In the Dodger’s clubhouse, next to Justin Turner’s locker is a whiteboard that people observed after last night’s game. It simply says “10 Wins!” That’s the simplest way to write down the understood goal of winning the World Series. It takes 11 wins in the postseason. After last night, there are 10 to go. No more, no less. It’s that simple… Simple… but not easy! The thing is: these guys, at least most of them were in a position to win the World Series last year, only to have their hearts broken in the end. That taste remained in their mouths and they carried it around like a hangover all season. It seems to me that they sobered up right before the Giants series.
Who was on the NLDS roster last year?
- Baez
- Hill
- Jansen
- Kershaw
- Maeda
- Wood
- Barnes
- Grandal
- Turner
- Bellinger
- Hernandez
- Puig
- Taylor
That’s it from last year. Almost 50% of the Dodger’s playoff roster were not on it last year. That is a huge turnover! Alexander, Floro, Kemp, Madson, Freese, Machado and Dozier were acquired via trade. Ryu was left off the roster last year… only to start Game 1 this year. Talk about from the outhouse to the penthouse! Then, there are the two rookies: Buehler and Ferguson and the minor league miracle: Max Muncy. Finally, Joc Pederson was left off the NLDS last year. That seems like a lot of roster turnover to me, but in many ways it is a testament to FAZ and how they are always seeing value and are unafraid of change.
The Baker’s Dozen left from 2017 are now the leaders, along with Chase Utley who is in the dugout with his brothers. Team chemistry may or may not be overrated, but the chemistry of this team is off the charts. Matt Kemp used to be the moody prima donna… now he’s one of the clubhouse leaders. Yasmani Grandal, Justin Turner, Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen and Rich Hill. Those six players set the tone for the rest of the team and are the collective “voice” of this lockerroom. Of course, Kike, Mad Max and the Wild Horse are always good for some sound bites, but this is one teriffic lockerroom! I think that they all have each other’s backs.
This team is built for the post-season and it’s not how you start – it’s how you end, are things I have been saying all year. In many respects the season was ugly, although it did have it’s moments. The players struggled throughout the season. This new statistic-driven brand of baseball is still being sorted out. It’s evolving… The Dodgers struggled with it, so did the Cubs… and it ultimately killed them, along with the failed acquisitions of Chatwood, Darvish and Morrow… most of whom were boat anchors on the roster. I think you will see the pendelum swing back a little from some of the extremes of playing for the long ball… but I digress.
Last night, the Dodgers scored 6 runs on only 5 hits, 3 of which were homers. They also took 8 walks and stole 3 bases, while Grandal gunned down the only attempted thief! What should not be lost in all of this is that the Dodger pitchers did not walk a batter while striking out 11. It should also not be lost that Hyun-jin Ryu pitched like an Ace. Now, if Clayton and Striker can do that, the series is over. These guys reek with determination. When you have been so close to the mountaintop or goal, only to have it snatched away, you realize how difficult it is and how sweet it is. Thse guys can smell it – just 10 more wins to go!
Parting Shots
- It’s hard for me not to envision Kike Hernandez as the starting 2B next year!
- It won’t be lost on most GM’s how much less productive Manny Machado is outside of Camden Yards.
- Realize this: Clayton Kershaw WILL opt out, unless he can agree on a new deal before that.
- Caleb Ferguson has “bullpen” written all over him.
Discussion (96)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Wow! The stream I watched has about a 20 minute delay. Reddit if anybody interested
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Clayton Kershaw is still on top of the hill! Even when umpires squeeze what he has. He ain’t been dethroned yet by a damned sight. If one expects more from him then Kershaw has spoiled all eyes upon him. Simply spectacular!
Nice win
Nine more
Strong starting pitching from a leftie.
Home Runs
Good defense.
When’s the last time Kenley threw that pitch to a hitter like Freeman ? That looked good
Book ’em!
Kenley needs to pitch!
I’d let Kershaw finish. Let’s go Kenley
JUst when you think Puig is over his Knuckleheadedry, he shows out!
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Geeeeezzzzz!!!
Somebody said Grandal was lost,
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That ball was lost!
Bobby
My favorite College basketball final, was when Magic played for Michigan, and Larry Bird played for Indiana st.
My father always took the Celtics, and I took the Lakers.
I have always been big Laker fan, although I haven’t followed pro basketball that much, lately.
But I am definitely going to watch the Lakers this year.
Machado is a hot dog. Dodgers be chillin him out a little.
The Red Sox have a really good start today, I hope they keep it up.
It is a good thing the Astros gave up on JD Martinez, or the Astros would be even better.
Sale is pitching tonight.
Sale was another guy AC wanted the Dodgers to trade for, too.
I like Joe Davis, he’s growing on me.
I’m thinkin’ Kenley at Coors field is not going to be a problem. Kersh needs to put his foot on the Braves neck and put this thing on ice.
Colorado has forgotten how to hit.
Lineup is out:
Joc
JT
Muncy
Manny
Puig
Belly
Kike
Grandal
Kersh
Think of what would have happened if we had traded for Verlander instead of Darvish. It almost makes me sick. We missed big time on that one.
Here are some random thoughts….
I’m not eager to have to play the Rockies again, Go Brew crew. Kenley should not go to Colorado if that comes up.
Clayton is my favorite ball player but I can’t see blowing more than the current 2 year commit. I hope he makes me look like a fool for doubting his future! I just worry about his body holding up. Pitching may be a younger man’s game!
I like Manny, he’s been a good rental but I also think that’s a bridge too far financially. A WS may make him want to stay but spreading that $ to other places feels right to me
I’d really like to see how we can keep Ryu, get him some coin but not past a 3 year deal. See younger man comment above.
Walker can be our new legend. The legend continues Sunday….
I hope we get more guys hitting today in support of Clayton, he deserves a win!
Urias exceeded my expectations and I hope he continues to be solid for years. I saw one 97 on the gun. Hope there are way more in our future.
Max is fun and assuming no DH next year, how do the pieces fit together? I prefer Cody at 1st, but yesterday’s line up (swapping Seager for Manny) seems correct.
I thought we’d be disappointed but I am optimistic our team is built to win now. Go D’s!!
I agree wit J-Hair on Dodgertalk last night, we have the best starting pitching in the NL, and hopefully our bullpen holds up. My only concern is how up and down we are offensively. We can score 6 runs like last night and look good doing it, then go two games in a row and score 1 run. That is our biggest Achilles heal in this years play-offs, our feast or famine offense, which a number of you have posted that this is what FAZ built, who we are. They have been right the majority of these past few years, I hope they know what they are doing this time. Got the season in the balance with this offense.
Meanwhile, Verlander doing his best Walker Buehler impersonation so far: 5 hitless
here’s something to think about: in addition to [potentially] kershaw, dallas keuchel is one of the biggest name free agents this offseason. in fact, some pretty big numbers have been bandied about for DK’s next contract. so . . . who would you rather have, keuchel or ryu?
Josh Donaldson batting 5th and playing 3b for Cleveland today. Controversial trade due to injury/DL shenanigans. He could be an impact player this postseason.
yeah, i’m not sold on him as a franchise superstar. however, it’s nice when he can use his arm to make an out just when you’re feeling down on him.
Earlier, I mentioned Manny Machado’s splits at Camden Yards and Away:
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Camden Yards: 456 games/105 HR/.295 BA/.353 OB%/.534 SLG%/.887 OPS
All other venues: 469 games/69 HR/.271 BA/.319 OB%/.442 SLG%/.761 OPS
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He’s close to a superstar at Camden Yards. Away from there, he’s just a solid player… maybe a #6 hitter.
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Can’t see him in LA next year!
I think AC has been right far to often about different players and pitchers, in different times in their careers, to chalk it up to player’s development and scouting, and how a player or pitcher, are molded.
For example, AC was talking about Morrow, way early in the off season, before anyone was saying anything favorable, about Morrow.
And AC even talked about the pitcher Chacin, the Brewers started against the Cubbies, in that one game play off, for the Central Division, the other day.
These two guys are not prospects, but baseball teams saw the same value that AC saw, in these two pitchers, before the fact.
AC, yes you did first mention Caleb. I think of you when I see the success of Ferguson, Christian Yelich, and Gerrit Cole! Haha, oh, and add LeClerc to that list now.
Regarding Kershaw: anyone with his competitive fire (and I feel part of his postseason failures are due to that stubborn fire) will be internally fuming about not starting game 1. But I feel he’ll us that anger to his advantage tonight. Look for a focused Kersh tonight trying to match Ryu’s performance last night .
I felt this series, like last year’s NLDS, would be a sweep and I think we take step 2 of that tonight.
Although I have been highly critical of the front office and Roberts on SBR with regard to lineup, hitting and pitching strategies I always thought we have the most talented team in the NL and maybe in baseball. It’s not been the players for the most part who have caused concern this season. With inconsistent playing time it’s been difficult for players to get in a groove offensively. Now, at least, the platooned lineups have been pretty consistent and the players know what to expect. The emphasis on situational hitting by the staff has helped as well.
Agree that Kike should be the 2B next year and felt that should have been the case with the failure of Forsythe all season. My only concern was Kike’s ability to drive the ball and use the whole field. Lately, he has been doing that. He knows when it’s time to make just contact to move and drive in runners and when to go for the HR. This guy is so talented and has a great opportunity to be a all star in the future.
Machado had a bad game but the umpire jobbed him in his first two AB’s. I think it might have messed with him mentally the rest of the game. He did have an error, but also made an incredible play later in the game. As we progress through the playoffs he is going to provide some big moments. He hasn’t been the superstar, carry the team type player we were expecting. But, he’s got the potential to do so. And, we don’t need him to be. A few highlight defensive plays and a couple of key hits and it’s all good. I think there is a zero chance he resigns with us. And, that’s OK. We don’t need him when we have Seager returning.
Kershaw. Maybe, he doesn’t opt out and takes his $70M the next two years and then signs and ends his career with Texas. I just don’t think ownership wants to spend $100M+ on a pitcher that only pitches 1/2 to 2/3 of a season. I think they want to start getting a much better return on their $2B investment along with the hundreds of millions they have already spend on players ( a lot of which wasted on unwise signings). Well see. It will be interesting.
It’s nice to see Roberts allow the starters to extend their outings in the last few weeks. With the uncertainly in the BP it has forced him to do so. The starters are good. He is letting them maximize their starts. The less decisions Roberts has to make concerning the BP the better our chances are for success. It might be the key to our first World Series in 30 years.
I was talking to my 9-year old son this morning about the game last night and telling him that this postseason feels like almost the opposite of last season in that last year we were looking to remove our starter as early as possible to get the pen and this year we are trying to ride our starters as long as we can before needing to bring a reliever in. Last night was a good illustration of that and I believe we will try to get 7 innings out of Kershaw tonight as well. With a strong #4 starter in Rich Hill, we can play it like this will be the one game each starter appears in this series (unless it goes to 5, which nobody wants). You have to be focused on the her and now but you also have to have a game plan for the next series as well. Ideally, we throw Buehler with a 2-0 lead and a chance to close it out. With a rested pen, all hands would be on deck. Things could start to get a little more complicated in the next round but maybe by then we have the luxury of a tandem starter like urias. one things about a guy who can throw 3-4 innings in relief is that in a blowout [either way], he can save a lot of arms and keep regular roles intact. I wish Wood would’ve closed out the game but on the bright side, it was nice to see Floro get some game action. i still think he’s a guy we’re going to need to get a tough out [via strikeout or ground ball] in a key spot more than once this postseason. good to get the first one out of the way, even if the stakes were not so high. as for jansen warming up, i’ll save the roberts-critique for others who are practiced at it.
I have to chuckle every time I read how good many fans think Caleb Ferguson is. Two years ago there were less than a handful who even knew who Caleb was. I mean how many 38th round HS pitchers getting TJ surgery a month before the draft are people going to follow. It is because of that that I started to follow Caleb. I kept bringing his name up, and at times “jokingly” including him in the mock trades people wanted to make without giving up name players. Finally someone asked me why I kept bringing up Caleb in these mock trades, and I responded…because in two years everybody is going to know his name. He is going to be very good. He came faster than I thought he would, but there was never any doubt in my mind that he was going to be a key pitcher on the 25 man.
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I have missed on more players than I got right (yes I liked Mitchell Hansen). So when I do get one right, I am very happy fans come to cheer on that player, especially Caleb Ferguson. He is a good kid as well as a good pitcher. He is only 22 so I do not think he is going to want to walk away from starting, but he is getting more comfortable in the reliever role. I have no desire to speculate on next year yet, but my guess is that if he does want to start, he will probably be going back to OKC. However, he truly could be an Andrew Miller type reliever and stay on the ML roster if that is what he wants.
I am not sure that Kike’ should be the regular 2B because he is TOOOOO valuable as the super utility guy. I see him more in the Ben Zobrist role rather than the Javy Baez role. He has shown this year that he can hit RHP, so he should not be considered a platoon guy. He is a legit 500+ PA guy. Then again, the Dodgers do not have an internal option and Kike’ can fill that role. I think it is all going to come down to what the budget will be going forward, and what needs the Dodgers intend to fill from outside the organization.
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Kershaw is going to opt out because some team (including the Dodgers) will offer at least a guaranteed $100MM. How much past that, I have no idea how high teams will view him. While he may have been passed (and I do mean may) as the Ace, he is still very good. I can see Mark Walter approving a Johnny Cueto level contract (6 years – $120MM).
I thought Kenley already said, he would pitch in Colorado in the post season, if we were in a series against the Rockies.
I was wondering about the order of the starting rotation going forward, because last Post Season Faz was very keen to make sure Hill pitched at Dodger Stadium because they felt his curve worked better there.
He is due to Pitch Monday in Atlanta if required, but after that it’s my guess that you won’t see him pitch on the road again.
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That is a really good question about Kenley. He wanted to go last time, but didn’t on medical advice.
Presuming CK beats the Bravos, I wonder if we would be better off starting Rich Hill in game three on the possibility of sweeping and thus giving Buehler a little extra rest since he is still very young and has shouldered a heavy workload since entering the rotation. Make Atlanta prove that they can handle crafty, skilled, experienced lefties before giving them an opportunity to reset their strokes against a power pitcher like Walker.
Ryu pitched the best game of his career last night in my opinion and despite MM’s poor game at SS and the plate, I expect him to make a positive difference for the Dodgers as we move forward. Rest of team played like All Stars.
Has anyone heard any rumors regarding the medical issue regarding Kenley should the Rockies beat the Brewers and the Dodgers have to play in Colorado?
There’s really only one way I see Kershaw opting out………retirement. I can’t see him going to pitch for another team. Money sure ain’t gonna buy him so what would a good reason be for him to opt out? As I said before when the situation first visited a few years back, “he ain’t going nowhere, he still has the same friends he had before he got more money than Bubba-Gump-Shrimp. He’s surely a 1st round HOF inductee and what other uniform would fit that bill? His agent will be playing that hand but Clayton has the say-so and his agent has already a ton of cash and will make a ton more making any deal with Dodgers. I could opt out simply for the fun of it, but he’ll still sign and play for Dodgers.
I thought Kike should have been the starting 2b at the beginning of THIS season! Leave him there and let him play and we have our exciting version of Baez at 2b. But we screw around, let Forsythe and his .180 average play, and then trade for Dozier and let his .190 average play. Let Kike play!!!!
Most of you see Ferguson as a bp piece. I see him as a ridiculously good #3 or 4 starter. But either way, man does he look good out there!!!
Ryu was dominant. Muncy was dominant. Dodgers 1B Max Muncy is the second player in postseason history to go 1-for-1 with three walks. The other was Babe Ruth. Muncy was asked if he had ever been linked to The Babe. “Besides now?” So basically we have Turner, Babe Ruth, and Manny Machado in the middle of our order. I like it.
Now I know many on this board hate the way we play baseball. I hope they can set that hate aside for the next 3-4 weeks!!
I was thinking last as Hernandez hit the HR that he is indeed our 2B next year. No reason to search the FA list or seek a trade when we have Enrique. I also don’t think Manny will be a Dodger next year, nor do I think he’s worth what many think he will be asking for ($30 million AAV).
If Clayton can pitch well, Dodgers hit Sanchez tonight I like what Stryker can do in the ATL. Last night was an excellent offensive game plan. Patience, get a good hitter’s count and let it rip.
Tonight….same line-up?
Great piece by Ken Rosenthal in The Athletic on why starting Ryu was brilliant:
https://theathletic.com/570369/2018/10/05/rosenthal-dodgers-decision-to-start-ryu-over-kershaw-was-correct-and-not-just-because-ryu-was-brilliant/?source=dailyemail
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“Opening with Ryu was correct not simply because the left-hander was brilliant for seven scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ 6-0 victory Thursday night, allowing just four hits, striking out eight and walking none. It was correct from every possible angle but the sentimental one, and front offices today value sentiment about as much as they do batting average.
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The practical value of Kershaw starting Game 1 instead of Game 2 in a best-of-five series was effectively zero; if anything, Game 2 would have taken on greater importance — save-our-season importance — if the Dodgers had lost the opener. As it turned out, Kershaw is in position to put the Dodgers within one victory of their third straight NLCS appearance and fourth in six years. The scenario does not quite fit the dictionary definition of “humiliation.”
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“At the end of the day, when you win the World Series, going back to Game 1, no one is going to talk about that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the team’s beat writers late Thursday afternoon. “So, what’s the best way to get there? That’s our responsibility.”
I think Hernandez will get a long look at second base in ST.
I think what Kershaw does or doesn’t do in these playoffs will have a big bearing on his and the FO’s decision for both, and it all starts tonight.
Ferguson is doing everything that is asked of him.
The best thing about these playoffs is the giants once again are not playing.
Dang MT, this is one of your best posts and I agree with every word. 10 more wins.