We’re just trying some stuff out here on the first entry of Tuesday Teasings: yes, we love alliteration. Deal with it; we own it. But on with The Show (literally): the Los Angeles Dodgers won the MLB season opener in Japan this morning, beating the Chicago Cubs, 4-1. Yes, we know what the math says about a 162-game season in professional baseball, that no team really will dominate despite its stockpiling of expensive talent.

However, we want to go out on a limb here: why can’t the Dodgers set the all-time, single-season record for victories in 2025? Or post the highest winning percentage in a single season ever? Los Angeles is loaded; everyone knows it. There are all sorts of different records to go for here, depending on which way you want to look at it. Here is a look at the most-common ones baseball experts, fans, and mediots think about today:

  • Most wins: 116—set by the 1906 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners, neither of which won the World Series;
  • Highest winning percentage: .763—the 1906 Cubbies set this in a 152-game season, while the 2001 Ms needed 162 games to post their very respectable .716 winning percentage. A team would have to win 124 games in a single season these days to break that Chicago record;
  • Most wins in a 162-game season (NL): 111—this was set by the 2022 Dodgers, who then lost in the postseason to division-rival San Diego in the first round of the playoffs. Two other NL teams in the 162-game era won 108 times (the 1975 Cincinnati Reds and the 1986 New York Mets).

Could the Dodgers go 124-38? It seems highly unlikely, but of course, no one predicts anomaly seasons like this. Over the last 11 full seasons, in which L.A. has made the playoffs in every year, the team has averaged 98.7 wins over full seasons (not including the 2020 season, of course). A team probably would need to have set a high level of consistent winning to even dream of winning 124 games—or even 116 … or a mere 111.

If any franchise can do it right now, it’s the Dodgers, though. They are No. 2 in payroll to start the season, with a $308M roster. Here’s the deal, though: a Pythagorean projection for 120 wins comes down to outscoring your opponents by about 410 runs across a 162-game season. Only the 1939 New York Yankees have ever done that since the nineteenth century, so it’s a tall order for any team to do in today’s game.

So, it’s one down, and 119 to go, L.A. You got this!