The Los Angeles Dodgers kicked off the 2024 regular season with two games in Seoul, South Korea against the San Diego Padres and they are coming back home with a 1-1 record. So how did they do on their trip to start a season that has a lot of hype surrounding it with the additions of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Teoscar Hernandez.
Game 1
The Dodgers sent newly acquired arm Tyler Glasnow for his first start and he pitched well going five innings giving up two runs on two hits; he walked four and struck out three. Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani led the charge both collecting two hits each of the seven total hits by the Dodgers with Max Muncy, Will Smith, and Teoscar Hernandez recording the other hits. The Dodgers drew a total of nine walks in the game with Muncy, Freddie Freeman, and James Outman walking twice each.
The Dodgers went down 1-0 in the third inning on an Xander Bogaerts single that brought home Tyler Wade. The Dodgers got that run back in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Jason Heyward that brought home Teoscar Hernandez. The Padres took the league back in the bottom half of the fourth inning when Luis Campusano grounded into a double play that brought home Manny Machado. The Dodgers lineup exploded in the eighth inning starting with an Enrique Hernandez sacrifice fly that brought home Max Muncy, Gavin Lux later grounded into a fielder’s choice that brought home Hernandez, then Betts singled home Outman, and Ohtani singled home Lux to make it 5-2 Dodgers. That would be the final as the Dodgers bullpen combined to go four innings, didn’t allow a run on two hits; didn’t issue a walk, and struck out three.
Game 2
The Dodgers entered today’s game after last night’s news that Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter Ippei Mizuhara fired for allegations of theft. That didn’t stop them from scoring a lot of runs. Today, they had their other prized offseason acquisition on the mound in their second game in Yoshinobu Yamamoto who had a rough spring posting an 8.38 ERA in three starts. He struggled again today going just one inning giving up five runs on four hits; he walked one and struck out two. The offense was led by Mookie Betts and Will Smith who each collected four hits; the two of them combined for half of the Dodgers 16 hits.
The Dodgers went down quick in the first inning starting with a Jake Cronenworth triple that brought home Xander Bogaerts and Fernando Tatis Jr., then Ha-Seong Kim brought home Cronenworth with a sacrifice fly. A few batters later Luis Campusano doubled home Manny Machado and Tyler Wade singled home Campusano. In the bottom of the first, the Dodgers got a run back with a Will Smith double that scored Shohei Ohtani making it 5-1 after one. In the bottom of the second, the Dodgers got another run back with a sacrifice fly by Ohtani that brought home Gavin Lux. The Padres extended their lead in the top of the third starting with a Bogaerts single that brought home Campusano, and Wade, the next batter Fernando Tatis reached on an error which allowed Jackson Merrill to score, and then finally Cronenworth hit a sacrifice fly and Bogaerts scored on an error on the play, making it 9-2. In the bottom of the third, the Dodgers got back into it starting with a ground out by James Outman that drove home Will Smith, then Jason Heyward singled home Max Muncy, and finally Mookie Betts doubled home Gavin Lux, and Heyward making it 9-6. In the top of the fifth Cronenworth extended the Padres lead with a single that drove home Merrill. The Dodgers made it a two-run game in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run home run by Betts. The Padres added a run in the sixth and the seventh, in the sixth Campusano doubled home Jose Azocar and in the seventh Bogaerts scored on a fielding error, the score was 12-8 entering the bottom of the seventh. In the bottom half of the seventh inning, Will Smith reached on an infield single and Betts scored, in the bottom half of the eighth Betts reached on an infield single that scored James Outman and Jason Heyward to make it a one-run game. In the top of the ninth, the Padres got some distance once again with a three-run home run by Manny Machado to make it 15-11 San Diego and that would be the final as the Dodgers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth.
Dodgers Seoul Series Studs
Mookie Betts
Betts to start the 2024 season is hitting .667 with a 1.838 OPS; he has a home run, seven RBI, and two runs scored. He also looked good defensively at shortstop.
Tyler Glasnow
Glasnow going five innings in his first start as a Dodger was a positive sign and he only threw 77 pitched with 47 of them as strikes, the walks were a little concerning but that’s part of the Opening Day jump, he’ll get the dialed in and the numbers down by his next start or the start after that.
Will Smith
Smith to start the season is hitting .500 with a 1.145 OPS; he has two RBI and one run scored. He looks comfortable in that cleanup spot.
Dodgers Seoul Series Duds
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Yamamoto struggled throwing 43 pitches in his lone inning of his MLB debut and giving up five runs on four hits; he walked one and struck out two. There’s no question the strikeouts will be up this season in his rookie campaign but it’s the runs and hits he gives up that are cause for concern in his last three starts including spring training he has a 14.53 ERA having given up five runs, four runs, five runs in those three starts including today. Hopefully, he can figure things out for his next start.
Freddie Freeman
Freeman had a series to forget in Seoul as he is coming back home hitting .167 after recording just one hit and striking out three times, it’s not something to worry about as the former MVP will have it figured out in no time.
James Outman
Outman didn’t record a hit in either game of the Seoul Series, he did manage to get on base walking three times, scoring twice, and driving in a run but he is a key component to the bottom of the Dodgers lineup, he should figure it out when they hit the field again next week.
