Dodgers: Fox Sports Asks Who is to Blame for the NLDS Game 5 Loss?
The Dodgers’ loss in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Washington Nationals was heart-breaking to say the least. Is the offense to blame? Dave Roberts’ questionable decision-making? How about the persistence of Playoff Kershaw? If you want a real answer, they are all to blame.
In a recent segment for Fox Sports, the panel talked about where the Dodgers went wrong. It is not often that a team as powerful as the Dodgers gets knocked off in the first round. In fact, the 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers set a record for the most wins of any team in the divisional era to lose in the first round. It’s honestly sad.
When asked about who deserves the blame, Alex Rodriguez implied that he believed it fell on the whole organization and distinct aspects of it:
“It goes everywhere. They are a powerhouse and it’s hard to say one guy..it’s just like in basketball. At the end of the day, Phil Jackson puts in Michael Jordan and expects him to make that three. If it’s Joe Torre putting in Mariano Rivera, he hopes he closes. Dave Roberts goes to his eight-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young winner, and MVP Clayton Kershaw hoping he closes and it does not happen. So who’s blame is it? It’s everybody’s.”
Former MLB pitcher Dontrelle Willis also weighed in on A-Rod’s opinion:
“It’s a tough situation. Once he won the matchup with Eaton, he should be out of that game. You went out and got Kelly and have Jansen in the wings. They have Rendon — one of the best right-handed hitters in all of baseball. They have to go righty on righty. That is exactly why you signed Joe Kelly…for this situation right here. I blame it on Kershaw because you still have to execute and keep balls in the yard, but also Dave Roberts for putting him in that situation.”
Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz took a different approach. He blamed the lack of mental stability from the Dodgers:
“You start programming things the way they are supposed to be mentally. The mental part of the game is very important.”
All of these perspectives are accurate. Everyone deserves blame — from the top to the bottom. It’s a bad situation to be in, but at the end of the day, the Dodgers got flat-out beat by the Washington Nationals. They are in the NLCS with a 2-0 series lead and the Dodgers are not. It’s not fun to watch, but it is the way things went down and we have to accept it. Blame whoever, but it does not change the outcome of the 2019 Dodgers’ season.
Nothing will change as long as these same guys are here with their years of playoff baggage. Best thing to do is go away for a couple years keep the guys that come through and get rid of everyone else, hire a GM that isn’t a moneyball small market guy but rather someone that goes for it, we have enough homegrown talent we don’t need anymore, trade the rest
Kershaw hero-making is behind all these things, trying no3 starter to give as many chances as possible absurdly.
I think it should be said that the pitch Rendon hit for a homerun was a good pitch, cutting down and in. He hit it out of the strike zone, down about his ankles. Did Kershaw make a bad pitch? No. Was Rendon looking for that pitch? Maybe. Whose to blame? Rendon is! He’s the one that hit it out! A good hitter did what good hitters do. Sure I agree Kelly should have been in to face Rendon but Kershaw threw a good pitch.
Let’s face it. Really only two players showed up for the Division Series, Buehler & Muncy. Everyone else including the manager thought it was still May!
Good point. Wasn’t it weird, that at the end of the season, to see Roberts put forth so many variations of the lineup, as if he could not figure what team he was going to field?
let’s face it also, I just don’t see how Roberts is going to be able to face the fans next year at DS. After his big mistake in having CK go out for the 8th inning, (After CK struck out Eaton to end the 7th) Roberts was soundly, and I mean soundly booed by the home town fans. But if there is real booing to be done, let’s do it against the inept offense that struck out 64 times in the 5 games.
But we had the best launch angles!!! We had the best velocity off the bats on homeruns!!!
I’ve been a Dodger fan since 62. This was a team loss, not Kershaw, not Kelly but partially Roberts and I guess the front office for mis-using the bullpen. Kershaw gave up the tying runs, Kelly gave up the winning runs.. However, don’t forget that the Dodgers should have scored in the 8th or 9th innings with a runner on but failed to get the key hit to drive in a run before the dreadful 10th inning.
Yes, exactly. The whole team lost.
Game 5 loss was due to refusal to hit for contact. No bunting. Man on second no outs? They were tied at that time.
Their refusal to hit to the open side of the field on the shift. Batters should be embarrassed when they have the shift on them. Instead, they try to prove the shift wrong by trying to hit a homerun. Therefore, the strikeouts. Apparently, a massive swing on strike three is admired more than good contact. Who knows? Maybe they can’t hit to the opposite side? Then again, that’s where good coaching come in.
We lost two other games, not just in the 10th in game 5. We lost THREE games out of five. It wasn’t one thing that did us in. When we are .400 in the Post Season, there are huge issues with our TEAM.
What was our excuse after the second inning? No runs.
I went to enough games and around August started to see cracks starting to form. Barely beating team they should have been pounding, like the Blue Jays. After their home loss to the Rays, when they came back to beat the Dodgers, I felt we were not as good as we thought we were. That was my last game of the year and I felt, we would make the NLCS but no further.