These Dodgers have a case for end-of-year awards

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.

DENVER -- The Dodgers have three games remaining in the regular season. None of those three will have much meaning to the team, given it has locked up the No. 2 seed in the National League postseason picture.

Over the weekend, however, there are a handful of Dodgers who can continue to pad their stats, which could come in handy when voters have to submit their award ballots before the start of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday.

Given everything the Dodgers have accomplished this season, they’re expected to be well-represented when awards finalists are revealed sometime in November.

Until then, let’s take a look at the Dodgers in the running for individual awards, while also taking a look at their case to win.

Most Valuable Player: Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman

Not every team has two legitimate MVP candidates, but no other squad has Betts and Freeman.

Of the two, Betts has the best case to win a second MVP Award. He has 39 homers out of the leadoff spot and holds the MLB record for most RBIs in a season from the leadoff spot with 106. His ability to play an elite right field and an above-average second base is something we haven’t seen from a superstar player in quite some time.

At the end of August, Betts was starting to gain some serious momentum. But Betts has struggled a bit offensively in September, hitting just one homer this month. Barring a big weekend in San Francisco, Betts might fall short against Braves’ star Ronald Acuña Jr., who became the first player in Major League history with 40 homers and 70 stolen bases in a season.

Freeman, on the other hand, should also finish in the top three of the voting. Perhaps nobody in baseball has been as consistent as Freeman has been this season. He’s also trying to become the first player in history to hit 30 homers and 60 doubles in a season. He currently has 28 homers and 58 doubles. Freeman already set the Dodgers’ franchise record in doubles this season and set a new career high in hits, reaching the 200 mark for the first time in his career.

Manager of the Year: Dave Roberts

For whatever reason, votes tend to go to managers of teams that exceeded expectations. That’s ultimately what won Buck Showalter the award last season, despite the Mets blowing a double-digit lead in the division. It’s also what has hurt Roberts in past votes, including last season after leading the Dodgers to 111 wins.

This year, however, given the injuries to the Dodgers’ rotation and the number of rookies they’ve had to insert, Roberts might’ve just completed one of the best managing jobs of his career. Not to mention the Dodgers came into the 2023 season with lower expectations than usual but still have a chance to win 100 games again.

Although often criticized, Roberts continues to be in charge of some of the best Dodgers teams ever. He’s the only manager in MLB history to reach the postseason in his first eight years as manager. In fact, a Dodgers team has never won fewer than 91 games since Roberts took the reins.

In just eight seasons, Roberts is already fourth in total wins in franchise history with 751 victories. He’s behind only Walter Alston (2,040), Tommy Lasorda (1,599) and Wilbert Robinson (1,375).

Skip Schumaker of the Marlins and Torey Lovullo of the D-backs will probably get a lot of looks, but Roberts and his staff shouldn’t be underappreciated for what they’ve accomplished this season.

Rookie of the Year: James Outman and Bobby Miller

At the beginning of the season, most people would have believed that Miller pitched his way into Rookie of the Year consideration. Miller was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball and he’s shown exactly why this season, posting a 3.89 ERA in 21 starts.

Outman, on the other hand, continued to shock people and turned himself into one of the top rookies in the Majors this season, despite not coming into it with a lot of top prospect status.

The Dodgers’ center fielder burst onto the scene in April, winning the Rookie of the Month Award. Outman then struggled for a few months before finding his footing once again over the last two months. Corbin Carroll of the D-backs and Kodai Senga of the Mets are the two favorites, but Outman should get plenty of second- and third-place votes.

As for Miller, he may not be a finalist. But when it comes to postseason importance, perhaps no rookie is as crucial to their team’s potential success as Miller will be for the Dodgers.