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Dodgers 2026 season preview: Three-peat chase won’t alter their approach

March 24, 2026

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Dodgers aren’t trying to three-peat this year. They’re trying to win one championship for the third year in a row.

“For me, just the way my mindset is and this was the same last year – our goal is to win the World Series. That’s our goal and it’s a realistic goal every year in this clubhouse,” said third baseman Max Muncy, the longest-tenured Dodger going into Thursday’s 2026 season opener. “Our goal is not to go back-to-back. Our goal is not to three-peat. Our goal is to win the World Series. When you start talking about that other stuff, you start adding more pressure that doesn’t need to be added. It’s just noise. That’s really all it is.

“We have to approach the year the way we’ve approached every other year. You go out there and try to win the game in front of you. You don’t worry about anything else. When that game is over, you move on to the next day and you try to win that game and move on to the next day and try to win that game with the ultimate goal of getting to October and trying to win the World Series that year. … We’re not trying to do something that’s outrageous and unheard of. Our goal is to win the World Series and that’s not unheard of.”

It’s not only not unheard of. It’s expected.

The first team to win back-to-back World Series titles in a quarter-century, the Dodgers are heavy favorites to become only the third franchise (and first National League franchise) to win three championships in a row – joining the Oakland Athletics (1972-74) and the New York Yankees (1936-39, 1949-53 and 1998-2000).

Fangraphs – a statistics and analysis website that does in-depth modeling using sabermetrics and various analytics – currently projects the Dodgers to win 102 games in the regular season with a 29.6% chance of winning the 2026 World Series.

That still leaves a 70% chance that the Dodgers don’t three-peat. By baseball standards, however, a 29.6% chance to win is enormous. Fangraphs gives the Yankees the next-best chance at 10.3%. The three teams behind the Dodgers added together have a lower percentage chance than the Dodgers – the Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies (9.1%) and Toronto Blue Jays (7.0%).

“Because of our talent, our depth we have a very good chance if not better than anyone to get to the postseason. That in itself increases our odds,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Outside of that, you’ve still got to win 11 games or 13 games in October.

“They had us winning 100 games last year and we didn’t come close. I think that’s stuff – nothing against the media or the fans – but that’s more for them. The game – and every single player will tell you – is played by players. It’s not played on computers. I respect the models and all that, but it doesn’t mean anything to us.”

The Dodgers were very good at shrugging off history whenever the topic of three-peating was raised this spring.

“Yes, we are going for the three-peat, but these are things that you don’t think about because you’re trying to win this year,” utility man Kiké Hernandez said. “Whatever happened last year and the previous year, that’s already paid for. That’s already history. You’re not trying to win three championships in one year. You’re just trying to win this year. We know how hard it is to win. We don’t really take it for granted, even though we’ve been there, done that.

“As far as thinking three-peat, we’re just trying to win this year. We already won the last two years. But that doesn’t do anything for us other than put a target on our backs. We’re trying to win this year, and if we win this year it just happens to be three in a row.”

That idea of playing with “targets on our backs” is one the Dodgers feel they live with annually.

“You’d be lying to yourself if you said there wasn’t one. But you have to learn to embrace it,” Muncy said. “Being a Dodger is not for everybody. You have to be able to play with pressure on you. You have to know how to play with it and deal with it. It’s tricky. It’s not easy. There’s some nights when it’s harder than others. But everyone in here lives with it and it’s always, to me, what makes being a Dodger fun. You just always have those expectations. Fans have the expectations of you. The coaches, the front office, your teammates.”

As defending champions a year ago, Roberts preached to his team in spring training about ignoring that target and instead embracing a mindset as “the hunter, not the hunted.” This year, the target is only larger – inflated by the Dodgers’ aggressive spending on the eve of a potential labor showdown.

“I take it as a compliment. I take it as a privilege,” Hernandez said. “We’re playing in some weird times in the game where not every person that owns a team is trying to win. A lot of them are trying to make money. Fine. It’s their money, they can do whatever.

“Not all 30 teams are trying to win a World Series, and for us to be in a position where this team is doing whatever they can to put us in a position to compete deep into the season, deep into October, I take it as a privilege. I guess maybe because it’s my 10th year here and it’s nothing new to me. But I don’t necessarily think anything changes because we’re trying to go three in a row.”

Roberts seems to think something has changed. He said during spring training that he felt the Dodgers are going into the 2026 season playing with “house money” after winning back-to-back championships. He said he felt more pressure a year ago.

“I only say that because it’s a way to alleviate some of the pressure potentially,” he explained later. “We’ve won a championship, which is hard. We’ve won two in a row, which is even harder. We’re going for three. Everything else we do, I just feel, is above and beyond. It doesn’t mean we’re going to try any less. It’s just a way to put things in perspective. But it’s still difficult.”

The Dodgers have done whatever could be done to make it easier and increase those odds for a team that looks even better than the previous two champions.

Last year’s team started one of the worst hitters in baseball (free agent bust Michael Conforto) 122 times – and still led the National League in runs scored. This year, they have replaced Conforto with Kyle Tucker, a four-time All-Star and one of the most coveted free agents on last winter’s market.

They did everything they could to avoid exposing their Achilles heel (the bullpen) during last year’s postseason run, relying on the heroics of starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto instead. This year, they have added the best closer available last winter, Edwin Diaz.

Injuries could derail the best-laid plans – but haven’t we already watched the Dodgers overcome loads of injuries each of the past two seasons to raise trophies in the end?

“Obviously, if we win the World Series this year, it will be a three-peat. But that’s not how my brain works,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “We’ve won back-to-back titles and those are in the bank. And now the challenge is to do everything we can to win this year as its own unique season.”

Orange County Register

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Dodgers 2026 season preview: Three-peat chase won’t alter their approach

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