The Dodgers are the defending World Series champions. They were the favorites to win the National League West from Day 1 of spring training, according to Las Vegas odds and sabermetric projections, and they remain the favorites today.
On his first day as a member of the home team at Dodger Stadium, then, it was little wonder that Max Scherzer got caught up in the local and national wave of expectations and assumptions.
“The Dodgers are in first place,” Scherzer said Tuesday in his introductory Zoom conference, “but there’s work to be done, and that’s why I’m excited to be here, to go out there and try to win.