With the passing in the last week or so of Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, and now Joe Morgan, I got to thinking about players who always seem to be at their best against the Dodgers.
It has always seemed to me like some players just have another team’s number. Take for example, Willie McCovey. His BA against the Dodgers in 297 games was .241. He hit 45 HR’s and had 162 RBI’s. He struck out 212 times. But against a Dodger great, Don Drysdale, he hit .336 with 12 homers over their careers. McCovey was not exactly a Dodger killer, but he inflicted a lot of wounds and owned Drysdale.
Stan Musial comes to mind. Over 432 games ” The Man ” hit .341 with a .596 slugging pct, and 74 HR’s and 241 RBI’s He drew 249 walks and struck out only 90 times. Yep, “The Man” owned the Dodgers. He treated Ebbets Field like a second home hitting a whopping .359 there with a .660 Slugging pct, and an OPS of 1.108. The highest of any park he played in including Sportsman’s Park, his home field. He also OPS’d over 1.000 at the Polo Grounds.
Musial once hit 5 homers in a double header at Ebbets Field. Too bad that after the 40’s ended, Stan never got another shot at playing in the World Series.
Although they did have some success against him, Willie Mays was another player who did very well against the Dodgers. 98 HR’s, 251 RBI’s, and a .309 BA with a .595 slugging average. And Mays could kill them with his glove and his legs. He was 33 of 51 stealing. But it was when he was on the basepath’s stretching hits that he was most dangerous.
Sometimes one of your own comes back to bite you. Roberto Clemente played 291 games against the Dodgers. He was not the power threat that Mays, Musial or McCovey were, but he did damage nonetheless. He had 395 career hits against the Dodgers. More than against any other team. Although only 80 were for extra bases, he managed to drive in 129 runs. For most of his career the Pirates were a lousy team. They had some good players, and won in 1960, but fell off of the grid until the 70;s with the team that beat Baltimore in 1970. He was killed on a mercy flight on New Year’s Eve 1972.
Hank Aaron had very good career stats against the Dodgers. A .302 BA, 95 HR’s and 247 RBI’s. Although not considered a big stolen base threat, Hank was 21 of 24 against the Dodgers. And he was a great defender.
One some forget is Orlando Cepeda. He also was very good against the Dodgers. A .280 BA, 40 HR’s and 164 RBI’s. Cepeda was traded because the Giants had McCovey. Will Clark hit .311 against the Dodgers. His power numbers are not all that high, but he was traded to the AL.
Jack Clark may not have been the most prolific, but he had some moments that are locked in the fans memory’s. Tony Gwynn, although not a slugger, hit .330 against the Dodgers. 67 of his 271 hits were for extra bases. He caused a lot of anxiety for Dodger pitchers.
Albert Pujols, although his skills have declined since he became an Angel, still has managed to keep his average just below .300 at .297. 49 of his 119 hits against LA have been for extra bases.
One of our foes in the NLCS, Freddie Freeman has not fared well against Dodger pitching in the past. He has a .266 BA, but only 6 HR’s and 20 RBI’s in 55 games. Here is a shocker for you, Ronald Acuna Jr. has played only 10 games against LA. He is hitting a paltry .114 against Dodger pitching. He has 2 HR’s and 5 ribbies. 4 of those coming on the Grand Slam he hit off of Buehler in 2018. Ozuna, has a career .231 BA against the Dodgers. 7 homers and 17 RBI’s.
Joe Morgan had a career .256. BA and hit 29 homer’s and 106 RBI’s. He did most of his damage when he was a Red.
Although he had a losing record against them Warren Spahn had 36 complete games in 66 outings against the Dodgers and he only allowed 34 homers. Whitey Ford finished 3-4 against the Dodgers in post season play. Mainly because he lost 2 games in the 63 sweep.
Despised by most LA fans, Juan Marichal rang up a 37-18 career record against LA. He had a paltry 2.36 ERA and only allowed 37 HR’s, He struck out 305 and walked 104. I find it odd that Bob Gibson had a losing record against the Dodgers at 17-23. His ERA was 3.58. I think a lot of that can be attributed to how bad some of those Cardinal teams were.
But for pure dominance in a single season, few can compare to what Larry Jaster did in 1966. Even though they went on to the World Series, Jaster who posted a 11-5 regular season record was 5-0 against the Dodgers. And ALL 5 games were complete game shutouts. Jaster was barely over .500 in his career, but 9 of his 35 wins came at the Dodgers expense.
Joe Morgan was a class act, and one of the best clutch players I ever saw. Mays was the best player I ever saw. But Mantle was close. Some asked me about Bonds. Barry was a .263 hitter against the Dodgers. He walked an awful lot, and hit 64 HR’s in 274 games. His dad, Bobby, hit .254 with 20 homers against LA. I remember one that really hurt. The Dodgers had led 9-0. And Bonds led a furious comeback that climaxed with a grand slam by Bonds to win the game. Bad memory.
I probably left out more than a few. I remember Eddie Mathews as always being a good hitter against the Dodgers, and Joe Adcock also. Big Klu, Bill Virdon. Mantle, Berra and Skowron always played well against the Dodgers in the series until 63. Koufax owned those guys even though the Mick hit a dinger in game 4. Maris did no damage at all, and Skowron was a Dodger.
Thank you, Bear, for a very interesting article. I also remember Paul Goldschmidt, when he played for the Diamondbacks, as being someone who was hard to get out and hit very well against the Dodgers. Also, a nice guy it seems.
Goldy has a .291 BA and 32 HR against the Dodgers in 137 games, He also drove in 99 runs. His Kryptonite though is the strikeout. In 523 at bats he has struck out 153 times against Dodger pitching. But his BA at Dodger Stadium is .317, with 17 of his homers coming there. Goldy is a model citizen it seems, and becoming very popular in St Louis now.
Braves earned the win last night, now it’s Kershaw tonight, this is his chance to put the past behind him and get the win the Dodgers need. Play ball.
Per Ken Gurnick
Clayton Kershaw scratched with back spasms. Tony Gonsoliin starts tonight
No problem. Wood can start Game 5. We got this guys……………………………………………or not.
Maybe this will inspire the team. Stranger things have happened. Also, no indication yet if CK could be back soon or if he’s done for the year.
We ain’t done yet.
Right about now we could really use David Price.
Can we add someone from the Taxi Squad, like White or Gray?
If we add someone, Kershaw would be ineligible to pitch again in this series or the WS if we get that far. I think they’ll first have to determine how long he might be unavailable. If he can’t come back soon, then yes, they could bring in someone like White or Gray.
Good write up today Bear. Quite a list of all-star players, huh?
It will be interesting to get more on CK’s back. As STB reports going in the IL means it’s over for him for the year.
If you pitch by committee and match ups, this has the potential of happening. Buehler, Graterol, May and Gonzales did great. Hey, bottom line is you don’t win many with 1 run on 4 hits. Braves pitching was dominant.
Do better today.
I was going to write about last night’s game, in terms of what it meant for the series, which I think was more than just the one loss. In brief,, it got down to the two bullpens in a tie game, and theirs did better. I think that their bullpen is better, though others disagree. I have seen us lose crucial series in past years to the Cardinals simply because their bullpen arms were more effective against our hitters than ours were against theirs. I would say that the final game against Washington last year also came down to that, Roberts using Kershaw because he did not have enough bullpen arms that he trusted. I think that the Braves and Rays have better bullpens than we do. We may have a better offense, but not if it doesn’t show up in latter stages of the playoffs.
Now Kershaw is out for today. Can he pitch tomorrow? If he is out for the series, we will lose it. Even if he can pitch tomorrow, it means he cannot start game 7. We used two starters in relief last night, not for long stints, but it doesn’t help. We’re going to have to go, Gonsolin, maybe Kershaw, if not, then Urias, May, Wood, Buehler, Gonsolin, if we somehow get that far? It is bad luck that Kershaw is hurting, but of course he has had back problems for the last few years.
I will not repeat at length what I have said, that the Dodgers ownership and management does not try to build a virtually impregnable team, even for a year or two, but is always obsessed with the salary cap, to the extent that we did not do anything at the trade deadline for two straight seasons, and did not add a closer. Last year, Roberts did not want to use Jansen in crucial situations in the playoffs, and that is the case again this year. So why did we not go all-out after the best closer we could get, even if we had to give up one or two of our precious minor league talents? One thing about Alex Anthropolous, he takes risks, and sometimes they do not work out, but he went after bullpen arms in Atlanta. I do not blame Friedman nearly as much as Kasten and Wallter, whoever keeps setting these limits on whom we can go after, so that when we get to the later stages of the playoffs, we do not want to be in games where the bullpen decides it, because we almost always lose those. Does anyone remember more than say, one key playoff game in the last ten years where our bullpen was great, and won it?
Maybe I am premature here, and I do hope so, but even before we learned about Kerahaw, it seemed from last night’s game that we are in the same spot as last year, with a lineup which is superb during the regular season, but does not do well against top pitching; with an insufficient relief corps with no real star, and now in this particular year with a short-handed starting staff where we are relying on two rookies and another young pitcher who has done his best work in relief. Yes, Price opted out, and yes, Kershaw’s back and Buehler’s blister. There is always some reason why we do not win a title, just bad luck, from year to year? And I will add that if you ever listen to Roberts after a playoff loss, you would not be impressed, as he rather stubbornly tries to explain how he made all the right choices, he thinks we played well, except for this or that, things are just fine–until the season is over, and he will tell us how proud he is of the team, and that we just didn’t quite go all the way, again. I will say this: if we rally and pull out this series against the Braves, it will be very impressive, and I will say just that. But I think that both Atlanta and Tampa Bay have better bullpens than we do, and at this point, better staffs overall, and the World Series will likely feature those two upcoming franchises.
One more add: it is pretty bothersome to see that with the best record in baseball, we are playing in front of fans who mostly favor the Braves, because Georgia is a lot closer to Texas. If the same game as last night was played in Dodger Stadium, we may well have won it. We have a potential of seven games where the crowd, such as it is, is going to be for the other team, and that is ridiculous, the NL playoffs should have been played in California. But that is an obstacle that a great team must overcome. And a great manager, which we do not have, whether or not one is more positive about Roberts in general.
I had hopes when I read William write this:
I will not repeat at length what I have said, that the Dodgers ownership and management does not try to build a virtually impregnable team, even for a year or two, but is always obsessed with the salary cap, to the extent that we did not do anything at the trade deadline for two straight seasons, and did not add a closer…
Those hopes were quickly dashed.
Your right. Roberts should tell the media, when we lose, who didn’t execute. Call them out. Yeah that would work just fine.
1) Mookie Betts, RF
2) Corey Seager, SS
3) Justin Turner, 3B
4) Max Muncy, 1B
5) Will Smith, C
6) Cody Bellinger, CF
7) AJ Pollock, LF
8) Joc Pederson, DH
9) Chris Taylor, 2B
Sorry William but you can’t sign all stars at every position. You can’t fault ownership that spends at the top of the chart every year. And stop blaming Roberts. We have a group of talented players, a better collection of talent than any other team over the past several years that just doesn’t perform anywhere near their regular season level when the lights are turned up in October! Plain and simple
Cassidy, don’t you think that it would have been good for the Dodgers to have acquired a top closer, particularly when Roberts did not want to use Jansen in any important situation in the playoff series last season? Of course we cannot expect an all-star at every position, but we should expect to have a reliable closer, because that role is so important. You can’t go into the playoffs and just vamp.
I don’t blame Roberts for the loss, or for any loss. I think it is evident that he is not one of the top managers in terms of strategy. I have been impressed, not only this year but last, by Cash of Tampa Bay. Roberts is not very adaptable, and is intent on giving certain players additional chances. His playing of Hernandez last night paid off, but he has one hit in the playoffs, and he’ll probably keep playing him now because he likes him. And Muncy keeps batting fourth.
And we agree that this series is certainly not over. But if it turns out that once again some of our players who do great in the regular season do not shine in the playoff games, maybe because the opponent has been scouting them, and also has better pitching than the teams we regularly play, might that not indicate that there should be changes to our personnel? Is there a flaw in how the team has been put together? Something to consider, at least, unless the owners are happy enough with how things are.
We hit, we win. We don’t we won’t.
Last night was one of those games where the nothing in all or nothing showed up. It happens to this team. Treinen sucked. He had a few bad outings late in the year, ballooning his ERA from1.04 to 3.86 in 10 days in September. But his 6 outings before last night were ok. It happens. But you score 1 run on 4 hits you’re only gonna win if Koufax is pitching, and he isn’t putting a uniform back on any time soon.
Hit. Score. Win. That’s my strategy.
I don’t remember 2018 playoffs but it’s easy to remember last year at this time when Doc had to pitch around KJ because he had lost all confidence in him. So here we are one year later in exactly the same situation. The organization stuck with KJ in hopes that Driveline would help him find his cutter. There were flashes of his old self at times when his velo and command looked better but like dogs that chase cars, it didn’t last. I actually can’t think of a closer we should have signed but somebody else here will. So, the braintrust opted to not address signing a closer with any urgency and we are in the same situation as a year ago. It’s like Groundhog Day.
So, it was decided to close by committee. I still think that despite last night, that this can work. The back end just didn’t get it done. The Rays had 13 different pitchers get a save this short season, so it can be done. (yeah their staff is pretty good)
But as Badger and I said above, you can have Mariano Rivera closing but if you score 1 run on 4 hits, you’re not going to win.
Can anyone tell me why Gonsulin hasn’t pitched in 16 days?
One pitcher had a bad night and they lost. It is all on Trienen. Latest on Kershaw, he suffered back spasms, which is better than the back stiffness he had earlier in the year. Robert’s said he will definitely pitch in the series, most likely game 4. George Lombard interviewed for the Tigers managerial opening. William, according to the stats, the Braves pen is no where near as good as the Dodgers. Dodgers pen put up 26 wins, and a 2.74 ERA. Braves pen combined ERA was over 5. Out side of Anderson and Fried, their starters are very mediocre. The difference is they have 3 studs at the back end. Jansen is not the Jansen of old. With the talent of this pen, closer by committee makes better sense.
Michael, I think you highlighted the two different ways of looking at the bullpens. The Dodgers bullpen did better as a unit, but the Braves do seem to have the better late-inning relievers, which to me is the key aspect. Runs given up by middle relievers during the season might inflate the team ERA, but have a lot less to do with the game results in playoffs than who can shut you down in those last three innings.
That is why what I have seen of Tampa Bay makes me think that they have the best bullpen in baseball, irrespective of what the stats might show. They have not lost one game where they led going into the seventh inning. That is the kind of bullpen I want the Dodgers to have, or at least a semblance of it. The Yankees had something like that for most of last year, the Cardinals did in their championship years, and of course Bochy’s bullpens in SF were brilliantly handled, and despite the lack of big names, were very hard to score against late. That is what we have mostly lacked, I think. Ninth inning, tie game, which team would you favor to hold off the opposition long enough to score the winning run on your side, in the ninth, or extra innings? How many extra-inning games have we won in the playoffs in the last ten seasons?
You have to look at the over all picture. And yes, the Braves have that kind of back end of the pen. But even with that they blew 6 games. Now, the Dodgers had 10 blown saves, but 5 of those came from guys who are no longer on the roster. Ferguson, Alexander and Santana. Dodger BP was damn good all year. Yeah, they have had some issues. But even with his problems, Jansen has as many saves as Melancon, and his WHIP is lower. And I think Kenley would be more effective if not used on back to back days, and definitely not for more than 3 outs. Back end of the order if need be. What you want the Dodgers to have, and what they feel they can afford might be two entirely different things. Jansen has one more year on his contract. He is getting 18 million for next year. Now, they can just eat it and go after some other closer, or they will try to develop one from within. And they have a couple of candidates on the roster now. Graterol for one. And I think Gonzalez has that kind of killer mentality too. The closer market over the winter was mostly older guys. Trading for Hader might make sense, but he is going to cost a lot in prospects, and AF is not likely to over pay for any player. And they felt the biggest need last winter was getting Betts. And that took a lot of effort and work to accomplish. Look at it this way, if Boston had accepted the first deal as proposed, Graterol would be a Red Sox pitcher, not a Dodger. Losing Ferguson was a blow. Having Price opt out was another. If Price had stayed with the team this would not even be a topic. The pen is what it is. There is really no way to change the personnel who are there except by bringing one of the kids from the taxi squad, and the only one of those guys with any time in the bigs is Sborz. Any adjustments and additions are going to have to wait for the off season. Baez and Trienen are free agents. So is McGee. Last night, I think I would have went with Floro instead of Trienen because of his sinking fastball. He is more of a ground ball pitcher than Trienen is. One other thing, I saw a lot of complaining about McGee coming into the game to fact a RH hitter. McGee this year has held RH hitters to a paltry .135 BA. LH have hit over .300 against him, and he had struck out 28 RH hitters compared to 5 lefty’s. Roberts made the right move, and Jake made one bad pitch.
I will go out on a limb to make a bold prediction: the rest of the team will step up and come through for us, and we will beat the Braves without CK and KJ.
CK will pitch. Roberts said that about an hour ago. If Justin Turner starts to hit, the whole team will get better. Oh yeah, Mookie cannot have another 0-4 night. He needs to set the table and put pressure on the Atlanta pitchers.
Yes, just saw that they are hoping CK can pitch game 4.
No Kershaw for Game 3.
Cheers to Badger’s above post. Summed up by my feeble brain as:
You can’t win if you don’t score.
We had won nine straight going into game 1 of the NLCS. Was the expectation that the Dodgers would steamroll through the post season with a 13-0 record? We lost a tough one and now the sky is falling. This series will go seven games and the Dodgers will finish on top. If they don’t, I’m out $502 because that’s my plane fare to Dallas to watch game 2 of the World Series, (my brother scored some tickets).
I like Gonsolin for game 2. The Braves haven’t faced him ever. Hopefully his intrasquad workouts were enough because his two week lay off from the mound I find a little bit concerning.
See you in Dallas, we can grab a beer.
Think Blue
I read a prediction yesterday where an Athletic journalist predicted Fried would prevail in game one but the Dodgers would invariably win the series. I haven’t read a single person who predicted 13-0. I haven’t read a single post that said the “sky is falling”. What we have hashed over is some history leading to this point and why we are, where we are. There is some valid conversation going on. Our pitching is what it is. It’s been a management decision and a little bad luck losing Fergy. This is what we have and if we succeed it will be by committee in the bullpen.
Evan, who here said the “sky is falling”?
So, why hasn’t Gonzo pitched in 16 days? Throwing in a sim game at USC isn’t exactly pitching in the NLCS. I wish him well. I like the kid. But why the lay off?
Bottom line for the 3rd time…..you don’t win scoring 1 run on 4 hits.
I read that exact same thing. And so far, he’s right. Fried has a young Kershaw type curve ball.
Let’s hope that author continues to be right!
Sorry Phil. I didn’t see panic on this site. I think I had just finished reading a number of tweets from random fans when I wrote that. Probably should have been a bit more careful with my words.
Michael Norris (AKA Bear)
The comments are closed on yesterday’s thread. But I’d like to point out a couple things you said about me yesterday that are false.
You said I don’t produce stats to back up my arguments and that is absolutely false. I figured that since I’ve produced bullpen stats several times that I didn’t need to continue to produce those stats over and over again. And by the way I don’t remember the last time you produced stats.
You said that I said defense is not important while also telling me to get MY facts straight. Well you might want to get YOUR facts straight because those are not the words I used. And by the way you said this to me awhile back “if you don’t have good defense nothing else matters”. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say in my entire life.
You might want to check your attitude at the door. You remind everyone it seems like everyday that you have watched baseball for over 65 years and so that means you are somehow better than everyone else. Yea you might also want to check your ego at the door too.
It’s guys like you that hang around this website that makes me think twice about posting here.
Actually you are the only one hanging around here that makes me think twice about posting here.
Not going to argue with you Eric, you have your opinions and that is fine. I have never not once said I am better than anyone, I have just watched a lot of baseball. If I make you uncomfortable, I am sorry. But I am what I am and I do not apologize for just being me. You do not have to worry about me saying anything when you comment anymore. I will simply act like you are not there.
I seem to recall JR Richard being a Dodger killer back in the day.
~
I haven’t gone gaga over Jake McGee. I think he’s done a nice job this year. Certainly better than I expected when they signed him. A lefty chucking in straight fastball after straight fastball seems like a potential disaster against good teams. Maybe the Dodgers increased his spin rate. I don’t know for sure though. Losing Ferguson was a big loss than people realize.
J R was very good against LA> He was 15-4 with a 1.74 ERA. Last game I saw JR pitch was the last game of the season in 77. Dusty Baker hit his 30th homer that day to give the Dodgers 4 30 homer hitters. Dodgers won the game. Also in that game Manny Mota, and Glen Burke hit thier only homers of the season.
Wait…. $30 for pancakes?
Ouch! That’s all we need, there isn’t enough hate outdoors already. GO DODGERS
So Muncy steps in with runners on the corners 2 outs and my first thought was “I wish it was Smith”.
Then with the bases loaded…… doink.
Do you still wish it was Smith?
I wish it was Gary Sheffield or Manny.
Until he snaps out of it I just don’t trust Muncy.
Looks like the Braves are going for matchups. Walked Muncy twice to get to Smith. Result—5 LOB. Bas were ball is often a games where you have only a few opportunities during a game to score. Hopefully, we will have a few more. Gotta keep plug-in’ away!
I just have to say it is so frustrating watching this offense. How in the world did seager ever hit 300? He has no clue where the strike zone is and is such a rally killer in the playoffs. Smith has got to be taken out of the 5 spot. He has had one game. Then, why is Betts not running with a catcher that can’t throw and our punchless lineup. We just absolutely have a pathetic offense in the playoffs. AGAIN! Just as I am writing this freeman homers so it’s over.
Smith hit a missle the first time up. He’s not the problem. Unfortunately playoff Seager is though. He needs to wake the F up! Can’t walk the batter before Freeman.
That wasn’t a bad pitch. Just better hitting.
You gotta get with them to play with them.
That’s “hit” with them. Yeesh.
99% of games that you don’t score any runs you will lose.
Good stat.
I guess that 100th game is a forfeit?
The age old baseball question—is it good pitching or lousy hitting? I suppose it depends on who you are rooting for. Tough to take in either case. They need a shaman or someone to break the spell they’re in. I’m 76– I’ve seen this all too often.
We have both seen this way too often. I think the worst I saw was the 66 series. Baltimore just shut them down totally.
Another life lesson—You aren’t as good as you think you are.
Next life lesson—gotta keep trying.
When will the Baez experiment be over?
Honestly, is anyone really surprised?
I’ll be surprised only if it keeps going like this for 4 games.
true. Let’s see after this series is over, however it turns out
Just want to remind all that twice in the Dodgers history they have been down 2-0 and come back to win. The 1955 and 81 World Series. They lost the first two, won the middle 3 in 55 and in 81 they lost the first two and then went 4-0 the rest of the way. And this game still has 4 innings left to go. So far the offense has let them down. Hopefully that turns around. Even though he was tagged for 5 runs, considering the fact that Gonsolin had not pitched in 17 days, he did a pretty good job. Baez did not.Actually they did it 3 times, they also did it in 1965 losing the first two games to the Twins then winning 3 in a row before Koufax pitched his game 7 gem.
When will Roberts learn about Playoff Baez, never, that is why he needs to go, to stubborn to change, believes he is the smartest guy in the room.
Yes we are not hitting and maybe that needs to be looked at as well, we pounded a lot of poor pitching this season but do not recall us hitting many great pitchers? Woodward shut us down in the Brewers series.
Greatest Dodgers Killer. Easy answer, Dave Roberts.
They are well on their way to losing this game and being down 2-0. They seem lifeless and uninspired. Are there any clutch players that the Dodgers have besides Mookie who seems to have also caught this bug of complacency. All of our concerns are rising mightily. I only see a team that is choking no matter how you analyze this. While I can’t predict the final outcome of the series, I do see a classic choke in the making. We’ve talked about all this every year. If the players are not executing, what do you do? I would answer this simply, you try everything that all the pundits talk about, but if the problems persist, you change the personnel. Clearly this blue print that the Dodgers have been running has gotten them within contention year in and year out, but the players themselves continually choke when the pressure is turned up. If we lose this series, there will be major questions to be asked if we can continue to see the current blue print as the right won to win a WS.
Is it the pitching or bats? I would say it’s the bats that are underwhelming. We have one of the best offenses who hit the most HRs in the majors yet they can’t score many runs when they need to. They don’t seem to be hitters. The only guy who consistently hits is JT but if he has no support, what good is it? What good is Muncy if he can consistently get walks but can’t drive in any runs with his bat? Same question for Cody. But the difference between Cody and Muncy is huge. Cody is a great defensive player with the potential to hit many HRs which fits the Dodger blue print. Muncy does not fit this.
The Dodgers need hitters, pure and simple. Hitters are those batters who get on base and move base runners around with their bats. Seager has fit this description but hasn’t been able to do it when the pressure is on. He’s also not a great defensive player. These are some big factors that are in play with our team and we are often faced with this reality when it counts. Our pitching is falling apart every year when the pressure is turned up, too.
Everyone is shouting where is Gonsolin. He didn’t pitch in 16 days? So you start him in the NL championship series and leave someone like Urias to pitch relief who has earned a starting job? Gonsolin gave up 5 earned runs. Baez, who is up and down every year, gives up another. Really makes you think if the Dodgers really know what they are doing. It seems more like a guessing game to me or pin the tail on the donkey.
Urias is starting game 3.
Pitching to Freeman was insanity. Ray Charles could have seen it.
When you bring in Wood to pitch, you are basically conceding this game.
The game was over as soon as freemen homered. I told you all that over an hour ago.
You know Muncy may not be hitting but he keeps the line moving. It seems like when we threaten seager comes up and unlike Muncy he kills rallies. The Atlanta starter walked 5 guys but no you can’t walk seager. He is bound damn determined to swing at the first pitch and then k or hit into dp.
But bellinger totally loses himself. Let’s face it the only clutch offensive player is turner and he is fading. I’m sorry I am just so sick of getting excited to watch a game only to c them just totally choke. The Braves are laughing at them while they embarrass them. The least they could do is show a little fight. I’m sorry I am totally frustrated and will not post again today.
Toast!!!!!!!
The Braves have Freeman. We have Seager and Bellinger. Enough said! The Dodgers have a collection of unclutch players! Plain and simple! Got to concede it’s not gonna happen with this group!
Is it gonna be ‘deja vu all over again or did Seager just wake the rest of the team up?
I miss David Freese.
Joe Kelly must have been worn out after 4 pitches. Bring in Kolarek to face a string of righties including a lefty killer. What could happen?
This is the same old
Dodgers, pound average to below average teams and struggle against good ones. The last 7 years have shown that minus 2017.
Tired of un clutch players and BP reclamation projects. Kenley carried the pen until game 2 of 2017, since then it has been average at best. Please do not refer to the season, Dodgers only played 13 games against teams above .500 and went 8 and 5.
Friedman go out and get a clutch bat or two , two middle relievers, a closer and new coaching staff and let’s get back at it. Not too much to ask for.
How big was that solo HR to Albies in the 9th. Should Doc had used someone else?
Yes. Kolarek sucks against the right side of the plate and that is what he faced. I don’t know why Doc did that.
Hopefully this woke the offense up, and we carry this into tomorrow.
Would’ve been nice to have had a bullpen today. Doc gave up too soon.
Dammit.
Now we can blame it on pitching.
Means little, no momentum in a loss, 9th inning would have played out differently if we were closer, pounding Tomlin and Minter means very little
Unless we win tomorrow. Win or go home game, and we have seen how we perform under pressure to this point.
And by the way where are any dodger fans, blame myself for not getting there and giving them some support. Not looking forward to Robert’s post game talk on how he liked the compete at the end, how about try some other speech.
Nothing un-clutch about the 9th inning. If Bellinger adds a little more launch angle that ball is gone and game is tied. And Pollock’s ground out was hit hard, and just didn’t find a hole. I don’t know if the Dodgers’ bats coming to life in the late innings tonight is a harbinger of things to come, but with Urias, Kershaw, and May in the next three games, and Gonsolin in the mix after that, I am still hopeful that the Dodgers can come back, especially since the Dodgers have done that on several occasions in 7 game series in their history.
Great rally, not quite enough. Who knows what would have happened had our bullpen done better, but it sure would have helped. Baez and Kolarek this time, Treinen last night. Would have turned around the whole series had we pulled it out. Very tough to beat the Braves 4 out of the last 5, but everyone knows that. Bottom line, of course, is that great teams win. Coming close is not enough in a playoff game or series Give up eight runs, and you are not likely to win that game. The bullpen has been insufficient, as in past playoffs, and the hitters woke up too late. It is hard to be very positive about our bullpen being able to close out four wins for us. It is very disappointing for all us fans.
More Baez than Kolarek. Baez did not keep the game close. Wood gave up run #7. The 8th run, though the winner was not the problem. Your starter gives up 5 and puts you in that big of a hole, Most of the damage was off of the starter, not the bullpen. And the offense did not wake up until too late. But it means that they finally are starting to hit again. Remember, they and the Braves had been off since Thursday. Batting practice does not mean you are facing real situations. I think the bats are getting thier range. And remember this, they have not lost 3 in a row all year.
I had the sound off by that point. but yes, Wood also did not look impressive. Actually, if Bellinger did not make that fine catch in deep center, Atlanta would have scored at least two more runs off Baez. We see that our bullpen choices are not very good. Our bullpen looked great early in the year, the best I had seen from us in years, but most of them have tailed off since then.
Why the knock onWood. He did his best to hurt Freeman with a hit by pitch and take him out of the series.
Omg, Roberts postgame talk stating the 5th inning was not high leverage but saying he went with a high leverage pitcher??? And then said he liked the way Gonsolin was pitching in 5th but then a double to Pache and and a walk to Acuna and then a strikeout of Riley. My point is Robert’s has no clue, sound like a guy playing darts blindfolded. Who hell is running this team and then Kolarek in the 9th was a head scratcher and a manager conceding as he faced all righties and a lefty who mashes lefties.
And how about the eye test something Robert’s never seems to have always going with the book or some preconceived notion on what pitchers are capable of. Last night Graterol
And Gonzalez pitching 6 and 4 pitches respectively and not being allowed to go further. And tonight Kelly 4 pitches instead bringing Kolarek in. Robert’s says he will not be chasing wins in a 7 game series on 7 consecutive days. Well slow Dave better start chasing you are about to play a must win game!!
It’s funny about Roberts, he obviously is a bright man as managers go, has that UCLA degree, speaks well. But somehow he seems to lack the sense that great managers have, of what to do in a particular spot. Roberts doesn’t seem to grasp the importance of a given situation, he just goes with what he had planned beforehand. I never see particular rhyme or reason to the choices of what reliever to put in. He is best when he has a pushbutton team, and even then, he took Hill out too early twice in the World Series.
And then the constantly upbeat postgame comments. Optimism can be good, and you don’t want to be down on your players, but after every single game, he says that the pitcher who gave up many runs actually pitched pretty well; that he liked the team’s approach at the plate. Maybe he thinks he is more intelligent in a baseball sense than he is, there is this sense of smugness sometimes. If we lose the series, he will tell us how proud he was of the team, and we’ll be ready to win the title next year. He may be the perfect manager for this ownership, but he is not the manager you want to win championships, and that should be obvious. Either we lack the kind of clutch players we need, or Roberts does not put them in the best position to succeed. Something is wrong, when you win 106 games and lose in the first round of the playoffs, and then go 43-17 in the regular season, and are now on the verge of being eliminated again.
My take is that the new age GM’s build teams based on analytics over a 162 game season but not for the playoffs. Billy Beane always says the playoffs are a crap shoot and looking at the A’s he has rolled craps every year—they get there but fold like a cheap suit every year. I think a lot of it is the manager. In a short series analytics don’t mean as much as instinct and gut feel. Neither Bob Melvin or DR seem to have that trait. Dusty Baker too.
I really hate to say it but if they don’t at least get to the WS this year they need to make a change of managers. They have a solid team and certainly don’t want to tear it apart and it’s a lot cheaper too. That’s how things work in business. You don’t fire everyone when you’re not getting the results you want.
Rough but that’s life in the fast lane.
I don’t buy the best position to succeed line. We pitch and hit better than any team in baseball from April to September and then in October most every player crashes and burns. That’s not on Roberts!
Remember the definition of insanity—doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result. I certainly agree that our guys don’t perform well in the postseason but how do you fix that? Again, you can tweet at the margins or get a manager that leads them through the battles with good management. That’s what a manager is hired to do. Talent is very important but it takes a great leader to win the war. We need to do something!
I don’t blame Gonsolin. He made some mistakes. He can’t walk the batter before Freeman but when you don’t throw the guy at all for 17 days then have to throw him only 3 days after his sim game he was put in a bad position. As usual when Baez came into a playoff game with runners on he didn’t do his job.
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Let’s hope the bats have woke up now but they haven’t hit good pitching. When given fat pitches by good pitchers they either fouled them off or popped out.
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I don’t get pulling Kelly and running Kolarek out there but this game is on the players and it’s time they step up. Hopefully they’ve seen enough pitches from Atlanta to turn things around.