Dodgers look to three-peat this season
The 2026 Major League Baseball season is the 126th season in its history, with popularity on an all time high. The league is expected to reach its fourth consecutive year of attendance growth.
According to ESPN odds, the LA Dodgers are favored to win the World Series by a wide margin. Next is the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays which rounds out the top five.
The local teams this season, the Dodgers and the Angels, both have extremely interesting storylines. The Dodgers, who are looking to become the first team since the 1998-2000 Yankees, to win three world series in a row. Their star player, Shohei Ohtani, is arguably the most famous athlete in the world right now, excelling in both pitching and hitting for the Dodgers. Ohtani is looking to win his fourth Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in a row for the first time since 2001. Eder Basturto (’28) a baseball player at Samo gave his thoughts on Ohtani.
“In my opinion I think Shohei Ohtani is the best player in the world and if he keeps up what he’s doing he definitely can be the best player of all time,” Basturto said. “As a two way player to put up stats like this is amazing.”
The other LA team, the Anaheim Angels, have a star of their own looking to get back on track.
Mike Trout, considered one of the all time greats, has had his last six seasons riddled with injuries, averaging only 74 games per season. He hopes that this season can be a “renaissance” and act as his comeback. Ranked fourth in the league, he’s started the season strong with 11 home runs.
Across the U.S., the New York Yankees are the second highest ranked team in the preseason rankings and have a star of their own, Aaron Judge. He has three MVPs and is looking to win his fourth in five years. Judge has started the season off strong with 16 home runs in 43 games, which is on pace for over 60 home runs for the season.
A new addition to this season is the Automatic Ball Strike (ABS) challenge system, which has been introduced in order to improve call accuracy. This system allows players to contest close calls using Hawk-Eye camera technology. Grayson Klein (’28) a varsity baseball player at Samo, gave praise to the ABS system.
“I really like the challenge system because it adds another development to the game where it’s more in the hitter’s and catcher’s control and not just leaving it up to the umpire, because a game can end on a bad call. So now the hitter or the catcher has control over the calls,” Klein said.
Early feedback from this season shows that the ABS challenge system is a hit with fans, with 92 percent stating that the new system makes baseball better.
Rob Manfred, the MLB commissioner, highlighted the current momentum of the sport prior to the start of this MLB season.
“The game’s never been in a more exciting position... It would be so unfortunate to waste any amount of time in this era of the game,” Manfred said.
Shohei Ohtani gets ready in an at bat for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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