The Dodgers on Monday beat the Colorado Rockies, completing exactly one third of their season, now 54 games into the 162-game schedule.
As we’ve done for the better part of two decades, we like to take a look at each season in 54-game chunks, seeing how players seasons are put together. For now, we just have the first third of the season to go on, so we’re not necessarily comparing players to themselves. But on a team level, the Dodgers are on pace for 102 wins, and have won at least 32 of their first 54 games
for eight years in a row.
The Dodgers allowed only 171 runs so far this season, fewest in MLB at 3.17 per game. It’s the fewest runs allowed by the Dodgers through 54 games since 1989. The plus-108 run differential is the Dodgers’ third-best through 54 games since 2013, the start of their streak of postseason appearances.
Now let’s look at the individual players.
Will Smith’s numbers are down across the board. Dalton Rushing got off to a scorching hot start, with seven home runs in his first 28 plate appearances. Rushing also started three games at designated hitter and two at first base. Those games are counted in his numbers above, as is Smith’s lone start at DH.
The Dodgers offense feels underwhelming, but in reality they lead the majors in wRC+ (119) and on-base percentage (.344), rank third in runs scored (5.17 per game), and are top five in the majors in home runs, slugging percentage, walk rate, and lowest strikeout rate. That’s a testament to the depth, even with injuries and few individual starts standing out.
Andy Pages is the breakout star thus far, providing excellent defense in center field with a 136 wRC+ and leading the majors in RBI. Max Muncy is having one of his best seasons. Kyle Tucker has been above average but not spectacularly so.
Tommy Edman hasn’t yet played this season. Mookie Betts missed 32 games with an oblique injury, and has been quite bad when he’s played so far. Alex Freeland and Hyeseong Kim filled in, combining for 67 starts in the middle infield, and while their defense was quite good, the offense was below average. Same for veteran Miguel Rojas.
Watch out if Kiké Hernández can keep up this blistering pace though.
Shohei Ohtani is at worst the Dodgers’ second-best hitter thus far, and while it feels silly to complain about a 147 wRC+, he’s coming off three years of a collective 177 wRC+ and 153 home runs. So far, Ohtani only has eight home runs a third of the way through this year. His 2026 offensive production is more in line with his 2021-22 with the Angels, his first two seasons fully unleashed as a two-way player when he had a 146 wRC+. Imagine getting that kind of — again, still stellar — offense from someone who’s also on pace for nearly 150 innings of Cy Young Award-caliber pitching.
Ohtani has allowed only six runs in his eight starts, and has not allowed multiple runs in any of his 49 innings to date.
The rotation was incredibly stable for the Dodgers until roughly the last two weeks, after injuries to Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell. Outside of one bullpen game, the Dodgers used only seven starting pitchers in the first third of the season, with six pitchers accounting for 52 starts. Dodgers pitchers have 30 quality starts, most in the majors.
Justin Wrobleski made one bulk relief appearance of four innings on March 30, but the vast majority of his time was as a starter, and his stat line above reflects his full season to date. Similarly, Will Klein was the first pitcher of a bullpen game on May 15 in Anaheim, but that is included with the relief numbers below.
The depth has again shone through, especially with Edwin Díaz getting surgery after only six innings with the Dodgers. Tanner Scott has looked like the dominant reliever the Dodgers signed two offseasons ago, while Will Klein, Kyle Hurt, and Edgardo Henriquez have worked their way up the trust tree.
Dodgers relievers really picked up the slack of late amid heavier usage, going from the eighth inning on May 12 through May 24 without allowing a run. The bullpen’s streak of 38 (but spiritually 40) consecutive scoreless innings is the longest in modern franchise history.
That’s our look at the first third of the Dodgers 2026 season. We’ll be back in two months to see how the middle portion went.
