Are this year's Dodgers better equipped to take down the Astros?

LOS ANGELES -- Kenley Jansen didn't even have to think about it.

"I think we're better, to be honest with you," the Los Angeles Dodgers closer said when asked to compare the team's current roster with the one from last year, when it fell a win short of a World Series championship.

Then Jansen rattled off some names. He began with Manny Machado and Brian Dozier, the two middle infielders acquired before the non-waiver trade deadline. He brought up Matt Kemp, an unlikely All-Star amid an improbable return to the Dodgers. He lamented the departure of Brandon Morrow, who emerged as his setup man last season, but complimented a few other relievers who have since been added.

"Yeah," Jansen said, "we're better."

Farhan Zaidi, the general manager, was non-committal.

"It's a little harder to comment on the specific difference in the team and more on the specific situation," Zaidi said. "By this time last year, we had a really comfortable lead in the division and we were thinking more about what the playoff roster might look like. And this year, obviously, we don't have that kind of luxury. Really, thinking more short term about kind of getting to the playoffs, and how we're going to need to come out on top of the division the next couple months, has been more of a priority for us."

The Dodgers toppled the Milwaukee Brewers 21-5 on Thursday night, setting a Dodger Stadium record for runs scored in a game.

Through 110 games, they have accumulated 61 wins and have outscored their opponents by a combined 109 runs. But the Arizona Diamondbacks are only a game behind them in the National League West, and the third-place Colorado Rockies sit two games back. By this time last year, the Dodgers already had 78 wins, a 14&189;-game lead and a plus-193 run-differential. They were uncommonly comfortable.

But all that matters is what happens from here on out. All that matters is whether this team, the loser in Game 7 of last year's Fall Classic, is good enough to capture one more victory. And they'll have a legitimate gauge over the weekend, when the defending champion Houston Astros return for a three-game series.

"It'll be good for us," Jansen said, "just to see where we're at again."

The Astros and Dodgers both won more than 100 regular-season games last year, then went back and forth in a thrilling seven-game series that ended with Houston's title-clinching 5-1 victory at Chavez Ravine on the first night of November.

Jansen remembered it as "a terrible feeling" but said the offseason provided a welcomed respite. The players went separate ways and spent time with their families, then were reunited for a handful of winter weddings, and by the time spring training began in February, their wounds had healed, even though the memories lingered.

"You have to reflect on it and move on," Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger said, "and I think that's what we all did."

"I mean, it hurt for a while," starting pitcher Alex Wood added. "No matter which way you cut it, it was a lot to take in when we got done. But at the end of the day, I knew I left everything I had out there and gave everything I've got. And I felt like it was the two best teams in baseball. We went to Game 7, and it could've been anybody's Game 7. It just turned out well for them and not for us. I was devastated by it, and it sucked that we couldn't finish. But I felt proud of what we did."

Focus tends to waver in situations like these. Sometimes even the best mindset can't overcome the difficulty of getting that far, coming up that short, then dialing it back in again and staying diligent through such a long, arduous process.

"Everything seems a little bit less during the season," said Wood, who will start opposite Justin Verlander in Friday's series opener. "That's why it was probably good for us, a good kick in the pants, to go through that slow start that we had, because it was like, 'We gotta go.' I felt like it was a blessing in disguise."

The Dodgers sat 10 games below .500 and 8 games out of first place by May 16. They were humbled, and suddenly they felt urgency. Since then, they have been one of baseball's best teams, with the lowest ERA (3.15), the second-best winning percentage (.662) and the third-highest OPS (.793).

Second baseman Logan Forsythe underperformed and shortstop Corey Seager underwent Tommy John surgery, but they were adequately replaced by Dozier and Machado. Bellinger and Justin Turner haven't been as impactful, but Kemp and Max Muncy have come out of nowhere to make up for it. Pedro Baez has fallen off, but Ross Stripling has picked it up.

Last year's Dodgers had a solidified co-ace in Yu Darvish and a lights-out eighth-inning reliever in Morrow, glaring vacancies on the current roster. But this year's Dodgers could soon have enough rotation depth to make up for it.

They have so much depth -- among their starters and, primarily, their position players -- that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is having a hard time keeping everybody involved.

"High-class problems," Roberts said, smiling. "It's a good thing."

The Astros look every bit as worthy of a World Series return. At 69-41, they sport the third-best record in baseball. Their rotation is unrivaled. Their bullpen -- bolstered by the controversial addition of Roberto Osuna -- looks strong. Their lineup is on par with the game's best, even though Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa reside on the disabled list.

But the Astros will have to survive a powerful American League, while the Dodgers still have to hold off the rest of their divisional counterparts.

"We know who's coming," Bellinger said, "but whatever happened is in the past. I think we're going to treat it like another series. We have a close race in our division, so we have to do whatever we can to win a game no matter who we're playing."

Jansen swears he's "over it," and he thinks he speaks for the rest of his team. This series won't exorcise any demons from last fall because, as Jansen attests, there aren't any.

Besides, he likes the new group better.

"We can do it, man," Jansen said. "We definitely can do it, and we're looking forward to it."