For the first time in major league history, a team won 100 or more games in four consecutive full seasons. Yes, 2020 was wedged in there, but still, four full seasons of 100 wins! Pretty amazing when you think about it. The Boys of Summer team won 100 or more once. Alston’s Dodgers did it twice, 62 and 74. The only Dodger team other than this one to win at least two in a row was Leo Durocher’s 42 and 41 teams. And the 42-team finished second.
The Dodgers have won 100 or more in five of the last six full seasons. In 2017 they won 104, then only 92 in 2018. So, it is quite the big deal. Dave Roberts may be disliked by some and called a company mouthpiece. But the guy has his teams winning and doing so consistently. And the job he did this year? Wow. They have had obstacles before, but this season has to have been his most challenging. I mean it cannot be easy not knowing who is pitching one day to the next. Think about it. They lost all five of the starting pitchers who were supposed to be the backbone of the staff. And they started dropping early.
First Pepiot. Then in May, they lost Dustin May after he appeared in 9 games. He was 4-1 at the time. Syndergaard never pitched well. He did not rediscover his fastball and was eventually traded. Michael Grove was on the OKC charter. Tony Gonsolin eventually went down with arm trouble. Both he and May had to have surgery. That left them with few options. Rather than scour the waiver wire for starters released by other teams, they went the other route, they started using their top prospects.
Miller, Stone, Sheehan and when he got healthy, Pepiot again. Julio Urias, who rarely looked like the same pitcher he was the last two seasons, was inconsistent and then he got into trouble with the law and was placed on Admin leave. They traded for a starter, Lance Lynn, not the one everybody was hoping for, and a long reliever, Yarbrough.
The bullpen was awful to begin with. Then on June 21st, Ryan Brasier made his first appearance as a Dodger. Now, I am not saying he is the reason for the turn around, but since that date, the Dodgers pen has been the best in baseball. Old friend, Joe Kelly returned and guys like Graterol and Phillips kept up their great work. Shelby Miller has been good out of the pen also.
The offense was never the problem. But it can be streaky. There were games when they left the farm on the bases and could not get a hit with runners in scoring position. But they were the best two-out RBI team in the majors and their batting average with runners in scoring position is .279.
So, how will this 100-win team fare in the playoffs? I have read a lot on a bunch of different sources. There are some who think the Dodgers fall again in the NLDS. Others think the Braves will make short work of them if both make the NLCS. Personally, I think a lot of people are underestimating the bulldog in this team. Last year’s epic fail is one hell of a reason to not let that happen again. Can they make it work? Can they use the lessons of last year’s disaster to their advantage?
Outside of a few players, this team has playoff veterans. Yes, the pitching staff has a bunch of kids they need to lean on, but the leadership on the staff is battle tested. Kershaw, Lynn, Kelly, Graterol, Miller, Phillips, Vesia, Ferguson, they have all been there before. And the offense except for Outman, they have all been there before too.
I trust this time; the layoff is not going to be a problem. But I do believe MLB needs to make some adjustments down the line. Reseeding after the wild card would be one. No off days between games 1 & 2. The teams with the bye should be rewarded. Too many off days for the winner of the wild card. Making the wild card a five-game series would work.
I think this team is poised to have a much better playoff run than last year. Time will tell if I am right. Poised is one thing, doing it is another. As of right now they are one game from being bounced out of the NLDS by a wild card team from their own division for the second straight year. Wednesday will tell us something about the desire and fire in this team. One game at a time, are they as resilient as most of us believe, or are they just a poor man’s version of last season’s flameout?
The key is breaking out on top first.
We have been behind every AB in this series.
Take a lead and things could swing momentum.
I believe.
They have that chance on Wednesday against the rookie, Pfaadt. In two games against LA this year, he allowed 10 runs, 14 hits, 7 of them for extra bases. Two homers and five doubles. He has struck out 9 walked 4. The Dodgers are hitting .350 against him and slugging over .600.
I said it yesterday and I will repeat myself today. Off season priority, pitching, and lots of it. They have some very talented young arms, Miller, Sheehan, Pepiot, Stone. Grove does not seem like that kind of arm to me although he has had some moments.
The minors are loaded with RH pitching. But there is not a top-notch lefty down there. Should they make 2024 the transition year that this season was supposed to be? Will Dodger fans settle for watching a bunch of kids get on the job training and hope they win enough to get into the playoffs?
Myself, I am a little dubious the fan base would enjoy that very much. There will be a lot of change this winter. Question number one on everyone’s mind is will Kershaw return. If he does, there is your part-time lefty starter. I still think they need a second one. Locks for the rotation next year, I see only two. Buehler and Miller. May and Gonsolin, late in the season at the earliest, more like 2025.
I would like to see them sign either the lefty coming from Japan, or Jordan Montgomery. Maybe even one of the RH starters who will be on the market. The offense will look somewhat different because I believe either Heyward or Peralta does not come back. I think Martinez is gone also. They have to decide if they will exercise their option on Muncy. I think Deluca has an excellent chance of making the roster next season simply because he hits RH. Hernandez, Rosario, Wong, those guys are gone. With CT3 under contract through 25, he is not going anywhere. I would also like to see a backup catcher who can hit and throw runners out.
One of the main reasons they lost last night is that none of their superstar players are playing like superstars. Mookie Betts is 0-7 with a walk, a run scored, and none driven in. Since he hit .450 in the 21 NLDS against the Giants he is 6-44. That’s a .105 average folks. He hit his last postseason homer against the Giants. Freeman is 1-6 with 2 walks and a run scored. By far his worst series as a Dodger so far. Martinez had two hits last night and drove in a run with his homer. He is 2-6 with 2 walks and 2 K’s. Muncy, 1-7 2 K’s, Outman,0-5 3 K’s and a walk, Rojas 2-4. So why did Roberts pull him for Wong? Heyward and Peralta not much at all out of those two besides Peralta’s late inning double in game one. Smith, 2-8 with a triple, 2 RBI’s, and one strikeout. When your stars are not playing like stars, you won’t win many games unless the supporting cast does one hell of a job picking them up.
The worm has to turn right?
Kike hits an absolute missile to LF, caught…
Your right our stars have to be stars. We need SOMETHING from Mookie and Freddie.
One win at a time….
And Kike picked up an RBI on a bloop single.
Bloop single? Not sure what you are referring to. Marte made a hell of a play or else that’s a 2 run RBI single up the middle.
Another first inning implosion by the starter derailed the Dodgers again. Plus the inability to come up with the big hit when they had chances to score. This certainly does not look good.
Yet another playoff disaster in the making.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
No question, 100 wins is an amazing fete, especially considering all the injuries to the pitching staff. Won’t be surprised if the Dodgers win 100 next year.
The loss of Dustin May was really huge. He has ace stuff. No reason to bring up Julio. Certainly wasn’t pitching like an ace and then boom, he implodes with another domestic violence incident.
Yes, the offense tends to be hot or lukewarm, sometimes even cool.
Since you brought this up, Bear, I agree MLB needs to change the playoff format. During the season, third, fourth and fifth starters really matter. The spacing of playoff games really changes all this. I don’t care why they think they have to use the current format, television no doubt and money, always about money, but the games should reflect the actual season. That means you play back to back games, then travel, play back to back and then back for the final game of the series. Honestly, the Dodgers should be playing in Arizona tonight.
As to the Dodgers young pitchers, we should add words like anxious or anxiety to the mix. Even outfielder James Outman said that was causing him problems. Now I’m guessing the playoffs create a sense of anxiety in even veterans, but they may cope better or adjust quicker. The DBacks ability to score early certainly helps them relax.
As to the 0-2 start, the Dodgers can still win. It’s a three game winning streak. Pretty routine stuff. How they react will tell the tale.
Frankly, if everything was fair as it should be, we should be playing the Phillies. To be 100% Fair they should reshuffle after the wild card is played.
In any other profession if you managed a team that made the playoffs 8 times won 1 lost 7 and had an inability to foster a thriving environment for rookies imo you would be fired. Thats Dave Roberts and morons continue to beat the drum for him. The data suggests we will not win with roberts.
This is baseball not accounting sparky. Our star players aren’t performing. It currently has nothing to do with Roberts. I would call your post a misuse of the m word.
I think the good news is that we will finally be able to say goodbye to Kershaw, enough of the same thing every year, he could be one of the greats in history, only in the regular season, but in the playoffs he has been useless, it’s a shame that the time is being wasted best decade in Dodger history. And when you leave through the front door, don’t forget to take Barnes with you, another useless one.
I know that maybe it is not Roberts’ fault, but he has not served or helped much either, perhaps a change of manager is what is required to change the team’s mentality, they are the best in the first 162 games, bravo to them, but apparently they forgot or no one has told them that what really counts is from game 163….
What a waste of talent and roster!
Kersh was a big part of the 2020 WS team. But that practically was his only really good postseason.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You would be wrong. He was 3-0 in the 2017 post season. He had one bad game, the game where Houston knew everything he was throwing. Like I said in an earlier post, after going 1-4 his first three post season series, he is 12-9 since.
In my opinion the pitching debacle has been a sheer after effect of the Julio Urias incident and the failure to acquire a proven post season pitcher at the trade deadline. We were forced into starting an injured and fading Kershaw in game 1 which he couldn’t even get out of the first inning. Then we hand the ball to an up and coming rookie with no playoff experience and the pressure of the postseason seemed to have affected his first inning as well.
As far as the hitting goes who knows why they have not produced. This topic was brough up about a month ago and I speculated that it was “They are too HR reliant in the post season, in my opinion”. Well I was told I was “Totally wrong, it’s good pitching beats good hitting”. Take a guess who that was from Eric?
Well we have hit a total of 1 HR so far in two games. I guess we were both right.
I agree with the posts today about acquiring some more pitching depth in the off season but please no more reclamation projects.
Anything can happen so we’re not dead yet but it’s going to be real tough to win 3 in a row against a pesky Arizona club who sure seem to want it more than we do after 2 games.
While your last line is probably not true, it sure does seem that way doesn’t it? Kinda the same way I felt last year against the Padres. I know there is little confidence here for Lance Lynn, but he has that attitude that we desperately need right now. Nice guys usually do finish last!
I didn’t say that to you Zeke. Someone else.
I might have said to you that I’ll take a HR reliant guy instead of a .236 BA .612 OPS Rojas.
No I wasn’t calling you out Eric, sorry about the confusion or misinterpretation. I was making a reference to the one who you argue with “Old Bear”. Him and I had a slight disagreement is all but it’s all good.
Let me clarify my post. Yes I said to you I believe good pitching beats good hitting but I think I might have said to you what I wrote about Rojas therefore it might have come across as me saying there’s nothing wrong with relying on HR’s.
I don’t like relying on home runs, but if you trot out a low batting average and low OPS guy, I’ll take a home run reliant guy over the other guy.
Oh after writing this I saw your new post. Ok, sorry about the confusion. It’s all good.
Maybe the Diamondbacks are good and at this point in time stronger than us?
Not sure what they gotta do to get a bit of respect…
Maybe they’re just out Pitching, Hitting, Fielding and Managing us?
Just a thought
Let’s trade teams with the Angels. Then we won’t be disappointed in October
I hate when I’m right, especially if it means bad things for our boys….but the writing was and is on the wall. I don’t think you can count in rookies or first time playoff participants to be relaxed enough and control their emotions properly like you would expect a veteran to be able to do.
Thus, I felt both Miller and Outman would stink it up last night and both made me look like a prophet of God. Like I said, I didn’t want to be right….but being down 3-0 after being down 5-0 the previous game….just too much weight on your shoulders to overcome. Arizona has better SPs than we do, just as Philly has better SPs than the Braves, and should win that series as well.
But the loss isn’t all on Outman and Miller…..the hitters need to do better than 2 runs a game. Nevertheless, I don’t think this is a mountain we can climb. We might win one, but probably not three in a row. Oh well, we should all be used to this result by now. It’s who we are. I apologize to some of you who wish I was more of a rahrah Pollyanna fan …..but I am who I am….just as you are who you are. I don’t criticize you for who you are….I would expect the same respect.
Later…
Later.
Ill stay positive and believe we can win 3 straight, starts tomorrow!
agree more pitching needed! but a couple of very good hitters is something they need desperately! i still believe less platooning would help so much! peralta had a hot streak for a while but has been stuck on 7 homers forever. kiki came back with a vengeance, but cooled off . sometimes quantity does not match quality. everyone talks about all the 2 out runs they score, but look at all the runners stranded by strikeouts. i really like Outman, but that strikeout rate worries me. the diamondbacks look hungry and aggressive. we look like we are sleepwalking. i believe WE can still win this series, but i would not put money on it. can’t put this on Doc, but Kolten Wong? just hope the Twins take out the cheaters, then i’ll watch all the games. maybe the dodgers should have more line drive types and less muncy type swingers, seems to be working rather well for the d-backs
I get so tired of hearing about great regular seasons. Yippy yea 100 wins. To bad they don’t give out rings or have parades for good seasons. The season has one purpose making the playoffs. The playoffs is what it’s all about and in recent years even though supposed to be the better team season record wise we’re for whatever reason getting out played is what I think about. Mookie has really let me down last three years and Freddie isn’t far behind. For the life of me can’t understand why these mvp superstar type players come up so lame when it matters most
Sounds like there’s no reason for you to even watch the game until October. For me October is icing on the cake, not the reason I watch the game. Anyone who says the only thing that matters is the ring, is truly a fair weather fan. This is entertainment, not investing.
Dad, I too see a renewed emphasis on contact and speed in the future of the game. The D-Backs have embraced this early with their player acquisition, to take advantage of the rule changes. They put the ball in play, put the game in motion, sac bunt, take the extra base and play excellent defense, especially up the middle. They don’t rely on the home run, which as we see can disappear in the post season against front line pitching. It’s a copy cat league and rosters can’t change personnel in an instant. But I see the game changing for many organizations and I like the trend.
It’s tough to get going offensively when you’re down 6 – zip and 3 – zip out of the shoot in both games, but for whatever reason, our offense continues to suck in the postseason the last 2 playoffs.
While Frookie Freebetts complains about their swings being out of whack lately, we are getting our ass handed to us. 1 for 13 by your stars won’t cut it. Outman’s 3 K’s and especially the one with the bases juiced, were killers. He looks uncomfortable in center as well.
It’s like we have never been in either game with our brutal starting pitching.
And I thought Doc did a masterful job navigating 7+ innings with bullpen match ups. The only blemish was Guriel’s homer of Brasier, who pitched great. There were plenty of unconventional moves all based on match ups. As I mentioned before, our LHP is not good against LHB. Costas questioned the decision to skip Vesia to come in to face a LHB. The fact is Graterol, Brasier, Kelly and Phillips are all better against lefties than Vesia and Fergie.
I though Doc worked his ass off to win and it was the starting pitching and offense that lost the game.
Key remains amazing. He made it through but I don’t recall another flame-throwing RHP with a hundo, heat seeking, running fastball, who hates it. I swear he could blow guys up with his fastball but instead he loves that slider. He loves tricking guys with that slider, which is good but erratic. His 100 mph, darting fastball is his changeup. Different cat, boy.
I don’t have a lot of answers. Too many days off, bad format, too many rookies, too heavy on platoons, too reliant on the long ball, too many injuries, an untimely team slump, no real starting pitching and our big-time players not playing big time. It’s a head scratcher but we better figure it out pronto. The fat lady is clearing her throat.
2 comments.
Freddie only has 1 hit, but even that was dubious. An infield grounder where the pitcher did not cover soon enough.
As for 100 wins seasons, you also have to adjust the 1950’s teams because they only played 154 games. Maybe they would get another 1 or 2. If that really matters to anyone.
What is the common denominator through different playoff years with different players all playing with magnificently tight sphincters come playoff time? The organization needs to identify what this is and try to eradicate this from the Dodger organization. Is it managing? Is it analytics? Is it the laid back approach all year is too opposed to the playoff frame of mind? There is something to this because it keeps happening to the Dodgers in the playoffs with vastly different rosters. I do not believe that this can be written off to ” the playoffs are a crapshoot.”
100% yup!
Based on the current playoff format, the playoffs really are kind of a crap shoot and I’m pretty sure statistics were backed that up.
Not a crapshoot, good pitching wins, bad pitching loses. Not a puzzle.
That’s true, But good hitting could be helpful. Braves also gave up 4 runs yesterday and won the game
Play Better!
Freddie looks tired. He likes to play every game but Roberts needs to step up and be the boss and give him some rest. He’s not a spring chicken anymore. Mookie fell into a slump chasing Acuña and that 40th home run and never came out of it
The first game was lost early. But the second game was winnable if our so-called dynamic duo could step up. Alas so goes those two usually so goes the dodger offense
Maybe they can get angry at being embarrassed, and as Phil says, play better
He can rest this winter, if he looks tired, Mookie is exhausted, and he gets time off. He hasn’t hit a ball hard since mid-September.
I hear how Mookie and Freddie want to play every day and not rest. So what??Ok here is the result they looked gassed. The Manager makes up the lineup. And yes Mookie used up a lot of energy. He bulked up to hit more homers. So how is that helping us now?
The Dodgers’ offense was cold the last few weeks of the season. They are like anyone else. You can’t be on fire all of the time.
Unfortunately, they are still cold in the playoffs.
This year’s Dodgers are unusually reliant on their offense. Since they’ve been in LA, the best Dodgers teams have had good to great pitching. Until this year. With injuries to their rotation and their forced reliance on bad pitchers (Lynn), injured pitchers (Kershaw) and untested rookies (everyone else), it’s been up to the offense. The injured and untested thus far have not been up to the challenge. The problem is that the offense, which has been historic, hasn’t either.
If they don’t hit, they don’t win. They don’t have Koufax, Drysdale, Podres, Sutton, Valenzuela, or Hersheiser to ride to the rescue.
Acuna, the probable MVP does not have a hit this postseason either…..
I heard someone suggest they looked scared and after some thought couldn’t find a way to disagree with that. I do know Roberts sure sounded nervous during his in game interview
I left home early this Am and just got back. I stuffed a month of doctor appointments into one day.
I have nothing to say until this series is over… and it ain’t over.
I just looked and found ten teams have come back from a 0-2 hole in a five game series so it’s quite possible if the offense can wake up that is
You believe Kershaw can outpitch Kelly in Arizona?
Clayton is a great pitcher! I’m hoping the team gets together tonight and watches the film 42 for motivation! Hopefully it will work.
“A much better playoff run than last year”
???
Pass some of what you’re smoking to me, my guy.
It sure does not look good right now but I would not count them out yet. A few thoughts:
1. The Dodgers do not have a single starter who would be anything better than a number three starter on any team remaining in the playoffs. I think the Dodgers were perfectly comfortable having the bullpen cover six innings in each of these first two games as part of a plan to lean on the strength of this staff. However, starters giving up 9 first inning runs in two games shoots a hole in that approach. Hard to win in post season with this many questions in rotation. Difficult for any front office to envision how decimated this rotation became by mid- August.
2. When Freeman and Betts don’t hit, this offense struggles. Nothing deep about that thought, I know. Will Smith has been struggling for a few months now and Betts, Peralta, Outman all came in to the post season off a sluggish finish to the year.
3. Hard to blame these games on Dave Roberts. I thought he got a lot out of this roster and kept them rolling through an incredible run of injuries and losses to the pitching staff.
4. In retrospect, Dodgers missed on some acquisitions at the trade deadline that could have given them a bigger boost in post season. These players were all mentioned on this site numerous times – Jordan Montgomery, Tommy Pham to mention two of them. Ahmed Rosario is not on playoff roster, Kolten Wong (released by Mariners is on roster), Lance Lynn is a question mark starting game three (Pepiot has been much better) and Jordan Montgomery already has two wins in post season, etc.
5. This season, regardless of how this turns out, was the first part of a two year plan leading to this off season. With a lot of money coming off the books and young players at the upper levels ready to contribute, we will see a changing of the guard. That is fodder for the off season.
6. Still believe this team has a better than puncher’s chance of winning this series. All year they have responded to adversity and I still believe in the leadership and character of this team. But even those qualities can’t overcome abysmal starting pitching. I would take a clean first inning at this point but I am worried about Lance Lynn in that ballpark with his tendency to give up homers.
Outman’s first playoff series hasn’t been good at all so far. But it’s not over. Just wanted to put that out there (me being honest) since me and Duke Not Snider have been his biggest cheerleaders.
I can’t find where it says a much better playoff run then last year and yes I do think it’s possible kerse holds em to two runs or less thru three or four and we slap Kelly around like we have many times before but right now just worried about getting past game three. I don’t have it in me to give up hope til the last out of the season
This guy is going hard.
Staying out of this one tho.
Alexa? WTF!
Any wild card team should suffer more disadvantage than winners of their divisions. A way that seems fair to me is them needing to win by a more game match. I’m saying if a wildcard is ahead three of five that it automatically becomes a four of seven but still having the chance of losing at a three of five matchup. It’s my opinion there should be no wild card teams let alone giving any advantage of momentum. This is simply one hurdle but still a closer balance for a winning team having an outside chance of winning something they already won though at that point the wildcard team would be at advantage. It should be hander to win something already lost.