It’s really as simple as that!
The regular season is over and this is the “Mini-Playoff” to determine who wins the West. While everything is “reset to Zero,” I think it might be good if we list what this team did this year without Corey Seager, because frequently it was all about one of the following:
- What a stupid lineup Doc ran out (there were complaints yesterday and it turned out sorta’ OK);
- How the hitters can’t perform with RISP; and
- How bad the bullpen is.
The 2018 LA Dodgers NL Rankings:
- #1 in Runs Scored
- #1 in Run Differential
- #1 in Home Runs
- #1 in RBI
- #1 in Walks
- #1 OB%
- #1 in Slugging%
- #1 in OPS%
- #2 in Doubles
- #1 in ERA
- #1 in Starter ERA
- #5 in Reliever ERA (not bad for the issues that arose)
- #1 in WHIP
- #1 in Strikeouts
- #15 out of 15 in Walks by Pitchers
- #1 in Fewest Runs Allowed
This is a pretty damn good team with 12 players over .775 OPS, 10 over .800 and 3 over .900 OPS! AND (I am going to keep saying it until proven wrong), they are built for the playoffs! The guys they start, pinch hit or relieve with have mostly been battle-tested, been there, done that, got the t-shirt kind of guys. They had their hearts ripped out by their failures last year and my personal opinion was that they cruised through the season, waiting and looking-forward to this time. This time of redemption!
That their focus wasn’t always there is apparent, but it’s just as apparent what happened when they were forced to focus to fight for all the marbles. You saw total focus against the Giants (never mind their record – they were playing for pride and because they hate the Dodgers). Even Rich Hill showed total focus and pitched his best game of the season. By the way, it’s going to be good to see 22 year-old Julio Urias in the rotation next year. We can’t speculate what will happen but Buehler and Urias will for a strong #1 and #2 for years to come.
Forget the stats. Forget their record. If this team is who I think they are, they will come out and punch Colorado right in the face. They have singular focus: World Series or Bust! The 2018 season was almosta bust, but here we are… waiting and watching to see what they have in the Post-Season. Enjoy the ride…. because I think it’s going to take a while. “Are we there yet?” No, quit bothering your brother!”
Discussion (114)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Wow.Sign of the times. Roberts goes with the hot hand, Ryu over Kershaw for game 1. Pretty ballsey move, We all rag on Doc, but I think his biggest skill is communicating and getting his guys to buy in to the cause, Yeah, we rag on his in game decisions, but don’t forget, this is only his 3rd year He will get better with time, like all managers do.
NLDS Roster Prediction:
Starters: Kersh, Ryu, Hill and Walker
Relief Pitchers: Jansen, Alexander, Wood, Baez, Maeda,
Madson, Ferguson, and Fields.
Position Players: Puig, Machado,
Turner, Bellinger, Hernandez, Muncy, Taylor, Dozier, Grandal, Barnes, Kemp, Freese, and Pederson.
Last Position Player Out: Verdugo
Last Pitcher Out: Rosscup
Urias just not built up enough, and requires too much recovery time at this point. Floro must be hurt and Stripling just out of gas.
Thoughts?
quiet in here. last night the starting pitching was basically perfect, the set-up crew did their job, and the offense put some early runs on the board. two areas that need improvement are, obviously, the closer and also making sure we push across as many runs as possible and not leave runs on the bases. the game is never out of reach. as far as i saw, defense and baserunning were fine and the manager was too.
I think its advantage rockies tonight due to their rested bullpen. Cubs have lester and home field going for them but I think they are the first to go home. Ten will be nine.
Kersshaw, Jansen, Puig, and Ryu are the 4 players who were Dodgers for all 6 NL West Championships.
Bellinger hit HR #64 which ties him with Ken Landreaux, Wally Moon, and Wes Parker for #46 on the All-time Dodgers HR list. His first one next year will catch Eddie Murray and Jim Gilliam for 44th. Bellinger should move into the top 30 next season.
Braves have all RH starters. We should see lots of muncy and belli.
That last outing of Floro’s wasn’t very good either, but he’s kind of been the go to guy when they’re after a DP ball so it will be an interesting choice.
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One thing that I like about a rotation of Kershaw, Ryu, and Buehler is that those three can handle the bat when it comes to swinging and bunting. Wood, Stripling, and Hill not so much.
Jon Weisman pointed out that Floro has pitched once since September 21st and i was Madsen warming up in the pen today. He thinks Floro is off the playoff roster and Madsen will be on it.
I know most are in a World Series Championship or bust attitude, but let’s not lose site on how difficult it is to win 6 consecutive NL WEST titles. I left this team for dead at least twice this year. While I agree with AC and some others that they shouldn’t have been in this position today. I also agree with AC that the Dodgers should have had added another arm bullpen arm, but the Dodgers don’t win the NL West with Chris Taylor playing SS the rest of the season. The Dodgers lost Seager and Turner, the front office added Machado and Freese while keeping the team under the luxury tax. Kudos! It was great to see this game not go the route of the Dave Goltz game of 1980.
Hot Damn, Sam. GO DODGERS. Great all around game and a true team effort. Bring it on, Braves…. we’re waiting to kick some southern booty. Would rather watch the Rox and Brew Crew wear each other out in a slugging match than the Cubbies v. Milwaukee so Good Luck, Colorado, tomorrow.
As Buzz Lightyear might say, to the World Series and Beyond. Dodgers can do.
Playoff Roster???
Catchers – Grandal, Barnes (2)
Infielders – Freese, Muncy, Dozier, Turner, Machado (5)
Outfielders – Pederson, Puig, Kemp (3)
IF/OF – Bellinger, Taylor, Hernández (3)
Starting Pitchers – Kershaw, Buehler, Ryu, Hill (4)
Relievers – Jansen, Maeda, Wood, Ferguson, Alexander, Baez, Rosscup, Floro (8)
Or do we swap out Madsen or Urias for Rosscup?
It has nothing to do with lack of focus. It’s been apparent all year that Kenley is no longer missing bats like he used to. It’s not just the HRs being hit against him. Just look at all the pitches that were fouled off against him in the 9th. I think Kenley is averaging about 9 K’s per 9, whereas in the past it was about 13 K’s per 9. This is no longer the dominant closer we’ve grown accustomed to.
What’s the story with Ferguson? Did I miss something? Haven’t seen him for a while.
Can somebody do something about a stupid manager using an incompetent closer?
This guy is the worst manager I have ever seen on a Dodger team——–and I have followed the Dodgers since 1950!
What a game by Buehler!
Cody and Muncy!
Everyone on the team had a hit except Grandal, who called an excellent game.
Way too much drama with KJ in the 9th. Do you trust the guy in tight games?
Great game from WB
It’s time to pass the torch. Hail to the new Dodger Ace Walker Buehler.
Roberts good to send relievers to get ready. It a good movement
Jensen is not the same closer. He makes me very nervous
Dodgers are not PHILADELPHIA or Nationals definitively
3 outs to go. Get ready for a lot of nervous 8th innings this october.
Alexander did fine. He induced a weak ground ball by a great player, but because of our shift the weak ground ball goes as a single. I’ll take that. Meanwhile, Baez gave up a line drive shot right to the 3b, and that goes as an out. Baseball is funny.
Maeda was his great self. I like him.
I think wood is a better choice than Alexander in the pecking ordet.
I was just about to say… please don’t bring Scott Alexander into this game.
Six outs to go
Baez in. I’m not nervous. Gulp.
Buehler is a stud, and quickly becoming the ACE of the Dodger staff.
All this analysis leading to paralysis…
All the wailing and gnashing of teeth..
Let’s just say scoreboard…
And starting humming those words of Freddie Mercury and Queen, We Are The Champions…
Just got home in time to see buehler hit. Love the enthusiasm coming off the field. That’s what “untouchable” looks like. You cant have him hes ours.
Striker strikes!!!!
This Buehler kid is pretty good.
Muncy proving he’s big time!!
That had to feel good for Cody!
A lot of big swings and misses this game and then B cranks one
Damn I definitely feel the playoff intensity (within myself) picking up now!
Time for some pushups
Gotta bad feeling about this one.
Beuhler missing by a distance sometimes.
Gonna be undone by walks
wow. through 3ip. 42/28 pitches/strikes for buehler; 41/28 for the other guy.
first act done!
That looked like the old Puig.
What’s the point in a replay if they’re no gonna Man up & overturn a bad call?
Who is Jon Sciambi?
Good for the Brewers for taking it away from the Cubbies, in September.
12 wins for a ring. let’s go!
Guys
Game is on MLB.com but only with the Rox broadcast
MJ, since this is a regular season game, they added the tickets for today’s into our Dodgers account at the regular season pricing. I think it was done last Thurs or Fri, when this game seemed to be a real possibility.
the 4 best records in baseball this year belong to the AL. if that’s not a sign this is the NL’s turn to win it all i don’t know what is.
I remembered we hit this Rockies pitcher well in June, when this team was the hottest, so I took a look at his numbers.
Although he allowed 9 HRs in June, he has not allowed more then 2 HRs in the months, following June.
And we have to remember he is pitching a lot in Coors, too.
Without spending too much researching, I’d have to say the matchups in this game are as follows:
Starting pitching–Even. Our guy is good but inexperienced. Their guy is recently very hot. Though tempting to put it in our ledger, calling this one a draw.
Starting lineup–I’m giving this one to Colorado. While we have depth and variety, they have multiple high-impact guys who can dominate a game. Controversial ruling but fair in my view.
Bullpen–Advantage us. We have a rested Floro & Ferguson not to mention Maeda & Jansen at the end. If we can get 5 great innings from Buehler, that might be enough.
Bench–Big advantage for us. We have Kemp, Freese, Taylor, & Dozier on the bench and whoever COL has isn’t better than that.
Intangibles: Toss-up. We have experience; they have the hunger of trying to get their first division crown.
Prediction: We win but it’s not easy and we fall behind early. Thinking 7-4 advances win advances us to NLDS vs. ATL.
Dodger Stadium, full of Dodgers fans and where the air pressure is where it’s supposed to be should suppress the appetite of Colorado’s bats. Dodgers have the redemption factor of game 7 still fresh and the spirits of 88 to cheer us forward, play by play even. Dodgers won’t let it slip through their fingers today! Our house is a very, very fine house and lunch will be served. GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHEERS FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Joc – (Against Marquez – .333 – 3/9 – 2 HR)
JT – (.000 – 0/6)
Muncy – (.200 – 1/5)
Machado – Has not faced Marquez
Grandal – (.111 – 1/9)
Bellinger – (.000 – 0/9)
Puig – (.167 – 1/6)
Kike’ – (.333- 1/3)
Buehler – (.000 – 0/4)
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Blackmon – (.308 – 4/13)
LeMahieu – (.200 – 2/10)
Dahl – (.250 – 2/8)
Arenado – (.222 – 2/9)
Story – (.167 – 2/12)
Gonzalez – (.250 – 2/8)
Desmond – (.182 – 2/11)
Woltors – (.250 – 1/4)
Marquez – (.250 – 1/4)
Going back to Mark’s notion that this team is built for the playoffs – I hope so, big question in my mind though, and play on the field today and going forward will give us the answer to that one not any statistics. Todays game is big, and with Buehler going there is a lot of confidence. If they do not get past Colorado (I think they do), all could go south very fast.
What will determine how this team performs going forward in my opinion is, will Buehler be tough as nails today? Will Kershaw wilt or shine (he does have a checkered playoff history)? Will Ryu continue to shine? Will Hill pitch like yesterday or like some of his other stinkers (good news here is Utley found that he was tipping his pitches)?
Will Roberts jettison the assinine lineups and play the BEST players (he knows who they are)? Will he temper his BP moves, rarely are they spot on, they are often too early or way too late. If Dozier makes the playoff roster please use him only as a defensive late inning guy.
Will the BP perform when needed? Big question, but lately they are much better.
And the biggest question is will these talented players continue to swing for the fences or play like they did against SF?
All these metrics are in the rear view mirror! Light a candle in the church and ask the Big Dodger in the sky to help our dudes today.
Interesting article in The Athletic today about teams’ managers and changes by Ken Rosenthal. Here’s the intro:
“I swear, sometimes it seems every team operates with the same motto:
“We’re smarter than you.”
Smarter than the fans. Smarter than the media. Smarter than anyone who might dare express a dissenting viewpoint in the age of analytics.
Of course, teams are smarter than us. But they often are not as smart as they think they are. And they often get too cute with their robotic marches to efficiency.”
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True?
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Great article about Walker Buehler and his theories on pitching too:
https://theathletic.com/558370/2018/10/01/sarris-as-his-arsenal-evolves-walker-buehler-is-executing-his-three-breaking-ball-plan/
Those stats are impressive. And then you dig deeper, and question, as AC did, about why we are in Game 163 with those stats? I mean, with those stats, shouldn’t we be up near 100 wins?? And then you realize that any idiot who’s watched this team this season can tell you why. 1 game with 15 runs. 1 game with 2 runs. Oh wow, the Dodgers average 7.5 runs a game, they must be great!!! Oh wait, why are they 1-1 then?
Stats average out over a long period, but they don’t give you insight into the inconsistencies.
More importantly, hopefully we take these good at bats today like we did the last few days. Walks, base hits going with the pitch the other way. Getting everyone involved. And then boom. Somebody (I say Puig today) with a big 3 run shot to put the game out of reach. Let’s see if Buehler is throwing 99 and high to start the game. It means he’s amped up. I’d hope he drops down right there and does some pushups to calm himself down. Hopefully he has the anti-Kershaw big game mentality.
The Brewers, Rockies, and Dodgers all had very good Septembers and the final 10 games. For September:
Brewers – 19-7 (9-1 last 10)
Rockies – 19-9 (9-1 last 10)
Dodgers – 18-9 (7-3 last 10)
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The Cubs have not been as good in September or over the last 10 games:
Cubs – 16-12 (6-4 last 10 games) –
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Brewers/Cubs pitching matchups – Chacin v Quintana – Quintana has started 6 games against the Brewers this year with a 2.17 ERA. Chacin has pitched well with allowing 3 or fewer earned runs over his last 10 games. The game is in Chicago where the Cubs have a 51-30 record. The Brewers have a 44-37 away record. The Cubs hold a 11-8 record against the Brewers for 2018.
I think I need to have my son set up a free 7 day trial of youtube tv because it appears mlb.tv doesn’t cover the games.
Quite an impressive stat list. But if they are #1 or #2 in so many categories in such a weak NL (compared to AL), why are they in a Game 163 against the Rockies, and why do they not have home field advantage against every NL team? If the talent is so much better on the Dodgers, what is the reason they do not overwhelmingly have the best record in the NL?
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I will let FAZ evaluate Doc and his lineups and in-game decisions. But the other two categories brought up are fair.
The Dodgers were in the middle third of most RISP stats, except for K’s with RISP where they had 2nd most. So the solid hitting was very good without RISP, but very average to below average WRISP. I think it is legit to question RISP. The Dodgers were also #12 in blown saves. 26 blown saves!! If they only had 25 blown saves, there would not be a Game 163.
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But today is not a day to question . Today is a day we cheer and root the Boys in Blue on to victory. Let’s bring it home and then bring on Atlanta.
Dodgers are #3 in OBP