What Dodgers need to stay the course in 2nd half

This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

For most of the first half, it felt like the Dodgers struggled to put together some consistent weeks. Despite that, when the All-Star break hit, the Dodgers were in familiar territory, sitting atop the National League West.

The Dodgers know they need to play much better baseball over the next two months in order to win a World Series, but they’ve put themselves in great position to add at the Trade Deadline and make yet another run in October.

Before the second half of the season gets started against the Mets at Citi Field on Friday, let’s look back at the first half and take a quick peek at what’s on deck over the next two and a half months.

What we learned: Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are the best 1-2 punch in baseball
When the Dodgers signed Freeman last spring, they couldn’t stop talking about a lineup that will feature Freeman and Betts at the top for a number of years. During the first half, Betts and Freeman were both locked in and are a major reason why the Dodgers are tied for first place in the NL West despite a bad pitching staff. Betts has 26 homers at the break, putting him in the mix for his first 40-homer season. As for Freeman, he’s just doing what he does, being a consistent presence and playing in every game in the first half. It’s a deadly combination at the top, and they could carry the Dodgers to a deep run in October.

Key Player(s): Julio Urías and Clayton Kershaw
The Dodgers will go as far as Urías and Kershaw take them this season. Maybe that’s a lot of pressure on two pitchers, but that’s where the Dodgers are right now. Urías hasn’t performed like the ace the Dodgers expected, but his last start of the first half was encouraging. Kershaw, on the other hand, has been just as dominant as he’s been throughout his career, but there are always concerns that his back injury will flare up at any point. But assuming health, the Dodgers will need both of their left-handers to stabilize a rotation that, as currently constructed, could struggle in October.

Trade Deadline Strategy: Pitching, pitching and more pitching … and a right-handed bat
As good as the offense has been so far this season, the Dodgers know they’ll need to make aggressive moves to fix a pitching staff that has been extremely disappointing in 2023. The Dodgers will be searching for one -- maybe even two -- starting pitchers and they’ll need a pair of relievers to pair with that. On the offensive side, they need a right-handed bat because their lineup against left-handed pitching hasn’t been great. Getting Chris Taylor back from injury this weekend will be a big boost, but they still need help there.

Prospect to Watch: Gavin Stone (No. 4)
Stone’s first taste of the Majors didn’t go as anybody expected with the right-hander allowing four or more runs in each of his first three starts. But Stone will get another opportunity at some point this season and the Dodgers will need him to make an impact if that happens. Same could be said about Michael Busch (No. 2) and Landon Knack (No. 17), who will surely be up in the Majors at some point this season.