Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 3/19/24, 3:00 AM  by Matthew Newman | Modified on 3/19/24 at 3:07 AM in MLB Picks

The MLB regular season gets underway in Seoul, South Korea as the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Diego Padres in a two-game set. Tyler Glasnow takes the ball for the Dodgers while Yu Darvish gets the nod for the Padres. A 13-5 record has the Dodgers on top of the Cactus League in spring training, beating the Kiwoom Heroes 14-3 and Korea 5-2 since arriving in Seoul. Chris Taylor has been the star so far, a pair of hits against the Heroes drove in two and then he clubbed a pinch-hit home run against Korea. Freddie Freeman went yard against the Heroes while Jason Hayward hit a pair of doubles to drive in four. Shohei Ohtani is 0-5 in Seoul and while he will be restricted to the plate in 2024, he will make his presence felt. 

The Padres are also 2-0 since arriving in Korea, beating Korea 1-0 and the LG Twins 5-4. It has been the lack of the long ball that has been a concern as the Padres have gone 9-9 in their spring training games, with only three teams hitting fewer. They traded their 2023 leader in home runs, Juan Soto, and Gary Sanchez who hit 19 (the 4th most on the team) is now in Milwaukee. Manny Machado is 10-37, with a .370 batting average in spring training but is yet to put one over the fence. Fernando Tatis has one, Ha-Seong Kim has one but Xander Bogaerts has also drawn a blank. Combined they hit a home run every 25.7 at-bats in the 2023 regular season, which has dropped to one every 55 at-bats in the spring.