Post-World Series Thread: WELP

*Ron Howard voice* They didn't.

Post-Series Thread: Still Nervous Time Regarding Houston

Well, that series didn't quite go as I had hoped.

Coming off a killer pair of victories against the Brewers, we hosted the Houston Astros only to get shut down by Justin Verlander (14 Ks) on Friday, then slaughtered 14-0 on Saturday, before winning Sunday's finale in a tense 3-2 victory.

Sunday's heroes were Walker Buehler (8 Ks over 5.1 IP), new Dodger Brian Dozier (two-run double in the bottom of the first, to put the Dodgers up 2-1), and Cody Bellinger (RBI double in the third). Manny Machado went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. And while our squad nurses injuries to Alex Wood (tendinitis), Erik Goeddel (right lat inflammation), Yasiel Puig (oblique), and Matt Kemp (ankle, not to mention a batting slump), Houston also came away with injuries to Lance McCullers and George Springer (whose leadoff HR Sunday was thankfully short-lived). That's a lot of casualties in a weekend series, which compounds the overall concern about the Dodgers' chances to win a World Series with this squad.

The LAT's Dylan Hernandez greeted us this morning with concern not of the Astros, but of winning the NL West:

When the Dodgers moved into first place for the first time on July 12, the expectation was for them have a comfortable lead over the Diamondbacks and Rockies by now.

Only the anticipated midseason surge by the Dodgers hasn’t materialized and here they are, still clustered with a group of so-so teams. And if the season ended Sunday, neither the Dodgers nor the Diamondbacks would be in position for a wild card spot. The Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves would play in the wild card game.

“I think that it’s a lot [harder] than saying you get to first place and you’re just going to leave everyone behind you,” manager Dave Roberts said.

The reality is that the Dodgers aren’t as good as they were last season. As much as Andrew Friedman’s front office was credited with building a team that reached the World Series, it’s undeniable that the group’s efforts were aided by a league-high payroll.

The Dodgers are now operating with a budget, the $197-million luxury-tax threshold.

They have something of a feast-or-famine lineup. Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig were sidelined with injuries Sunday, but the Dodgers nonetheless started eight position players who averaged almost 19 home runs between them. Remove Manny Machado from the group, however, and the highest batting average entering the game was Joc Pederson’s .261.

If the Dodgers were criticized in previous seasons for constructing teams that were better suited for the regular season than the playoffs, the opposite is now the case.

But look, we ended up the weekend tied with the Diamondbacks, whom we can watch play the Phillies tonight at 6.40p (Arrieta (9-6, 3.32) vs. Godley (12-6, 4.46)). We may get back to outright first place by the end of the night, while we enjoy our first off-day since the All-Star break, before pitting Rich Hill against his former Sean Manaea and his former team.

And, Roberto Osuna didn't pitch this weekend, saving Osuna from inevitable boos, and allowing the Astros to postpone heralding the further erosion of any possible integrity for another day. So that's a win, I suppose.

Lest you fall down the Dylan Hernandez rabbit hole, I should remind you that Baseball Prospectus' playoff odds have the Dodgers at a 62.1% chance to win the division, with the Diamondbacks at 29.0%. We still wield the World Series of any NL team (13.3%), trailing only Houston (17.0%) in the majors.

Ah yes, Houston. I'm hoping we don't have to see them again this year, as this series didn't give me a lot of hope. But we move on.

Let's lick our wounds and get cracking on the divisional title, boys.

Post-Game 4 Thread: Dodgers Outscore Giants 14-2 in Series, Escape with Split

DODGERS 9, GIANTS 0

Not much to recap — just wanted to use that title.

Post-Game 1 Thread / At-Game Recap: Dodgers Opening Day 2018, 60 Year Anniversary

The 2018 Dodgers take the field.

The Dodgers had their 2018 Opening Day yesterday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, and it was without a doubt the worst Opening Day I've attended in probably a decade. I remember Orlando Hudson hitting for the cycle on Opening Day 2009. I remember 2012 when Matt Kemp hit a home run in the home opener. I remember 2013 when we shut out the Giants, Clayton Kershaw outdueling Matt Cain.

And of course, I vividly remember watching the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks in Sydney, Australia, for the MLB season opening series.

2018 Opening Day? It was not fun. The Dodgers lost, 1-0 to the Giants, despite a great Clayton Kershaw outing that was blemished by a cheapie Joe Panik shot that just slipped inside the right field foul pole. It wasn't Clayton's fault, though; he went six innings and had seven Ks, scattering eight hits and yielding just the one earned run.

The Dodgers' offense, though, was simply woeful. The top five in our lineup: Chris Taylor, Corey Seager, Yasiel Puig, Kike Hernandez, and Cody Bellinger, all went a collective 0-for-17 with two walks (both Hernandez) and eight Ks (two each from the other four players). All of them looked like they were trying to swing for the fences and lost patience. Taylor was caught looking (a la Carlos Beltran) with the Dodgers' last best chance (runners at the corners with two out in the seventh). (To be fair, Taylor knew it, and looked really pissed off after that wasted opportunity.)

Yasmani Grandal went 2-for-3 but also was swinging mightily. It's so bad, Kershaw himself leads the Dodgers in batting average, having gone 2-for-2 (and showing more patience than most of the other guys in the lineup).

Do we miss Justin Turner? Absolutely. This team had none of the complexion of the 2017 National League Champions. In fact, they looked a little like the Dodgers teams in the late 2000s where they could barely eke out runs, so much so that when we got behind, it felt like it was over.

Really, a bad performance by the Dodgers yesterday. The sewage spill from Tuesday's preseason game might have been repaired, but the product on the field still had a little bit of a stench.

The Dodgers' 60-year anniversary logo, on the left field edifice.

On top of all that, the pageantry that is normally incredible for Opening Day, felt a little bit...muted. The national anthem was passable but the flyover came late (bad timing). The pre-game montage honoring Kirk Gibson, who threw out the first pitch, was compassionate, but didn't feel inspiring. In fact, the 60 years anniversary that the Dodgers are celebrating in Los Angeles, made the team feel more steeped in history rather than currently relevant.

I didn't like this Opening Day.

They fixed the padding on my seat (which is good!). However...

...the new netting that extends to the edge of the dugout will take some getting used to.

So about this extended netting. I get it, I appreciate the need for improved safety, and I have to say, it was nice to finally not have to freak out every time a left-handed batter was going up against Kershaw, just in case a late swing on a fastball would have a ball come rocketing into my section (I've seen it happen, and that's why you have to pay attention to the game!). And I agree with Deadspin, the NYT Op-Ed piece complaining about the netting is lame.

But the netting did make it more difficult to see the right field scoreboard from our seats; the new upper-and-lowercase fonts for the team lineups is particularly difficult to make out. Plus, the left field scoreboard was so busy prompting factoids about the batters (would have loved to have seen "Buster Posey's name anagrams to 'Oyster Pubes'!"), that it didn't show the key relevant fact recapping prior at-bats that game.

The pregame video montages were fine--and we saw a lot of them, arriving at the stadium two hours before first pitch--but behind the netting, it all just felt a little...distant.

At least the player introductions were sweet:

Yeah, it's always great to be at Dodger Stadium for Opening Day. This one was just not as cool as the other ones I've been lucky to attend. And of course, the outcome sucked; we shouldn't be losing to the Giants, like, ever. It was nice to have a 4p start, even if it did seem like everything was a little off, all day.

But man, we miss Turner. Get well soon, JT.