Dodgers NLDS: Things To Be Worried About in Game 5
The Dodgers and Giants will go at it 1 more time this season with everything on the line. After San Francisco took a game lead over them, Los Angeles came back in a big way on Wednesday night in Game 4.
Now the series turns to San Francisco as the Dodgers look to move on the to Championship Series against Atlanta. The good news is that Los Angeles is coming off of a big win and rolling into the next game. But with everything on the line, there are a few things to watch out for.
Logan Webb Dealing Again
The last time the Dodgers faced Logan Webb, things went very poorly. The young righty tossed 7.2 scoreless innings and gave up just 5 hits while punching out 10. They have to make him work early and get his pitch count up, but they also need to hit pitches in the zone.
It will be a fine line that they’ll be walking as they try to knock Webb out of this one early. The Giants will have all-hands-on-deck in this one with Kevin Gausman and Alex Wood both available in relief behind Webb.
Dodgers Offense Stalling Out
The Dodgers offense has put up 16 runs in 4 games during this Division Series. The problem is that they have been shut out in 2 of those games. So while the bats have shown that they can indeed come alive, they’ve stalled out far too often.
Dodgers Related: Gavin Lux Will Be in the Game 5 Lineup
Stalling out in Game 5 would be the dagger for the Dodgers. Los Angeles needs guys like Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, and Trea Turner to get things going at the top of the order. Those 3 have combined for 3 hits in 23 at-bats during the 2 losses.
While they haven’t been much better during the wins, they’ve been good enough to get the job done.
Umpiring
The bad news is that the Dodgers will have another questionable umpire behind homeplate. Doug Eddings ranks near the bottom of the barrel for MLB umpire accuracy in 2021, and he’ll be calling balls and strikes on Thursday night.
Let’s hope that if he’s off again, he’s at least consistent with it.
Dodgers: Nothing Was Going to Stop Walker Buehler From Taking the Mound in Game 4
I doubt they’d bring in Gausman with the way the Dodgers hit him, but if Wood is available, I assume so would Max Scherzer. If the Dodgers can get a shutout of their own, I’m not worried about our offense.
How does the Umpire with the worst accuracy even get the nod to Umpire any of the playoff games? If this doesn’t have the stink of an Umpire dictating the outcome of games with the MLB wink-winking openly.
this is a great question.. only the best should be there, like the best teams are
It’s called the Angel Hernandez rule. He sued MLB for discrimination because he never got to ump in post season. Umps get paid extra for post season. He said it was race based and not his incompetence. Now MLB just rotates umps thru. It doesn’t have anything to do with their performance any longer. Now that replay is in effect it minimizes damage umps can do anyway. And once MLB implements electronic balls and strikes almost anybody could ump.
Webbie got alot of charitable calls the first time around. Lets hope its not as bad this time.
Bubba, I completely agree! Webb’s strikezone was much bigger than Buehler’s in game 1. It would be just another baseball travesty if the Umpire is the one deciding the game rather than the players!
The dodgers have to not give Posey anything to hit. Jam the bases with him he’s slow. And don’t let him kill us…..Focus on Bryant and Crawford….The only way the Dodgers will win this game is to get out to a 2-3 run lead. And if we get behind it’s over. Wood and the rest of their pen will be rested and the Dodgers aren’t good from behind….Urias has to keep his pitch count down so hopefully the Ump if all over the place will force the hitters to be aggressive. The team wins when they swing early and often….
Correct on finally figuring how to get Posey out. Defense will be another key to the game and most importantly, as Roberts said on MLBN, Dodgers cannot approach the plate with swinging for the slug Webb doesn’t give up much inthe way of the long ball so a different approach is a must.
Dodgers are ready for this. Julio is ready, Lux and Belli are ready, the hitters are all ready now that in the last few games they are back to taking pitches that are balls. Shrink the strike zone, don’t expand it. Dodgers owe the gnats big time and are coming to take the NLDS!
The Giants have to be feeling some heat now don’t they? They haven’t been stressed all year long. Let’s see how they respond.
The way I’m seeing this, Urias has 3 batters to “worry” about, Posey, Bryant, and Crawford. The rest of the Giants haven’t done much. Webb has 9 to worry about. Advantage Dodgers.
Very true. The part that concerns me is the uncanny way they are always finding ways to win. We can’t make any mistakes. But true, let’s see if they can handle the pressure like we all know the Dodgers can.
Go dodgers Patience at bat…make pitcher work and get scoring first.
Webb is tough but you know him now so play and bat smart
Bad umpires, like bad players, are ruining the game. Once again, everything is stacked against the Dodgers. MLB only allowed a game 5 for the ratings.
Jim, ain’t that the truth! Will be interesting to see what MLB will give us for the outcome of game 5! No doubt in my mind it’s up to them and not the players unfortunately.
If we loose, Roberts will be fired.
You want the team to be tight?
What does that mean?
I hope not to see Angel Hernandez behind the plate. The Dodgers are going to have to beat Webb by being patient, especially with his slider, and put the pressure on Webb by playing small ball to get on base. If we can score early, I believe that Webb may get rattled a bit (and that is all we will need to take advantage.) Hitting HRs are great, but the liklihood of doing so against this pitcher is not very high unless the Dodgers rattle him. Now the closer, as we saw with Lux’s AB, may be something different towards the end of the game, but I hope it does not come down to last minute Dodgers’ heroics. Urias has experience and poise and our bullpen is solid which should work in our favor, but the Giants have their raucous crowd and their power hitting veterans. The odds are against us at Oracle but we will manage as long as our offense shows up to handle Webb. I do not want our season to end tonight so….GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
B McP, home plate umpire for tonight’s game is Doug Eddings. Track record as poor as Angel Hernandez. I just pray he’s not being given a directive by MLB to decide the outcome and let’s the players decide it!
For F sake, why do you post such crap? If an umpire is bad he’s generally bad for both teams. But you have to be certain to understand the ump and take advantage as possible. If he’s calling it tight you can’t keep working the corners, for example.
I’m all for electronic balls and strikes, but until then the Dodgers, and their fans, should stop whining about the strike zone. It’s really a bad look when you have the most talented and most expensive roster in the game.
The DODGERS need not worry about any thing or anyone but what the task is at hand. It does no one any good to worry about the past performances of any player on any team ! Only thing that needs to be done is to play 9 Solid innings of baseball nothing else 100%! THINK ?? BLUE ?
Gilbert, both yes and no. Yes you do need to focus on the task at hand. But lest you forget your history, you are bound to get burned by it! More specifically, you simply cannot let Posey beat you. If someone else does, so be it.
I know he’s been very good lately but my biggest concern is Kenley. Also Bazooka and Kelly can’t walk people. Let’s do it tonight!
Yes, now is not the time for KJ to choke.
Roberts making this a bullpen start!!?? What the heck??!! This game 5!!! Winner take all!! Uriah is willing and able!! Giants getting a HUGE Break!! They’ll need to KO Webb!!
HALLELUJAH!!!!