Dodgers: Recap On What Went Wrong in the NLDS For The Dodgers?
The mighty Dodgers have fallen, I repeat, the mighty Dodgers have fallen. The team that won 111 games, the team that had the best-run differential by 100 plus, the team that had the best offense and best team ERA is gone, finished, departed, and has evaporated into thin air.
The Boys in Blue had one common goal, and they were also unable to accomplish that goal by a wide margin, failing to get out of the division series.
If you haven’t heard, the Dodgers were eliminated by their division rival, yes rival, San Diego Padres, last night.
But how did they happen? The Dodgers dominated the Padres for the past decade; how did they manage to slay the dragon? Let’s take a look at how they managed to do so.
Game 1
The Dodgers looked like the Dodgers to kick off game one. Mike Clevinger was on the hill for San Diego, and the Dodgers have dominated Clevinger all season long.
LA wasted no time in the first inning as they took a 2-0 lead after the first and scored three more runs in the third inning. After the Dodgers chased Clevinger out, the Padres bullpen held it down. Their bullpen pitched 5.1 innings, allowing zero hits, zero runs, only two walks, and seven strikeouts. However, the early offense was enough for the Dodgers, so they eeked out the win 5-3 to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Game 2
The Dodgers solo homered in the first three innings; Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, and Trea Turner hit the long ball. However, that was all the Dodgers’ offense managed to do.
Clayton Kershaw was on the hill for LA but was not sharp. Kershaw went five innings, allowed six hits, three earned runs, and six strikeouts. His counterpart Yu Darvish had a similar stat line going five innings, allowing seven hits, three earned runs, and seven strikeouts. Even though the numbers were identical, the Padres threatened many times as they constantly had runners on second and third with opportunities to score.
The Dodgers were not able to rally. Robert Suarez was on the hill for San Diego when the Dodgers had runners at the corner with 0 outs in the sixth inning. That resulted in a Justin Turner strikeout and Gavin Lux ending inning double play. And once again, in the seventh innings, Dodgers threatened with bases loaded, resulting in a Will Smith flyout to end the inning by Suarez.
Cronenworth gets an insurance run in the eight, which pretty much sealed it for Los Angeles to tie the series at 1-1.
Game 3
I’ll put it like this, to sum up, this game, the Dodger offense was nonexistent, and runs were stranded on bases repeatedly. Los Angeles only scored one run, which came in the fifth inning, due to a Mookie Betts sacrifice fly that brought in Trayce Thompson.
Dodgers only totaled six hits, and the big three went a combined 2-for-10 with one RBI. The Padres bullpen was the difference, as they only allowed one hit and zero earned runs.
The Dodgers’ bullpen was phenomenal, but it was not enough, as the Dodgers’ offense was left in the regular season. The Padres are up 2-1.
Game 4
The Dodgers started hot in game four. Freddie Freeman delivered in the clutch in the third inning as he doubled to the right and brought Mookie Betts and Trea Turner.
In the meantime, Tyler Anderson was shoving going five innings, allowing only two hits, zero earned runs, and six strikeouts. However, with questionable decisions made by Dave Roberts, the Padres took advantage as they scored five runs in the seventh inning; three of those runs were charged to Tommy Kahnle and two to Yency Almonte.
All the momentum had shifted, and with the rain coming down into the eighth, the Dodgers didn’t stand a chance. Josh Hader entered for the Padres, and they completed one of the biggest upsets in baseball history.
Recap
Whether you blame it on Roberts or inefficient offense, the Dodgers cannot perform in the postseason. One for seven in the Dave Roberts era is unacceptable, especially in Los Angeles. I expect significant, necessary changes to come in the off-season; if they don’t, don’t be surprised if we’re in the same boat next season. Get ready for a long winter, Dodger fans.
Coach Roberts should be fired..Period!!!?
Right now the Braves, Mets, Cardinals, Dodgers, are all gone and the Yankees are behind. You can make an argument that underdogs play loose with nothing to lose. Their fan and press bases don’t get dramatic and call for everyone’s head if they lose a short series. They just cheer like mad. The favorites have everything that happens dissected as the good author has done here. The fan base is getting rid of everyone except Kershaw. The Astros know how to play both sides evidently and manage, let’s see if the Yankees join them. MLB will be upset if they don’t have 2 large market teams generating tv revenues.
Astros fan here. Sorry you guys didn’t get to play us in the WS. Bring back Roberts, Turner and Belli, give them all massive raises, and try, try again. LOL.
Time for Robert’s to move on and finally make the change, as we constantly repeat the same outcome year after year. JT can’t be resigned…also time to move on. Need to part ways with Beli…he’s had enough time to make his necessary changes and they haven’t come. I would offer Trea 4 to 5 years only. If not, I hate to say this, but sign Correa. We need swag and attitude. Has been missing since Kiki and Joc left. Finally, stop hoarding our minor leaguers. We need immediate talent, not 4 years down the road. This is a very painful loss and it shouldn’t have happened.
That’s gotta hurt.
Dave Roberts has been horrible for Years. Mgmt are blind organization is a big blunder our group
Absolutely! Get rid of that pathetic man who wants to be THE STAR by micromanaging everything ad nauseum. And get rid of Friedman who is probably telling him to do half the things he does, and who is so stingy with his millions he always settles for retreads and reclamation projects and can’t ever get a competent bullpen for postseason games..
We did have a competent bullpen….it was mismanaged by Friedman and Roberts. Friedman’s team feeds Robert’s the script to follow to a tee. The eye test says you keep going with Anderson.
It’s easy to blame Roberts, and I do agree that he made some big mistakes with pitching. But if you read the LA Times today, then you know that many of those decisions were dictated before the game by upper management, mainly Friedman. So let’s give him a big slice of the credit for the Dodgers post-season failure. And their big hitters, too.
Guys, it’s really 2 out of 7 with one getting cheated away from us.
We’re fine.
My AS*. It is about time 2017 is forgotten. This team needs a manager that knows what the heck he is doing. Roberts has mismanaged the pitching staff since he was hired. Every time he struts out to the mound I want to puke. This team needs some new blood and that means getting rid of Belli and not resigning JT to a player contract, but find something else in the organization for him. Regardless of the cost they should sign DeGrom and as much as some Dodger loyalists don’t want to see Correa signed, he would be what this team needs, Again, I repeat, FOERGET 2017!
You guys are a disgrace to revenge.
Well written by the LA Times….
The NHL honors the best team in the regular season with the Presidents’ Trophy. The trophy winner has not won the Stanley Cup tournament in nine years. The Dodgers get all the aggravation of getting bounced from their league’s championship tournament, and they do not even get a trophy to show for it.
Since 1993, when the Miami Marlins made their debut, the Marlins have three playoff appearances, the Dodgers 16. The Marlins have two World Series championships, the Dodgers one.
If it is all about the rings, the Marlins are the more successful franchise. Are they, really?
The team needs a passionate player, just as Kiki and Pederson did. JT is not only a clubhouse leader, but he is no longer competitive. This team needs a bad guy who wants to win the game. Also, Roberts is not a real manager. He is only Friedman’s puppet and a friend of the players. There is no enthusiasm in him
As a Dodger fan since the 1959 World Series against the Chisox, the last six Dodger NLDS teams seem to lack the will and determination to grind it out, play scrappy LITTLE LEAGUE baseball (e.g. bunting, stealing bases, SF’s etc). Combine that with Dave Roberts’ willingness to change pitchers with questionable impact in close games, is also questionable. Why take Tyler Anderson out of Game 4 in the 2020 NLDS since he was the only starter who seemed determined to win! Combine that with Friedman’s reluctance to a). Re-sign Kenly Jansen b). Trade for a quality starting pitcher c). Sign a quality DH. The results of this year’s NLDS despite a franchise win record, is evident that serious changes need to be made if the Dodger want to come close to the performance of the 2022 regular season!
Padres’ MVP, Dave Fraudberts.
There’s no urgency, no burn to win. A team that truly wants to win you can see it in their eyes. You don’t see that fire in Roberts and the so called professional approach doesn’t mean wins. You can’t be matter of fact professional with all the stats ruling every action. The Gibson homerun would never happen under Roberts. The thing wrong with the Dodgers? No fire.
Exactly. I couldn’t have said that better myself.
To (probably) paraphrase ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results’. The Dodgers were definitely guilty of this. When they were not hitting they refused to change strategy, play some small ball ( despite how many non-traditional fans seem to hate it) and stir things up. I think the most exciting moment in the series for the Dodgers may have been Trea Turner’s bunt single. Caught the padres totally off guard and they flubbed the play. May not be glamorous, but bunting, stealing, advancing the runner can really work, especially when you’re not clobbering the ball and stringing together extra base hits..
Unfortunately, this bunt, was, of course not followed up with singles, walks etc and it turned out to be a singular event.
As for strategy in general metrics might have been good in the regular season, but don’t match up against a fired up team in the post-season. It seemed that the padres played most of our players straight away and still won. Things will be different next year; no shift, larger bases, limited pickoff throws to first and other changes. We can expect, given these changes that there will be more speed involved, which could be a positive thing for the Dodgers. Mookie, Trea and Lux all have excellent speed and Freeman is an excellent runner.
We do need some changes. Bellinger appears incapable of returning as an offensive force and is not worth keeping for his admittedly great defense. Taylor strikes out too much to be an everyday player and Joey Gallo quickly regressed to strike out king after some initial Dodger success. He should be gone. Kimbrel should be gone. Price will probably retire and I would love to see JT in some position with the Dodgers, but his hitting has become too streaky and evaporated in the post-season. He is also the slowest runner on the team and hits in more than his share of double plays, many inning ending. Trea is an exciting player and we need more like that. .
Kershaw may be back next year, but don’t expect 7-8 inning games out of him. Gonsolin showed a lot of promise before his injury and Anderson pitched well. Be nice to see him back.. Julio was good, but seemed at some times to have trouble commanding his pitches and getting into too much trouble.. Hopefully May will have corrected the same problem by 2023. Heaney gives up way too many homers despite his strikeout prowess. Doubt we will see him next year. . Think we will have to add at least one quality starter, since we probably won’t see Buehler until at least mid season 2023 and he may come with the same command issues May has had for a while.. .
In the outfield Mookie is solid, although he underperformed offensively in the post-season.. We may have to trade or promote to get a center fielder and everyday left fielder. Trayce showed a lot of promise early on and is very good defensively, but seemed to fall apart offensively in the post-season. Would love to see them give James Outman a chance. He was only up for a cup of coffee, but showed good defense, hitting and some enthusiasm, which this team at times seems to lack. I think we do lack a little fire and we need a take charge fire ’em up type of player. .
Freeman is going to be a mainstay, although he did have some offensive trouble in the post-season. Lux, after the neck injury, did not come back string offensively and lost some 20 points in average. He was batting almost .300 and hitting both righties and lefties and doing well at hitting to the opposite field before the injury.. He does need more work defensively at 2nd. Muncy, despite a terrible start, which he finally admitted was due to his injury, came back stronger and was able to get a few hits and get his usual walks, although he frequently was left on base. Defensively he improved much at 3rd, which I think now has become his best position.
Roberts, assuming he remains, has to learn how to use relievers better. Vesia and Graterol should only start clean innings. I can’t blame him for using Almonte, Martin and Kahnle, as they had been great down the stretch, as was Phillips, although Almonte and Kahnle had pitched in limited innings. . The decision to keep Smith in the cleanup position after he appeared clueless starting in game 2 was a bad mistake. Given a possible increase in stolen bases next year he and Barnes will both have to work on throwing to second and the pitchers on holding runners. It seemed that anyone trying to steal against this team this year was given a free pass. That has to change. Don’t expect a young Yadier Molina, but we can do better.
Let’s hope the Dodgers make some needed changes and show some more flexibility and fire next year. Meanwhile I’m hoping the Phillies take the padres. Can’t stand to see Machado’s arrogant smirking face.
Dodgers just did not hit even at the end of the season. And it continued into the post season. They just stopped hitting. Did some calculations. In the last 16 games of the season, they went 9-7, scored 3.5 runs per as opposed to 5.2 for the whole season. In those same 16 games they batted .217. Prior to that they batted .260. Scored 10+ runs 19 times during the season. Just once in the last 16. Yet, many will blame Roberts, who does not bat. Have an anemic team batting average, you are not going to win many games.
That couldnt more true of their failure to hit in crucial situations. They did the same last year with Atl. couldn’t hit in key situations with RISP. This year same situation the last 3 games they lost 2 for 26 with RISP, they seem like they don’t do well in short series.