In a game where the two best hitters struck out 7 out of 10 plate appearances, this was a very hard game to watch much less write about. Unfortunately for the good guys, JT’s strikeouts were much more problematic than Christian Yelich’s. The Blue put up a good fight late, but Game 1 goes to Craig Counsell in his chess match against Dave Roberts. It appears that Counsell played Roberts…
Continued and persistent rumors of the demise of Clayton Kershaw seem to have been greatly exaggerated. Is this the game where Clayton may have actually recognized that he is no longer the early version of himself, and now must become a finesse pitcher? There is nothing wrong with being a finesse pitcher, but it just may not sit with him very well. In Game 2, he was extremely efficient. He…
This will be somewhat unusual for me, as generally I am an extremely unapologetic pro-FAZ supporter, and I still am. But to critically examine any operation, personal biases need to be thrown out, even when it comes to the Dodgers. Sports team owners do not get into the game for short term profits. The big profits come when the team is sold. For the Dodgers, the ownership group has…
Okay now that Yu Darvish is signed, sealed, and delivered to the Chicago Cubs, who is the next domino to fall? 21 of the top 50 are still unsigned, and 6 of the top ten. Interestingly, 5 of those 6 are represented by Scott Boras (JDM, Hosmer, Arrieta, Moustakas, and Holland). Is it collusion, or is it anti Scott Boras? So what does that mean for the Dodgers? The…
Who are the most consistently GOOD starting pitchers today? I do not mean solid, but GOOD good. Jon Lester is solid, but has only received CYA votes in 3 years. His best finish was #2 to Max Scherzer in 2016; the year that was being dominated by Kershaw until he hurt his back. Madison Bumgarner is solid, but his best CYA vote was #4 (twice – 2014 & 2016). I…
Last year, the Dodgers acquired Rich Hill and in the NLCS, it was all set for Kershaw to even the series and then Rich Hill could take the mound and do what the Dodgers acquired him for: win game seven. Unfortunately, Clayton Kershaw surrendered 5 runs on two homers and lost the game and the game and the series. Fast forward a little over a year later and Kershaw did…
I am an unabashed and unapologetic supporter of FAZ. They have built a tremendous team and know how to utilize a full 40 man roster to their advantage because they have the depth to do so. I also believe that a winning TEAM is greater than the sum of the individual players. Clayton Kershaw is special. There is no question of that. But he is one of 40, and I…