Fancied Dodgers eye repeat

New MLB season gets underway today

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The star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers will ramp up their bid for a World Series repeat today as Major League Baseball’s season gets underway in earnest with the league’s traditional opening day festivities.

The Dodgers are aiming to become the first team to successfully defend their MLB title since 2000, when the New York Yankees won the last of a hat-trick of Fall Classics following championships in 1998 and 1999.

Already one of the most lavishly tal-ented teams in baseball, with a fearsome batting line-up led by Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers face the Detroit Tigers in today’s home opener looking even more formidable.

After defeating the Yankees 4-1 in last October’s heavyweight World Series showdown, the Dodgers wasted no time in bolstering their pitching resources during the offseason with the acquisition of several elite arms.

Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell was brought in on a one-year US$62 million contract, while the Dodgers also snagged the services of Roki Sasaki, the Japanese prodigy who will team up with compatriots Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.