Dodgers Aren't Looking For Extra Motivation as They Head Back to Arizona

Eva Geitheim | Apr 29, 2024

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Dodgers are getting set to face the Arizona Diamondbacks for the first time since they were swept by their National League West rivals in last season's NL Division Series. The Dodgers are in Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks, with the first of the three-game series Monday.

Despite this disappointing playoff loss, the Dodgers aren't focused on getting revenge or making up for what happened last year.

“No. We gotta focus on ourselves,” Max Muncy said via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. “You guys have heard me say it a million times. If we’re worried about the other team, we’re already in a bad spot. So we’re trying to focus on ourselves and focus on what we need to do to be prepared for the game. Ultimately, the only thing we need to worry about in terms of the other team is who is on the mound and prepare ourselves that way.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts emphasized that this is also a different team from last season.

“I’ve said this a couple times," Dave Roberts said, via Plunkett. "This year in particular, there’s the least amount of carryover from the previous year than there’s ever been. And I think it’s because of the names we’ve added to the roster — which is a good thing, certainly in this case.”

This Dodger team is certainly different from the one that surprisingly lost to the Diamondbacks last October. The Dodgers revamped their roster during the offseason, spending big on major players like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Teoscar Hernández over the offseason. With these additions, especially bringing in arguably MLB's best player in Ohtani, it's hard to compare the two teams.

After that loss, the Dodgers boosted their roster to prevent those kinds of early playoff exits that have disappointed the franchise over the last few years. This will hopefully show that the Dodgers have moved on when they take on Arizona this week, but more importantly come through for the Dodgers come September and October.