Dodgers: Max Scherzer Shares Thoughts on Wild Card Game and Postseason Setup
For the first time since 2012, the Los Angeles Dodgers will not enter the postseason as the NL West Champions. This reality has been a hard pill to swallow given how well this team has played, but they simply ran into a team that played just a little bit better.
So what do the Dodgers get for winning a franchise-record 106 games and owning the second-best record in all of baseball? A win or go home matchup against one of the hottest teams in baseball over the final month in the St. Louis Cardinals.
There have been plenty of debates in recent years over what the league should do with their current Wild Card format. One on hand, it creates a heavy emphasis on winning your division while still giving teams a shot to contend for one of two Wild Card spots. On the other hand, there will be seasons like this one where a really good team is forced to a one-game playoff while teams that were not as good get to move directly into a divisional series.
No one would be surprised if any Dodgers players were upset by the outcome of their season, but according to Max Scherzer, no one is dwelling on the journey here. When speaking to the media during their press conference on Tuesday, Scherzer was very clear when asked if the team was upset about having to play in the Wild Card game on Wednesday.
No. You have to win your division. We didn’t win out division. We’re in the Wild Card game. There’s no crying in baseball.
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At the end of the day, the Dodgers have no choice but to play the hand they were dealt. It’s not like their odds have taken a hit by their circumstance either, as they are still the favorites to win it all once again.
There is plenty of talent on this team to overcome an extra game in the schedule, but we all know that talent alone doesn’t win championships. The journey to repeat begins Wednesday afternoon at Dodgers Stadium, where a raucous home crowd will hope to propel this team to a divisional matchup with the San Francisco Giants.
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Daniel, the author, shares my thoughts. There have been 7 other teams who have won the WS from the WC. Hoping I can say 8 after this year. The WC is a Minor inconvenience. This will be a glorious post season. Enjoy the show.
Agree here but I do want to see a change in this one game format. And the writer points out a good reason why.
True. The one game format certainly isn’t ideal. However, it still beats missing the opportunity altogether!
At least the Dodgers have the WC game. The 1993 Giants won 103 games and had to watch the post season from their living rooms!
And that 1993 scenario where Giants missed the post season as a result of losing to the Dodgers on that last day of the season 12 to 1, we soon saw the advent of the Wild Card in place for the 1995 season because 1994 was lost to that strike.
Let me add, my feelings will certainly change if, for some reason, Scherzer lays an egg (very unlikely IMO) and the Dodgers can’t prevail. Dodgers have bailed out Scherzer twice in a row in case things go sideways for him.
At the very least, the Wild card should be best of 3 like last year. Again, we have a team that won 106 games having to play a 1 game do or die while other teams who were nowhere as good as far as over all record goes advance right into the Division series best of 5..
30 years ago, Dodgers would have been left out of the postseason and people would be whining about expanding the playoffs.
So any playoff is a plus in 2021
Exactly! Let’s be thankful for the opportunity to win another WS.
There absolutely needs to be a solid Plan B, whatever that is, in place if in the (unlikely) event Scherzer is not up to par. I do not want to see him in too long if he is struggling or the Dodgers’ scrambling to figure out which reliever to call on and when. Whomever it is will need to be ready to go if called upon. But until that happens, I have confidence that Scherzer can handle this and our offense will come through (hopefully early on) against Wainwright.
I have no doubt there are contingency plans in place should the game get away from Mad Max (very unlikely IMHO). We saw a very solid manager (Aaron Boone) have a quick hook with his Ace, Gerrit Cole last night. The more likely scenario is the game gets away quickly from Waino. Dodger lineup vs Cards lineup, which would you rather face??