Dodgers put distance between 29 other MLB clubs ahead of Opening Day

Finally, the Great Snooze is almost over.A spring training that was described as “boring” by manager Dave Roberts is in its final days, the obligatory exhibition Freeway Series against the Angels the only remaining item on the Dodgers’ to-do list between now and Opening Day.In the five weeks the Dodgers were in Arizona, they didn’t have any season-altering injuries.They didn’t have anyone show up noticeably out of shape.

They didn’t have any malcontents disrupt their peace.Which isn’t to say the Dodgers spent their camp holding serve.Outside of Roki Sasaki displaying any semblance of consistency, just about everything that could go right for the Dodgers went right.“I think I would have banked that in a heartbeat, as far as kind of everything in totality, what happened,” Roberts said.As the two-time defending World Series champions who won the offseason by adding the No.1 hitter and reliever on the free agent market, the Dodgers could have maintained their advantage over their competitors simply by avoiding any major setback.They did more than that.They entered camp with several players at critical junctures in their careers — and many of them enjoyed solid springs.By the time the Dodgers departed Camelback Ranch, they had increased the distance between them and the 29 other MLB teams.The Dodgers were 19-8-1 in the Arizona portion of their exhibition schedule.

That in itself didn’t count for anything.What mattered were the details.“You don’t really want to focus too much on results in spring,” third baseman Max Muncy said.

“At the same time, you want to focus on how the results are happening.For us, the results were happening from us having good days, putting in the work, focusing on what we’re trying to focus on.”Most of the projected starters batted over .300 in the Cactus League.Of the Dodgers’ everyday players, the two worst hitters were Shohei Ohtani (.167 batting average) and Kyle Tucker (.261).

Ohtani and Tucker are the ...