the tale of two perspectives
Perspective is in the eyes of the beholder. I thought it might be interesting to get two different perspectives on last night's loss, which put the LA Dodgers down 2-0.
Perspective is in the eyes of the beholder. I thought it might be interesting to get two different perspectives on last night's loss, which put the LA Dodgers down 2-0. There is no collaboration, and this is Jeff Dominique's and my perspective. No fans were harmed in the process of writing this blog.
My Take: Mark Timmons
It's hard to win three World Series in a row. Yes, I say that because it has never been done in the National League. NEVER! The Dodgers have been beaten by the Brewers in two consecutive games, and it looks to me that the Brewers are the better team... BUT hold on. It ain't over until it's over. Stranger things have happened... remember when the Red Sox were down 3 games to zero and came back?
That said, it's unlikely! However, I still believe that the Dodgers are the best team in baseball. But the best team doesn't always win. If you analyze the team position by position, the Dodgers are the better team. They are also the OLDER team. The Brewers are younger, faster, quicker, and hungrier than the Dodgers.
The Brewers have a "hunger" for a championship, while the Dodgers have grown accustomed to it. That, in itself, could be the difference in the series. Through the first two games, the Brewers are hitting .295 with an .837 OPS. Their OB% is an insane .411!
The Dodgers are hitting .169 with a .447 OPS and a .261 OB%.
You can't beat the Little Sisters of the Poor with those numbers!
The Brewers have a 1.50 ERA, while the Dodgers have a 5.06 ERA.
The Brewers beat the two best Dodger starters, and as they head to LA, is anyone confident that Snell and Glasnow will fare any better? I'm not. Of course, I will still be rooting for the Boys in Dodger Blue, but my confidence is waning. My eyes tell me that the Brew Crew is better right here, right now, and maybe it's because they are hungry and the Dodgers aren't.
I think the ONLY way the Dodgers can turn this around is if Shohei Ohtani is unselfish, admits he is a shell of himself, most likely due to multiple injuries, and steps away from the game. That selfless act and the injection of JDP's enthusiasm could turn this ship around. That is their only hope, in my humble opinion.
When you do what you have always done, you are going to get what you have always got!
Stop the insanity, Shohei! Admit you aren't Superman!
You can still win this thing!
My take: Jeff Dominique
IMO, too many LAD fans took the Brewers a little too lightly. “Ahhh, the Dodgers swept the Brewers last year after being swept by the Brewers during the season. Not worried.” Somebody forgot to tell the Brewers that the Dodgers do not lose in the playoffs anymore. Different year, different and more dangerous team.
The Dodgers had Miz on the ropes in Game 1, and Skubal was dealing. Miz fought out of the problems and turned it over to their lockdown bullpen. The Dodgers did beat good pitching against Chris Sale and Atlanta, but lost a bullpen game before beating Sale and Mahle. The secret? 8 HRs.
This team is built for pitching and slug. We fans can complain about the hitting approach all we want, but it has been successful. Very successful. AF/BG/et al know more than we do, so I am inclined to go with their approach until it doesn’t work anymore.
The Dodgers got beat the first two games of the NLCS. The Dodgers did not lose; the Brewers beat them. For those two games, the Brewers were clearly the better team. The Brewers even tried to give Game 2 to the Dodgers, but they would not take it.
The Dodgers were hoping for a split in the two games in Milwaukee, and they had their Ace going in Game 2. The Dodgers got a gift run in the 1st, and we have seen Yama take that run and go deep. But he didn’t have his good stuff on this night. He got to two strikes (a lot), but could not get that third strike. The Brewers played the game the Dodgers tried on Sunday, by building Yama’s pitch count. They shortened up, kept fouling pitches, and most of the time reached base. The key AB was Jake Bauers 12 pitch BB.
The game plan worked. Yama was gone with two outs in the 3rd inning after just 75 pitches. In this series, the difference is that the Brewers got to the LAD bullpen while the Dodgers have not been able to touch Milwaukee’s bullpen. As it turned out, the Brewers threw 4 relievers over the final five innings. They faced 15 batters, and retired all 15. LAD got 4 runs off Henderson, but two of those were unearned due to his throwing errors.
Not too many teams are going to win games in the playoffs against excellent pitching when they generate only three hits. Kyle Tucker got a double for the first Dodgers XBH in the series. They have 9 singles to go with that double, and not unsurprisingly, they have only scored 5 runs (3 earned). They are now 1-10 wRISP in the NLCS, and not one LAD hitter looks poised to be that clutch hitter. It is difficult to score runs when your 4-5-6 hitters are 0-11 with 4 K. The only LAD batter to hit wRISP in 6 playoff games is Andy Pages with 2.
The Dodgers had what they wanted. They got Miz and Henderson out of the game before 5 IP but could do nothing with that Milwaukee bullpen. In two games, the Milwaukee bullpen has 9.2 IP. No runs, two hits, 3 BB, and 10 K.
I keep reading that many LAD fans have little to no confidence in Tanner Scott. He and Vesia were the two reliable relievers in both games. Scott, Vesia, and Phillips look to be the only reliable LAD relievers thus far in the NLCS. Will the others get better? Did they make a mistake leaving off Jack Dreyer and Emmet Sheehan?
The NLCS is not over. The Brewers have pitched their two SP. LHSP Robert Gasser gets Game 3, and who knows about Game 4. Maybe Dustin May? The Dodgers will counter with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. The Dodgers should be favored, but they are going to have to hit. Will they?
The Brewers are living up to the hype. Which LAD hitter is going to counter Brice Turang? Willson Contreras? Jackson Chourio?
Two of the worst pitchers holding runners on are Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. Can they stop the Brewers running game? There is no reason why David Hamilton should not play. Chourio, Turang, Cooper Pratt are threats.
Only 2 games, but…
The Brewers have 8 hits wRISP (8-22). The Dodgers have 1 hit wRISP (1-10). This is not a new problem, especially in the 2nd half.
The Dodgers have hit into 3 DP, while Milwaukee has hit into 1. Also, not a new problem.
The Dodgers have no HR a 1 XBH. The Brewers have 2 HR and 4 XBH. This cannot continue if the Dodgers hope to win.
The Dodgers are slashing .169/.261/.186/.447, while Milwaukee is slashing .295/.411/.426/.837.
Do the Dodgers continue to roll with Ohtani in the #4 or #5 spot in the lineup? At what point do the Dodgers make some kind of change? What’s that definition of insanity? The same with Smith? Smith barreled up 3, but only one was registered as a hard hit.
The Dodgers bullpen has given up 4 runs on 9 hits, 7 BB, 1 HBP (17 runners) in 8.1 IP. Milwaukee has given up 0 runs on 2 hits and 3 BB (5 runners) in 9.2 IP. That is a 1.80 WHIP for LAD and a 1.00 WHIP for Milwaukee.
For two games, the Brewers are beating the Dodgers in the pitching, hitting, and running game. Neither team has shined defensively.
The Dodgers are headed back home and should have the advantage. Will they take that advantage? There is absolutely zero reason to give up on them. They are very capable of coming back and winning 4 out of 5. Neither team should be afraid of the other’s top two starters if they need to come back and pitch. The Dodgers can win all three in LA with Skubal beating Miz in Game 5. If they do, I like their chances of splitting in Milwaukee as they did in 2018.
I picked the Dodgers in 7. As bad as they have played thus far, they can turn it around just as quickly. I am sticking with LAD in 7.
Discussion (69)
Disagree, not disagreeable
We may have seen the BEST version of Ohtani. He may have to choose between pitching, hitting or playing a position in the future. I believe he WON'T be able to do both hitting and pitching much longer, if he continues, he will be injured most of each season by doing both.
I was prepared to post the postseason OPS numbers of the Dodgers lineup from the box score but it is unnecessary now. It’s all listed above. And with it the handwriting on the wall is bold and quite readable:
The Dodgers currently are NOT the best team in baseball.
And they haven’t been since the first half of the season. Their record against the better teams in baseball has been there for everybody to see. It was 1 game over .500. Still is.
The names are still there so yeah, technically it isn’t over. But now the talk of replacing “the best player in baseball” with a rookie sure looks like an October white flag being waved.
We all hope to see a competitive if not Herculean finish but the schneid is not just 2 games, it’s been going on for weeks. And now, 2 years into his $700 million contract, the reincarnation of Babe Ruth may be benched for a rookie?
Well, they do play minutes from Hollywood. Write the script Doc. We’re all anxious to read it.
In the AFL last night, Chuck Davalan (2B) hit his first HR, and Chase Harlan was 2-for-3 and has a .984 OPS.
Quintero was 0-4 as the Dogs lost 6-2!
Last year were we 'better'. ?Whose to say. We won that game 7 by 'inches'. If Smith doesn't keep his foot on home plate we lose that game. If Miggy doesn't hit that homer.......etc, etc. I'm sure none of us has given up. But so far they are playing 'better' than us. If we can't slug these next two games then we won't be winning this year. As for Ohtani---he shouldn't be playing. You can see it every at bat. Sure he can walk now and then or slap a single to left field. As for Smith ---is he playing thru injuries? maybe. But I think as a catcher they will stick with him even though he is batting about .050 so far. We have Phillips, Vesia, Scott, Diaz. But can Snell and Glasnow go 6 innings. If not it would be interesting to see who comes in to pitch those middle innings. We can't fool around with Bubic etc. I think we see Sasaki, or maybe Yamo. Finally it been posted many times that our record against winning teams is JUST one game over .500. Hey if we can do that now that would be the 3peat
Need to win a game then even the series. After that we can talk.
I am a Doc supporter and love that he is our manager and it bothers me that he gets overlooked for manager of the year. However last night I felt very uncomfortable when Bubic came into the game with us leading 4-3. I told my wife when Contreras came to bat that I was worried about the results. I thought Sasaki would be used as a long reliever but we instead threw the whole staff with the exception of Diaz. Ohtani has been a shell of himself for 2 months. We need a spark of some kind. GO DODGERS!!!
DONT COUNT These guys out.
in 20, down 3-1 in NLCS and won WS In 24 Down 2-1 in SD and won the WS In 25 Down 3-2 IN Toronto and won the WS
I aint counting these guys out.
Jump ship if you want, IM NOT.
I am new to this forum and appreciate everyone's comments and perspective. I'm 80 years old, originally from western NY, Rochester, and have been a Dodger fan since I was 7 years old. I have always disliked the Yankees and root for the Red Sox. That's why I like Roberts, as a person and former player for the Sox. But as I have previously stated, I think he is one of the worst managers in baseball. Example, Sunday night's game and first two Dodger hitters in one inning get on, next batter up doesn't bunt to move them over. He continues to yank pitchers. Bubic was a mistake because Roberts love to play the lefty/right idiocy. Roki Sasaki should have stayed in the game. I can go on and on about Roberts' lack of managing skills. As I have said before, the Dodgers win in spite of Roberts, not because of him. He turned me off early in his managing career with the Dodgers, when he took Rich Hill out a a perfect no hitter in the eighth inning, Ross Stripling out of a no hitter late in a game and then Emmet Sheehan, in his rookie year, out of a no hitter late in a game. Two of those games the relievers lost the no hitters and the games. I lived through the '77 and '78 disappointments to the Yankees. I doubt that they will turn this around with Roberts managing. I hope I'm wrong!
A. Sit Ohtani. B. Move Tucker up in the batting order and Smith down. C. Edman over Kike no matter who is pitching. Edman hit's better from the right side. For some reason, Kike has been hitting RHP better than left, he has reverse splits. Play it one game at a time. Win these next two and set up a Skubal-Miz rematch with LA having home field. No problem holding runners if you keep them off base. That is Snell's mission and Glasnow's, D. Teach Teo and Pages that there is no way they can hit that down and away slider.
Not a good night for LA sports fans. Going down 0-2 to Milwaukee and then the Rams losing to the Bills in overtime. Glad I went to bed before the Ram game ended.
Would have been nice to split with the Brewers and we are now in a pretty much must win situation for game 3 and game 4 in my opinion. Just take it one at bat at a time. Still think we can get back in this series but it's not going to be easy with Ohtani fighting through whatever is ailing him. Need Snell and Glasnow to pitch well. I'm sure the home field will help some but if they get down early it won't be much of a factor.
During the 2026 season, only one team hit fewer homers than the Brewers. That was the Blue Jays. Yet only one team, the Cubs, scored more runs! Taken together, those stats show just how strong and efficient--and underrated--the Brewers' offense is. And while The Miz was taking the MLB by storm, how many of us realized just how good the Brewers bullpen is? All season we were hearing that the Padres had the best bullpen, right? So what should the Dodgers do now, down 2-0? Yes, I think Shohei needs to sit a bit. The flesh may be willing... but right now, he's a liability. Let's put JdP and his .500 OBP in the leadoff spot. Shake it up. Drop Will Smith to either 8th or 9th in the lineup. (I kind of like the idea of Shohei as a pinch hitter.) Now would be a very good time for Kyle Tucker to play like a $60m AAV talent is supposed to. A lot now rides on Snell and Glasnow holding that under-powered yet high-scoring Brewers offense down.
Simply put, Shohei is toast. AF, BG, Doc, his teammates, the trainers, me & all of you know it. Even he knows it. But he ego, which is bigger than Lizzo, is in the way. Nobody will confront the elephant in the room. Why? And why am I the only one Bluto trashes when it comes to Ohtani? I think he loves me. They should have put him on the 60 day IL is Sept. And rode JDP into the October sunset. It's not to late. Book em
Next two games we have a huge starting pitching advantage. If we can’t win these two then we don’t deserve to and won’t 3 peat. Back of the card guys need to show up at Dodger Stadium. They’re battle tested. We’re still in this thing. Gotta believe
To Mark's point on Bubic, Second-guessing decisions is so easy. I’m going to defend Kris Bubic’s inclusion on the roster. He was good with KC and had 5 appearances with the Dodgers. He gave up 4 hits, zero runs, zero walks, zero homers and had a zero ERA with a strikeout per inning. He passed the audition During the same period, Jack Dreyer gave up 6 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks and had a 5.68 ERA. He had a nice year but not lately. Wroblseki has a propensity to give up home runs which didn’t make him the most attractive candidate for short relief.
But that history doesn’t matter to the critics here who ignore the facts and think having Bubic was a dumb move and Doc even dumber for pitching the guy. Not me.
The Dodgers have to play like the Dodgers. Get on base and slug. Get good starting pitching. They have been playing like some other team. Maybe the Giants?
I was talking with a friend of mine who happens to be a retired orthopedic surgeon and a die-hard Dodgers fan. We were watching the game last night and he looked at me and said that Ohtani is hurt more than they are saying. He is not going to magically get better.
We already know that his left knee inflammation sapped his lower body power and balance. In a bullpen session, Ohtani overcompensated his lower body injuries by over-stressing his throwing shoulder. This much has been confirmed by Roberts. By stressing his upper body, his biceps tendon flared up (tear? partial tear? strain?) radiating pain from the tendon up through the shoulder. This is what we are seeing. He is in pain swinging and will experience more pain if he makes contact. He could continue to swing, but he will have no power. Could he have it for one AB a game? I know he is super-human, but he is not a robot.
My friend also said that there is also a possible nexus to his neck pain.
My friend has no idea about his prognosis. He has no idea how severe the injury could be. Everyone has acknowledged his biceps injury. He was just explaining to me how the left knee inflammation can translate to a bicep’s injury and a neck injury.
Sitting in Game 3 is not going to magically make him pain free. He will be in pain as long as he is hitting/swinging. Can Doc convince him to sit and let JDP have a chance to make a difference?
This reminds me so much of Clayton Kershaw's stubborness and his continual pitching through pain.
We will learn more about the severity of the injury after the season.
As Dandy Don used to say on MNF the party’s over all good things come to an end. How can you allow Ohtani to play when he is obviously compromised. I guess father time is undefeated and untied. Nobody on our team lays out to catch a ball, nobody gets key base hits everyone swings for the fences. If we had a hitting coach we may be dangerous. Very frustrating
From The Athletic:
"A physically compromised Ohtani bearing no resemblance to his usual MVP self. An offensively challenged lineup managing only one extra-base hit in two games. Co-aces Skubal and Yamamoto lasting a combined 7 2/3 innings in their two starts.
The Brewers look hungrier, more athletic and superior in the bullpen. Including playoffs, they’re now up to 108 wins.
It’s difficult to imagine the Dodgers taking four of the next five games, even with the next three at home. But considering how many escapes they pulled off while becoming two-time World Series champions, it’s also difficult to imagine them just fading away.
“We know what we can do. We know the team that we have,” left fielder Teoscar Hernández said. “There is still a lot of series to go. We know right now they’re playing really good baseball. They’re going to be tough to beat. But it’s not impossible.”
Ohtani is probably not going to pitch any more, this making him the most replaceable player in baseball, a DH. So he better develop into a LF to have some value. In six more years he might make Tucker look like a bargain.