The Los Angeles Dodgers earned their 8th World Series in franchise history after comfortably defeating the New York Yankees in five games this past October. With the core of the roster back in LA, paired with new veteran additions and up-and-coming prospects, the Dodgers are in prime position to be right back in the Fall Classic in 2025. 

Here are three keys to the Dodgers going back-to-back as World Series Champions. 

Health of the pitching staff

A big part of the Dodgers success against the Yankees in the 2024 World Series was the versatility of the bullpen and starting rotation. 

The Dodgers were able to throw a variety of pitchers at the Yankees, including Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler and Blake Treinen, both in starting and late-game situations. A few of the Dodger pitchers have since left for different teams, Flaherty and Buehler among them, but LA has made some key additions to the staff. 

Roki Sasaki, the 23-year-old Japanese pitching phenom, was the Dodgers’ marquee signing this offseason. Blake Snell, the former Cy Young winner who’s addition to the roster was overshadowed by Sasaki, was also expected to make an immediate impact on the mound. 

In addition to the starters, All-Stars Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates also signed with Los Angeles to bolster the bullpen. On paper, this pitching rotation backed up by the bullpen might be one of the best pitching staffs in Major League Baseball history. 

The only issue is health. 

Since the season started, Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Michael Kopech, and Clayton Kershaw are just some of the pitchers who have missed time to injury. The absence of the pitching depth has forced manager Dave Roberts to rely heavily on the bullpen and younger slingers like Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dustin “Big Red” May.

It’s no secret the Dodgers are aiming for it all. If they want to get there, they need to clean up the injuries and maintain the health of the pitching staff throughout the season. 

Production from the others

Recently, the Dodgers have been leading off with an MVP trio of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

You know what you’re going to get with those guys. It’s hard to find three guys who have been more consistent than Ohtani, Betts and Freeman over the last couple years. What the Dodgers need, and what they had last season, is for “the others” on the team to step up when it matters most. 

Luckily, the Dodgers still have the reigning NLCS MVP Tommy Edman, and he looks to have carried his hot postseason into 2025. In 111 at bats this season, Edman has notched 28 hits, 8 home runs and 24 RBI’s. Nearly half of his total hits (28 H) have gone for extra bases (13 XBH). 

Los Angeles was also able to retain 2024 Home Run Derby champion Teoscar Hernandez, who currently leads the entire MLB in runs batted in with 34. Will Smith, Max Muncy, Kike Hernandez, Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor are holdovers from years past and have the ability to make huge contributions throughout the regular and postseason. 

Add outfielder Michael Conforto, who signed from the Giants this offseason, and the Dodgers have a solid rotation of veteran talent. 

Now, they need the production. 

When the playoffs come, the lineups get deeper. Everyone seems to have two, three or even four guys who can dominate at the plate. Having Ohtani, Betts and Freeman is nice — it’s certainly the best Big 3 in the league — but if only those three guys are able to perform in clutch moments, Los Angeles might not have a fun or long postseason. 

As of now, “the others” have been on fire. It’s the main reason why the Dodgers have the best record in the league at 24-11. 

However, Edman and Teoscar Hernandez have recently been sent to the IL. Although they don’t appear to have major injuries, the stretch of games the Dodgers have to play without them will say a lot about the state of the depth and whether or not LA will have to make any changes before the deadline. 

Development of young players

In addition to “the others,” the Dodgers have a group of young talent that will need to mature quickly as LA looks to make a deep postseason run in 2025. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 26-year-old pitcher from Japan, has been tearing up opponents on the mound. In just his second year, Yamamoto has solidified himself as the Dodgers’ ace, posting a league-best 0.90 ERA through 40 innings pitched this year. 

Yamamoto has been a pleasant surprise, having developed quicker than expected. He’s been holding the starting rotation together with his 4-2 record in seven games started. 

Yamamoto has received bullpen help from rookies Jack Dreyer and Ben Casparius; Both have been phenomenal to start their careers. The silving lining of the injured pitching staff is that Dreyer and Casparius have been given more opportunities at the mound. If they continue to clean up their rookie mistakes, the Dodger pen will be difficult to defeat. 

Los Angeles has also seemed to find young talent in position players Andy Pages and Hyeseong Kim. Pages made his debut last season and had a strong postseason against the Mets and Yankees. He’s translated that performance into his sophomore season, racking up 31 hits in 32 games played. 

Kim made his debut as a starter on Monday against the Marlins and did not disappoint. In his debut, Kim recorded two hits, an RBI and a stolen base. 

If those two continue to progress, Roberts can rely on them more throughout the regular season and preserve the health of his primary lineup. It’s also likely they see significant postseason action come October. 

Kim, Pages and the collection of young Dodgers have a chance to make an impact on winning baseball. 

Even though they are off to an amazing start, the Dodgers still need to see progression for certain players. They need to get healthy and stay healthy.

If they manage to do that, they have a great shot at going back-to-back.