Dodgers, Yesterday and Today

And now for something completely different

Phil Gurnee ♦ October 14, 2017 ♦ 2 Comments

The Dodgers did something they hadn’t done since 1985, win a game one in the NLCS. The tried and failed in 2008, 2009, 20013, and 2016 but 2017 was a different story, and it was a complete team effort.

Date         Series Gm#  Tm Opp  Rslt

 1985-10-09     NLCS   1 LAD STL W 4-1
2008-10-09     NLCS   1 LAD PHI L 2-3
2009-10-15     NLCS   1 LAD PHI L 6-8
2013-10-11     NLCS   1 LAD STL L 2-3
2016-10-15     NLCS   1 LAD CHC L 4-8
 2017-10-14     NLCS   1 LAD CHC W 5-2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/14/2017.

Highlights:

Clayton Kershaw struggled with his command but only made one mistake which cost him two runs. Given his pitch count and his struggles, the choice to pinch hit for him in the 5th seemed like the right move. Something to consider though, when the Dodgers face a left-hand starter the right-hand pinch hit options are very limited.  Kyle Farmer is on the roster to give the Dodgers flexibility with Barnes but if Barnes is going to start 80% of the games, maybe they could use a better right-hand pinch hitter.

Forsythe and Barnes worked Quintana for walks, and Puig delivered a booming double to LCF to plate Forsythe. With Kershaw on deck and Barnes at 3rd with one out all the pressure was on Culberson to deliver the tying run. With the count 0 – 2 things looked bleak for the improbable game one starter, but he delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

For some reason, Cingrani has been reduced to a one-out pitcher and he got his out before Kenta Maeda came in to finish a perfect 6th.

Chris Taylor almost hit a home run in his second at-bat and did hit a home run in his 3rd at-bat giving the Dodgers their first lead of the series and game.

With the score 3 – 2, Kenta was allowed to get one out in the 7th before Brandon Morrow came up to finish up the dreaded 7th inning.  The bullpen had pitched two clean innings.

In the bottom of the 7th, Puig had his most memorable postseason at-bat. He kept his bat on his shoulder as Montgomery threw the first pitch. He watched it all the way, and shrugged as if, “is that all you got”. The next pitch was high and inside and moved him off the plate. The next pitch was sent soaring high into the night and for most of the flight it looked like Schwarber had a play but as he got ready to leap he had gone to far and the wall kept him grounded while the ball cleared the fence.

Later in the 7th, Culberson would score on a play where the catcher Contreras obstructed his ability to touch home plate. On one hand, you have to like that no one got hurt, on the hand, damn, home plate collisions were the bomb. John Lackey is right, the game is getting soft, but I can’t complain, breaking players only gave fans a few seconds of thrill while ending careers.

Morrow and Jansen finished up and the Dodgers have a game one in their pocket. We won’t talk about 1985 again.

Happy Kershaw Day

Phil Gurnee ♦ October 14, 2017 ♦ Leave a comment

Once again the Dodgers turn to Clayton Kershaw to start the first game of a postseason series, and once again Dodger fans are optimistic that the best pitcher in baseball in the 21st century can help deliver a victory in game one.

Since I’m turning a cold shoulder to the recent postseason past, I’m not going to talk about how often this optimism wasn’t rewarded for the Dodger faithful.

Today is a new Happy Kershaw Day, and it will be without their star shortstop Corey Seager.  This is a huge blow and it means that Charlie Culberson will be playing SS in game one. The Dodgers left Corey Seager and Pedro Baez off the NLCS roster and added utility infielder Charlie Culberson and Joc Pederson.

Baseball being baseball, I now expect Joc Pederson to do something memorable.

Or not,

I have no idea what to expect, but I only hope that we have an entertaining NLCS as the two best teams in the National League go head to head until one of them wins four games.

NLDS thoughts and stats

Phil Gurnee ♦ October 10, 2017 ♦ 2 Comments

If there was an NLDS MVP I would think that Justin Turner would get the vote, though I also think that Austin Barnes was almost as important. Turner also looked very nifty at 3rd this series.

Last night the corner infielders were putting on a defensive clinic.

For the most part, the Dodgers got on base up and down the lineup with the exception being Curtis Granderson. Bellinger didn’t have a great offensive series but he had himself a game in game three.

Puig was locked in and looked as scary at the plate as I’d remembered since June of 2014.

Things are going well when your starting catcher loses his job not because of poor performance but simply because the backup catcher thinks he’s Johnny Bench right now.

Seager didn’t hit the ball hard, but he did walk four times in three games helping set the stage for Justin Turner and Puig to drive in nine runs.

Logan Forsythe was a factor, leaving the Dodgers with only one hole, left field.

I understand Roberts wanting to keep Andre on the bench for a key pinch-hitting role.  With Curtis Granderson being the only thing to complain about he got some grief on twitter but like Roberts and a few of his other supporters, I do think he’s going to make a positive impact at some point in this series. It just smells right.

Name                  AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS
Cody Bellinger        14    3    3    0    0    1    2    1 .214  .267  .429  .695
Chris Taylor          13    3    3    1    0    0    1    2 .231  .333  .308  .641
Justin Turner         13    1    6    0    0    1    5    1 .462  .533  .692 1.226
Yasiel Puig           11    0    5    1    1    0    4    2 .455  .538  .727 1.266
Corey Seager          11    3    3    0    1    0    2    4 .273  .467  .455  .921
Logan Forsythe         9    4    4    0    0    0    1    1 .444  .500  .444  .944
Austin Barnes          8    4    4    1    0    1    3    1 .500  .556 1.000 1.556
Curtis Granderson      8    1    1    0    0    0    0    0 .125  .125  .125  .250
Yasmani Grandal        4    0    0    0    0    0    0    0 .000  .000  .000  .000
Enrique Hernandez      3    1    1    1    0    0    0    1 .333  .500  .667 1.167
Chase Utley            2    0    0    0    0    0    0    2 .000  .500  .000  .500
Kyle Farmer            1    0    0    0    0    0    0    0 .000  .000  .000  .000
Andre Ethier           0    0    0    0    0    0    0         1             1.000
Totals               104   20   31    4    2    3   18   16 .298  .397  .462  .858

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/10/2017.

On the pitching side, all of the starters did their job because we don’t expect much from starters in 2017.  It really does appear that Kershaw should never see the 7th inning again.  Another great start was throttled by the need to try to get him through the 7th and there really isn’t any need for it. The bullpen is good.  As expected Ross Stripling saw no action. It was also nice that Alex Wood didn’t see any action.

Kenta Maeda certainly looks like someone you can count on in a relief role. He pitched like a boss last night. Next time you feel the need to use Clayton in the 7th, take a deep breath and make sure you have Kenta warmed up and ready to start the inning instead. I don’t care what the score. No Hitter, I Don’t care.

                      
Name               G   ERA   IP    H   ER   BB   SO  WHIP
Clayton Kershaw    1  5.68  6.1    5    4    3    7 1.263
Yu Darvish         1  1.80  5.0    2    1    0    7 0.400
Rich Hill          1  4.50  4.0    3    2    3    4 1.500
Kenley Jansen      3  0.00  3.2    2    0    1    4 0.818
Brandon Morrow     3  2.45  3.2    2    1    0    1 0.545
Kenta Maeda        2  0.00  2.0    0    0    0    4 0.000
Tony Cingrani      2  0.00  1.0    0    0    0    0 0.000
Tony Watson        2 18.00  1.0    3    2    0    0 3.000
Josh Fields        1  0.00  0.1    1    0    0    1 3.000
Totals            16  3.33 27.0   18   10    7   28 0.926

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/10/2017.