Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in English Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. I hope everyone was as excited for the season finale of “Matlock” as I was.Great news. The Dodgers have the second-best record in all of baseball. Let’s take a look at the top teams:1. San Diego, 15-4, .789 (on pace to win 128 games)2. Dodgers, 14-6, .700 (113)3. San Francisco, 13-6, .684 (111)4. Arizona, 12-7, .632 (102)4. New York Mets, 12-7, .632 (102)4. Texas, 12-7, .632 (102)4. New York Yankees, 12-7, .632 (102)Just look. The third-best record in baseball and third place in their division, with the fourth-place team in the NL West right behind them. So, with the Dodgers, Padres and Giants all on on pace to win more than 100 games (they won’t all do that), let’s compare the three teams at each position, just so we can get a sense of the Dodgers’ closest rivals. So as to not overload everyone with stats, we will focus on just the offenses this time around, looking at the pitchers later.CatcherDodgers, Will Smith2025: .367/.475/.551 (198 OPS)Career: .261/.353/.474 (126)Padres, Elias Diaz2025: .206/.341/.235 (69)Career: .251/.304/.386 (82)Giants, Patrick Bailey2025: .184/.259/.306 (66)Career: .231/.289/.346 (80)The Dodgers have the clear edge at catcher.First baseDodgers, Freddie Freeman2025: .333/.412/.733 (225)Career: .300/.387/.512 (142)Padres, Luis Arráez2025: .275/.306/.388 (97)Career: .322/.370/.418 (118)Giants, LaMonte Wade Jr.2025: .102/.224/.265 (44)Career: .241/.347/.406 (111)Arráez has won the batting title the last three seasons, one in the AL, the last two in the NL. Wade is basically James Loney. Again the Dodgers have the clear edge here..Second baseDodgers, Tommy Edman2025: .263/.305/.553 (143)Career: .264/.317/.413 (101)Padres, Jake Cronenworth2025: .257/.409/.486 (155)Career: .247/.331/.412 (108)Giants, Tyler Fitzgerald2025: .309/.345/.527 (149)Career: .276/.328/.490 (132)Jake Cronenworth is currently on the IL with a rib fracture but is expected back next week. Fitzgerald and Edman are pretty even, but Tommy Edman is the more dynamic player.Third baseDodgers, Max Muncy2025: .193/.309/.263 (69)Career: .227/.350/.471 (122)Padres, Manny Machado2025: .324/.392/.521 (159)Career: .279/.338/.489 (125)Giants, Matt Chapman2025: .239/.386/.418 (129)Career: .241/.329/.460 (118) While it’s true that, as Yogi Berra said in the 50s, “Nobody likes Manny Machado,” he’s a heck of a ballplayer and gives the Padres the clear edge at third, especially when you factor in defense.ShortstopDodgers, Mookie Betts2025: .266/.373/.484 (148)Career: .294/.373/.523 (139)Padres, Xander Bogaerts2025: .258/.359/.348 (104)Career: .289/.352/.450 (115)Giants, Willy Adames2025: .195/.267/.286 (70)Career: .247/.321/.441 (108)The Dodgers were rumored to be interested in acquiring Willy Adames in the offseason before the Giants got him. Dodgers have the edge here.Left fieldDodgers, Michael Conforto2025: .211/.357/.386 (117)Career: .250/.348/.455 (120)Padres, Jason Heyward2025: .190/.255/.286 (55)Career: .256/.337/.409 (101)Giants, Heliot Ramos2025: .225/.271/.413 (97)Career: .250/.303/.437 (110)Jason Heyward is one of those guys you root for no matter where he is playing, except when he’s playing the Dodgers. Michael Conforto is the best of a decidedly average group.Center fieldDodgers, Andy Pages2025: .175/.299/.298 (75)Career: .237/.303/.393 (98)Padres, Jackson Merrill2025: .378/.415/.676 (206)Career: .298/.332/.511 (133)Giants, Jung Hoo Lee2025: .348/.403/.652 (203)Career: .284/338/.428 (121)Lee came from Japan last season. If he has made some real progress at the plate, then the Giants could have the edge here, but it’s far too soon to tell if his progress is real. Jackson Merrill is very good. And the Dodgers will need Pages to start hitting soon or find someone else. Dave Roberts said he would give Andy Pages about 150 plate appearances.Right fieldDodgers, Teoscar Hernández2025: .265/.292/.529 (133)Career: .263/.320/.489 (122)Padres, Fernando Tatis Jr.2025: .348/.425/.623 (195)Career: .282/.353/.537 (142)Giants, Mike Yastrzemski2025: .302/.439/.566 (197)Career: .240/.324/.459 (115)As much as we like Teoscar Hernández, Fernando Tatis Jr. is better. Mike Yastrzemski seems to have rebounded after an off season. And, in an extremely trivial note, I once won a baseball trivia quiz by correctly spelling Yastrzemski, of course, that was Carl, Mike’s Hall of Fame grandfather.Designated hitterDodgers, Shohei Ohtani2025: .288/.380/.550 (167)Career: .281/.371/.573 (157)Padres, Gavin Sheets2025: .311/.373/.489 (144)Career: .233/.297/.389 (92)Giants, Wilmer Flores2025: .239/.282/.507 (127)Career: .260/.316/.436 (106)The Padres’ other DH is Yuli Gurriel, as they seem to excel at acquiring players Dodgers fans don’t like. Shohei Ohtani gives the Dodgers a big advantage here.Just looking at the offense, the Dodgers and Padres seem much better than the Giants. The Giants are hitting worse overall than the Dodgers this season in many categories, but are averaging almost one run more per game thanks to a lot of timely hitting.All three teams are playing well. Once the NL West teams start playing each other, we should get some separation in the standings as at least one of these teams will have to cool off.And don’t forget Arizona, who is lurking and waiting to pounce. It should be an exciting NL West race this season, which will make the year a lot more interesting. I’d rather have a close race than one where the Dodgers win by 14 games.Get well, Manny MotaDodgers legend Manny Mota, still for my money the best pinch-hitter in history, is recovering from a stroke.His son, Dodgers broadcaster José Mota, told ESPN Deportes on Tuesday that his “dad never lost consciousness during the incident and is currently doing well. He’s alert and responding. We’ll see the results of removing the clot. At his age, it’s difficult to predict, but we hope he can recover all his functions.”When Mota, 82, retired, he had the career record for pinch hits with 150. From 1974-79 he served mainly as a pinch-hitter with the Dodgers and had these averages: .281, .265, .288, .395, .303, .357. He came out of retirement near the end of the 1980 season and went three for seven as a pinch-hitter. That was back in the day when you had one player on the bench who really just pinch-hit. For a couple of season, the Dodgers had two guys who just pinch-hit: Mota and Vic Davalillo.What is often overlooked when discussing Mota was he was a good player before he became a pinch-hitter. As a regular player with the Dodgers from 1969-73, he hit .315 and was an All-Star in 1973. In a 20 season major league career, he hit .304.All-time pinch-hit leaders: Lenny Harris, 212Mark Sweeney, 175Manny Mota, 150Smoky Burgess, 144Greg Gross, 143Dave Hansen, 139John Vander Wal, 126José Morales, 123Orlando Palmeiro, 120Red Lucas, 117Kershaw returning soon?Clayton Kershaw made his first rehab start of the season, pitching three scoreless innings for triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday, giving up two hits and striking out two. Kershaw’s velocity was a bit down, but he still needs to build some arm strength. “I think any time with rehab you want to feel healthy, which I do feel good today,” Kershaw said after the game. “Then you want to see your stuff — obviously — play. There’s some things that I need to work on still, but for the first [rehab appearance] overall, it was a good step forward.”If all progresses according to schedule, Kershaw would rejoin the Dodgers in mid to late May.Wes ParkerColleague Kevin Baxter caught up with Wes Parker recently. Parker retired when he was only 33 years old and still a good player. Why?“I could feel it evolving from a team-oriented game to an individual-oriented game,” he said. “I did not play well when I played for myself. If it wasn’t a team-oriented game, I really was not much value. So I decided this was a good time to get out.”Parker won six straight Gold Gloves and has to be in the argument when deciding the greatest fielding first baseman of all time. My first exposure to him was when he guest starred in “The Brady Bunch.”“When I go out and talk to kids, more of them by far knew me from my appearance on ‘The Brady Bunch’ than my entire career,” Parker said. “Of course they weren’t alive when I was playing.”It’s a great interview that you can read here.How will the Dodgers do?We received 16,710 votes our annual poll on how you think the Dodgers will do. Will they win the World Series? Reach the NLCS and lose? Click here to vote.ResultsThey will win the World Series, 79.8%They will reach the NLCS but lose there, 10%They will lose in the World Series, 7.1%They will reach the NLDS but lose there, 2.8%They will not make the postseason, 0.2%They will lose in the wild-card round, 0.1%Last season’s results:They will reach the NLCS but lose there, 42.6%They will win the World Series, 29.3%They will reach the NLDS but lose there, 16.2%They will lose in the World Series, 9.6%They will lose in the wild-card round, 2.1%They will not make the postseason, 0.2%Up nextFriday: Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 2-1, 1.23 ERA) at Texas (Jacob deGrom, 0-0, 4.30 ERA), 5:05 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020Saturday: Dodgers (Roki Sasaki, 0-1, 3.29 ERA) at Texas (Nathan Eovaldi, 1-2, 2.55 ERA), 1:05 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020Sunday: Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 1-0, 4.85 ERA) at Texas (Tyler Mahle, 3-0, 0.92 ERA), 11:35 a.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020*-left-handedIn case you missed itShohei Ohtani is back on a 40/40 pace. But can Dodgers give him more RBI opportunities?Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw throws three scoreless innings in rehab startDodgers legend Manny Mota suffers stroke: ‘We hope he can recover all his functions’Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has strong words for Dodgers on importance of Jackie Robinson DayHernández: Dodgers’ celebration of Jackie Robinson Day rings hollow in wake of White House visitLA28 announces Dodger Stadium among new 2028 Olympic venues, lineup nearly completeWes Parker has fond memories of his Dodgers career, and no regrets that he ended itAnd finallyIf you grew up listening to Dodger games in the 70s and 80s, you will be very familiar with this song. Watch and listen here.
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