tony Gonsolin (2.31), Dustin May (2.57), Julio Urias (3.27) and Buehler made for a fearsome starting five that made up for the mess that was Ross Stripling’s season — he ended up working mostly out of the pen by September. That bullpen was loaded, too: closer Kenley Jansen was one of the weaker parts of the regular relief corps, and he had a great season. The Dodgers built a lengthy bridge between their starters and Jansen, with Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol, Jake McGee, Dylon Floro, Victor Gonzalez, Adam Kolarek, Caleb Ferguson, Scott Alexander and Joe Kelly all putting up some eye-popping numbers in relief in the limited innings forced upon them by the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Kershaw didn’t rack up the innings in that shortened campaign — he fell a few short of having his 2.16 ERA qualify for the ERA title — but he threw another 30.2 frames in October, arm still feeling fresh like the rest of the staff thanks to the Dodgers’ reliance on six starters and a loaded pen. While Kershaw’s postseason performances are the one blemish on an otherwise Hall of Fame career, in 2020, he looked as dangerous to hitters in October as he did in the regular season: Kershaw had a 2.93 ERA across five postseason starts, including two Dodgers’ wins in the World Series against the Rays in which he allowed a combined three runs.
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