Random rantings and ravings about the Los Angeles Dodgers, written by a small consortium of rabid Dodger fans. With occasional comments on baseball, entertainment, pop culture, and life in general.
Let's take the Brewers' NLCS Game 1 pitching lineup as an anomaly. The good news is, we've now gotten a good look at six of Milwaukee's relievers, especially Quinn Priester, who pitched innings two through five. And we did get some hits and walks off them (7 H and 8 BB, respectfully), against only 4 Ks, showing better plate discipline than we had against the Phillies in the NLCS.
But today's Game 2 features an actual starting pitcher for the Brewers, Freddy Peralta, and he's a pretty good one at that. Peralta's 5.5 WAR and 2.70 ERA this year ranked him seventh in the majors. Peralta also shut us down in the first of two starts against the Dodgers this year (July 7: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB and 7 Ks), and he earned the win (but was less effective) in his second start against us (July 19: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB and 4 Ks). Perhaps that bodes well for the Dodgers, as he's at least trending in a favorable direction.
(Peralta also started twice in the 2025 NLDS against the Cubs: winning NLDS G1 (5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB and 9 Ks), but losing NLDS G4 (4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB and 6 Ks). Again, trending in a favorable direction.)
But let's not get distracted from some glaring issues with our own lineup. Shohei Ohtani, 0-for-2 (albeit with 3 BBs) yesterday, is now batting .138 in the leadoff spot. Mookie Betts was 0-for-4 and Teoscar Hernadez 0-for-3 yesterday.
Without those three hitting, we barely eked out the two runs we needed to win Game 1--but let's remember, we've scored two runs or fewer against the Brewers in five of seven games this season, and last night's game was the only time we came out with a win.
And Andy Pages, 0-for-3 yesterday, is now batting .037 in the postseason. I mean, I don't hope for Michael Conforto (who thankfully is not on the NLCS roster). But even he can hit better than .037.
Not to mention, Teoscar fricking' TOOTBLANned yesterday, as well.
If the best highlight the Brewers get from the 2025 NLCS is this absurd double play, I'd be thrilled. Unfortunately, I think they'll have many more highlights in this series. Hopefully, just not any Brewers highlights tonight.
And from the plate, the missed opportunities were more glaring. The Dodgers were 1-for-10 with RISP, 11 total LOB, in Game 1. And if not for Freddie Freeman's solo HR in the sixth, and then Betts' bases-loaded walk RBI in the ninth, we would have been shut out altogether by the effective patchwork of Brewers arms.
But Blake Treinen saved Roki Sasaki's lack of sharpness tonight in the bottom of the ninth, staunching the bleeding after the Brewers scored one run and had the bases loaded, by striking out Brice Turang to notch the Game 1 victory.
We won't be able to depend upon game sloppiness and a moribund offense, if we want to win this series.
Not to mention, we won't be able to expect our starters to go eight full scoreless innings and face the minimum number of batters (24), like Blake Snell did tonight. 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 10 Ks. Unbelievable outing by Snell, who put the Dodgers on his back for this NLCS Game 1 victory.
We stole this road win. Let's be sharper tomorrow, okay? (I'm looking at you, Teoscar.)
Let's start with the negative: the Dodgers were basically a mediocre road team this year (41-40), but against the Brewers, the Dodgers came up short both on the road AND at home, losing all six games to Milwaukee this year. In the three games in Milwaukee, we scored a total of four runs, never scoring more than two runs in a game.
So tonight's game at Miller Park American Family Field should not give the Dodgers a ton of hope or momentum, especially coming off of a very fortunate NLDS victory that was partially handed to us by a game-ending error (another weak offensive performance by the Dodgers, might I add).
As a result, I'm not feeling confident heading into this NLCS. The Phillies were a tough opponent in the NLDS, and we barely snuck by them and advanced. The Brewers play great defense, kill you with small ball, and have a grizzled coach who has his team believing. Can the Dodgers, with their bullpen cupboard bare, and their main slugger batting .148 this postseason, really feel like they've got what it takes to win?
We're going to have to step the hell up here. Like Roki Sasaki in the NLDS.
Now that was awesome.
LET'S GO, DODGERS!
UPDATE 10:48a: Ben Casparius makes the NLCS roster; Dalton Rushing (as a third catcher) left off.
MILWAUKEE -- The Los Angeles Dodgers will start lefty Blake Snell in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night while righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto will get the ball in Game 2. It means Shohei Ohtani will get just one start in the series, during the middle leg back in Los Angeles.
"He'll pitch at some point, but we just don't know which day," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Sunday.
Unlike in previous spots, the Dodgers are not concerned with pitching Ohtani before a day off, choosing to maximize rest for the other starters as the team embarks on its first best-of-seven series this postseason.
"Not as important," Roberts said. "I think just appreciating having four starters in a potential seven-game series and who can pitch potentially twice, and that's kind of the impetus, versus Shohei having that day off after a game."
No starting pitchers named as of this post creation (Friday Oct 10, 9.30p PT). I am out of pocket today but will be keeping tabs on this game.
I can't even pontificate about who'd we prefer to win (we were 0-6 against the Brewers this year; however we were only 3-4 against the Cubs this year, and that includes two wins in Tokyo).
I'm just hoping for a 26-inning game that uses all pitchers on both teams.
In a tense affair that only took 3:30 to complete but felt like an eternity, the Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies on an improbable error, with Orion Kerkering panicking after a botched comebacker, ultimately throwing the ball to the wrong base and wide of catcher J.T. Realmuto, allowing Dodgers pinchrunner Hyeseong Kim to score the game-winning run.
I was at the game and would not have believed this ending despite seeing it with my own eyes.
I guess you can now spell "Phillies" with three Ls.
The truth is, either team could have easily won this series. The Dodgers stole Game 1 in Philadelphia, and then barely survived Game 2, to put Los Angeles in a pretty comfortable position. But after squandering Game 3, it seemed like this Game 4, which rested on a razor's edge, could have gone either way.
Had the Dodgers lost NLDS Game 4, I have to think we would not have been favored to win the series in a winner-take-all Game 5, given the hostility of Citizens Bank Park, not to mention our recent performance where we just squeaked to victories by our fingernails.
But key Dodgers stepped up here in Game 4 to deliver us the win, and we have to give them their rightful commendations:
Tyler Glasnow was nails. Yes, Glasnow's reputation of fragility, coupled with the fact that he only started 18 games for us this year, made me skeptical that we'd see him finish even three innings. But Glasnow's line: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB and 8 Ks--outdid Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez's numbers (6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 5 Ks).
I wasn't sure why we took Glasnow out after only 83 pitches and six innings, because he was dealing, but I've since read that he was cramping. But his performance kept us in the game, for sure.
Emmet Sheehan held up. Sure, he made an error that cost us a run. But the kid has now pitched in three 2025 postseason games and is getting a little bit sharper each time. He had a strikeout in Game 1 (2.0 IP) and a strikeout in G4 (1.0 IP), and thought his ERA is still 10.80 this postseason, he's a viable middle-inning bridge, which we need. Keep up the progress, Emmet!
Roki Sasaki, of course, was the breakout story of the day. Holy shit, Batman. Given all the hype of his signing, then the clear discomfort and shaky performances early on this year, and then missing most of the year with a shoulder injury--there was absolutely no way one would think Sasaki would become the postseason closer beast that has emerged late in 2025. Since returning from injury on September 24, Sasaki pitched in only two regular-season games (one inning each; 0 ER and 4 Ks). And then, despite ratcheting up the pressure in each 2025 postseason appearance, Sasaki has shined.
But Game 4's performance, asking the rookie to go three innings of work and watching him face nine batters and sit all nine down--one would have never expected this. Sasaki just hit another level, in a role that he wasn't even expected to play. I can't think of a comparable example. It's amazing.
Clayton Kershaw wore it in Game 3, so that we could have everyone ready for Game 4. Watching Kershaw struggle on Wednesday was just gut-wrenching awful. But if he doesn't pitch those two innings, we use up some of the few options we have in that corroded bullpen (even more corroded now that Tanner Scott is out through the NLCS, not that we'd really feel comfortable using Scott these days, anyway). Hopefully, us advancing to the NLCS will give Kershaw a chance to whittle down his truly unfair 2025 postseason 18.00 ERA (not to mention, his career 4.63 postseason ERA).
The bottom of our lineup broke through. Tommy Edman, who was roping some balls earlier in the game, finally broke through with a single to left in the 11th, for his first hit of the game. Then Max Muncy clutched up and singled to center, advancing pinch-runner Kim to third, and knocking out Phillies Game-5-starter-turned-reliever Jesus Luzardo. Then Kiké Hernandez--now batting .318 with a .809 OPS this postseason, both marks ahead of Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman!--worked the count to earn a walk and load the bases.
And that set up the dramatics for Andy Pages--batting a microscopic .042 with a .122 OPS this postseason--to hit the comebacker that quickly unfolded into an error, with Kim crossing the plate and the Dodgers winning the game. But all four of those players were our 6-7-8-9 in the lineup on Thursday; the heroics were all theirs.
Dave Roberts, again, made all the right calls and beat Phillies manager Rob Thomson in the chess match. Roberts gets a lot of flack, and I know I defend him more than most. But honestly, with Thomson going to closer Jhoan Duran in the seventh inning (Duran ended up blowing ths save by walking Mookie Betts with the bases loaded, which was amazing); then throwing his Game 5 starter in the tenth inning, in a do-or-die move--Thomson was trying everything to give his team the win.
But Roberts' bullpen choices, even going back to how he (ab)used Kershaw in Game 4 (see above), proved to be key. Pushing Sasaki for three frames in Game 3 was ballsy, and it worked out (and so did using Alex Vesia in the 11th, and Vesia might be gaining some girth on his trust tree branch of late). It seems like Doc has gotten a lot better over time about reading the moment and trusting his players in key situations; it may not always work out, but it seems to be successful more often than not. Now, why we are sticking with starting Pages is another issue.
And look, I hated to see it end on Orion Kerkering's shoulders like that. He just freaked out, with 50,000 fans screaming and a bobbled ball that shifted things from routine to chaos in an instant. Yeah, maybe he should have thrown to first base to get Pages. And the play at the plate might have been close. But you don't like to see a walk-off error. I feel for the guy.
Needless to say, it wasn't his fault that the Phillies are going home. Look at their big three: Trea Turner, 0-for-5 on Thursday with 2 Ks, finishing with a .235 average and .551 OPS (Turner did make a sweet defensive play in Game 4 on a grounder). Kyle Schwarber, who erupted for two home runs in Game 3, was a sad 1-for-5 in Game 4, also with 2 Ks, finishing the postseason with a .188 average (and .903 OPS). Bryce Harper, who has not fared well in Dodger Stadium in his career, went 0-for-4 and finished with a .200 average and .600 OPS.
So in NLDS Game 4, combined, Philly's big three went 1-for-14 with 4 Ks.
Now look, our big three didn't do much better: 2-for-13 with 5 Ks across Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman (Roberts wedged Teoscar Hernandez in there for Game 4, batting third but he was worse: 1-for-5 with 3 Ks on his own). Ohtani and Freeman look pretty bad right now, which some speculate is because Philadelphia's lefties are so strong. You know who else has strong lefty pitching? The Cubs (who play a winner-take-all game in Milwaukee Saturday). Gulp.
But I'll think about our adjustments that we'll need to make for the NLCS later. For now, I'm going to revel in the fact that the Dodgers are moving on, having vanquished the team that many believe would be our biggest obstacle this 2025 postseason.
After sitting through 11 innings of totally clenched ball last night, I'm still pretty nervous.
Tyler Glasnow (4-3, 3.19) vs. Cristopher Sanchez (13-5, 2.50).
So many things went wrong for the Dodgers last night, in Game 3. Andy Pages' moribund play both at the plate and in the field. Having to leave Clayton Kershaw out there when he clearly had trouble finding the strike zone. Watching Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman have a third straight game without much pop in the bats.
And worst of all, we've awakened Kyle Schwarber, not to mention given signs of life to Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. This is not good.
Meanwhile, we've got this guy starting NLDS Game 4, after watching him struggle to get through five outs back in Game 1. (And remember, Sanchez notched eight strikeouts against us in Game 1, basically shutting us down until the sixth inning.)
So I'm throwing a hail mary here and I'm going to 2025 NLDS Game 4. It's do or die. I have a bad feeling that I know the outcome already, though.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8, 2.49) vs. Aaron Nola (5-10, 6.01).
Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets his second start of the postseason, following a clinching NLWC Game 2 in which he went 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER (thanks, Teoscar!) 2 BB and 9 Ks, to earn the victory. We've got a chance for Yamamoto to clinch another series tonight.
Though Nola is the longest-tenured Phillie and certainly has a proven track record, he went just 5-10 with a 6.01 ERA in 17 starts this season. He missed three months from mid-May to mid-August due to a sprained right ankle and a stress fracture in one of his ribs.
I'm not sleeping on this one, though. Nola did see the Dodgers on April 5, 2025, in a losing effort (Dodgers won 3-1; Nola went 6.0 IP and gave up all three ER). He is 3-3 with a 4.31 ERA in 12 starts against the Dodgers, lifetime.
But Nola may just be a feint anyway, with Suarez rarin' to go. From the same mlb.com piece:
Thomson will undoubtedly have a quick hook with the Phillies’ season on the line, but even if Nola is pitching well, it’s possible he’s asked only to get through the Dodgers’ lineup one time.
Despite his struggles this season, it’s worth noting that Nola has typically navigated the opposing lineup pretty well the first time through. Opponents hit just .252 with a .693 OPS against Nola when facing him for the first time. That OPS jumped to .797 the second time through -- and 1.005 the third time.
Suarez also pitched three innings of 3 ER ball against us, on September 15, 2025, in a game the Dodgers lost 6-5 in 10 innings. He is 3-2 with a 3.64 ERA against the Dodgers across eight starts. But he pitches well in Dodger Stadium, which is one of his top-five tOPS+ stadium across his career (by comparison, Nola has a 95 tOPS+ at Dodger Stadium).
Coming home gives the Dodgers a chance to smoothen out some of those very rough fielding edges that we've seen for most of this postseason (I'm looking at you, Teoscar, Max, and Tommy). Not to mention, it would be nice to see Andy Pages have a good AB for a change.
It seems that all the coverage about the Dodgers' NLDS Game 2 victory centers around the "wheel play" that the Dodgers successfully pulled off in the ninth inning, to squash the Phillies' threat, regain a bit of momentum, and maintain the Dodgers' narrow 4-3 lead.
The key play of the game, however, came earlier in the bottom of the ninth, after the Phillies had scored two runs on Nick Castellanos' half-swing bloop double to shallow left field to make it 4-3 with nobody out -- with Castellanos somehow avoiding a tag at second base from Edman, a call confirmed upon replay review. With Alex Vesia entering to face Bryson Stott and the Dodgers expecting a bunt, the Dodgers huddled up and called for the wheel play -- when the third baseman charges hard with the shortstop sprinting to cover third base, a play third baseman Max Muncy said the Dodgers don't even practice in spring training.
"Immediately, Mookie was like, 'Hey, we need to be doing this,'" Muncy said. "It speaks to his baseball IQ and his intuition in that situation. We were all thinking it, but Mookie was definitely the one that brought it up and said we need to do this."
Betts, who just finished his full season at shortstop, explained his thinking. "It's just another learned behavior," he said. "I've got to give that credit to Miggy Rojas. I think we did it earlier in the year in Anaheim, and I remember asking him, 'When's a good time to do it?' He said, 'In a do-or-die situation,' and he and Woody (Dodgers coach Chris Woodward) have really helped me a lot just learning situations."
Manager Dave Roberts gave the go-ahead. If the Dodgers failed, it would put runners on first and third with nobody out.
"I think it just speaks to the experience that a lot of us have been in a lot of these big games before and we have a lot of experience doing these types of things," Muncy said. "Doc trusts us as much as we trust Doc and it's not an easy thing to gain, and so that's why in that moment, Doc heard us talking and right away he was on board with it."
The first pitch to Stott was a slider out of the zone. In a sacrifice situation, the batter's job with a runner on second is to push the ball down the third-base line. With Muncy charging and Betts hustling to third, they were worried they might have blown their cover.
"When it comes to the wheel play as a third baseman, your first job it obviously to field the ball, and then you've got to make a good throw," Muncy said. "But the one thing no one talks about is you got to make sure the guy's there to catch the throw."
Betts got there.
"God blessed me with some athleticism, so I was able to just kind of put in on display there," Betts said.
"It's tag play, too," Woodward explained. "Running the wheel on a force out is a lot easier because the third baseman just has to catch it. But if you have a tag him, it presents a more difficult play. For Muncy to field it, know right away, make a good throw. Mookie hung in there. That was the play of the game."
Get this: The Dodgers didn't have a 5-6 putout all season, the only team in the majors without one, according to ESPN Research.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson went on to discuss the key element to this episode: how Betts' deception made this defensive play even viable in the first place:
In an era with few sacrifice bunts, the attempt itself was debatable strategy. Indeed, the Phillies had just 16 sacrifice bunts all season. Manager Rob Thomson explained the decision: "Just left on left," he said, referring to Stott against Vesia. "Trying to tie the score. I liked where our bullpen was at, compared to theirs. We play for the tie at home."
He praised the Dodgers' execution.
"Mookie did a great job of disguising the wheel play. We teach our guys that if you see wheel, just pull it back and slash because you've got all kinds of room in the middle. But Mookie broke so late that it was tough for Stotty to pick it up."
Here's the LAT's coverage, with Muncy and Betts interviewed in the embedded video:
Awesome stuff. Credit Mookie Betts' IQ and athleticism, but also credit Max Muncy--not always the smoothest at third base--for making a perfect throw.
The Dodgers are up 2-0 in the NLDS, with Game 3 at home Wednesday.
POSTSCRIPT 10/7 8.29a: Fabian Ardaya also had a great breakdown of the wheel play in The Athletic:
All the momentum they’d taken from the Philadelphia Phillies was 180 feet away, with the potential tying run at second base with no one out. That’s when the manager looked at his players during the pitching change.
“You guys figure it out,” Roberts said.
Mookie Betts made a suggestion. The six-time Gold Glove-winning right fielder, making just his fourth career postseason start at shortstop, did not think. He just spoke.
Betts’ comfort at his new position allowed him to propose something the Dodgers had hardly considered since spring training, much less practiced or executed: the wheel play. It’s a scheme that aggressively shifts their defenders around in the middle of a bunt attempt to try to get the lead runner.
It worked. [...]
They’d escaped a disaster because of the trust Roberts put in Betts, the former MVP who made a seemingly impossible transition to shortstop at age 32.
“Somebody’s gotta do it,” Betts said. “I figured if there was ever a good time to make a decision and roll with it, that was the time.”
The Dodgers got that precious last out just as their makeshift bullpen needed it, and it took a strategy they hardly ever attempt.
“For me, that was our only chance, really, to win that game in that moment,” Roberts said.
POSTSCRIPT 10/8 7.54a: I heard Harold Reynolds' breakdown of this play on MLB Radio yesterday, but watching this highlight on television was amazing. Well done, Harold!
One year ago, the Dodgers' bullpen put the team on its shoulders and carried the team to a World Series Championship. This year, the Dodgers bullpen--with some of the very same arms that were incredible last year--threaten to corrode the Dodgers' 2025 chances from the inside.
Blake Treinen was almost the goat tonight, entering the game in the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead, following six scoreless innings from starter Blake Snell and two solid one-run innings from converted starter Emmet Sheehan. Treinen proceeded to shit the bed, yielding a leadoff single to Alec Bohm, then a double to JT Realmuto, and then a two-RBI double from Nick Castellanos, who wasn't even supposed to be in the lineup except Harrison Bader pulled a groin muscle. Treinen left having given up two runs and left one RISP, and not having gotten even one out.
Credit Alex Vesia--the only Dodgers bullpen arm to have recorded an out in two games of the 2025 NLDS--as well as Max Muncy and Mookie Betts for turning a Bryson Stott bunt into an out on the lead runner, Castellanos. Vesia then yielded a single and then got a force out to make it two outs, Phils at the corners.
And then Dave Roberts did the thing that he should have done earlier, and brought in Roki Sasaki (in post-game interviews, Roberts explained that he was worried about leaning on Sasaki as he had never pitched twice in three days before last night--but hey, man, it's the playoffs! Time to sack the hell up!). Sasaki barely got the third out and earned his second save of the NLDS.
(Tommy Edman almost threw the ball away, but Freddie Freeman saved Edman's bacon to close out the game. Said the TBS announcer, "Oh, my. Tommy Edman owes Freddie Freeman the fattest steak dinner he's ever had." Book Maestro's on Tuesday night, stat.)
The post-game banter on the SoSG Whats App channel went like this:
Sax: Alex Vesia is the only non-starter that has gotten outs this NLDS
Nomo: Any discussion of using Treinen again is also a non-starter.
We didn't need that heart attack Monday night, but we got it. And we also got a 2-0 NLDS lead on the road (fangraphs just jumped our odds from ~75% to >90%). I never would have expected this, not after watching Game 2 play out today. Consider ourselves very lucky.
But let's all agree, we won't use Blake Treinen again in 2025, at least not without a 15-run lead.
And I'm not even going to talk about Andy Pages, now 1-for-17 in the postseason, and swinging recklessly and early every AB.
Blake Snell (5-4, 2.35) vs. Jesus Luzardo (15-7, 3.92).
Fellow SoSGers, I confess that I missed NLDS Game 1.
Car trouble and an overly-ambitious schedule during the day thwarted my efforts to actually watch Game 1. I was stuck on the side of a road waiting for a tow truck to come. And it was difficult, because all I had was radio. Though to be honest, I don't think I could have had the emotional strength to make it through a live viewing of that game.
I would have fallen into despair when Shohei Ohtani got rattled in the second inning, understandbly so while watching Teoscar Hernandez run practice jog routes out in right field rather than bend down and try and stop a ball.
I would have screamed at the television watching Andy Pages flail at the plate for another game, looking totally overmatched.
I would have chewed through t-shirt watching Max Muncy make another fielding error at third base.
And I would have had nothing left in the tank to cheer when the Dodgers showed a level of mettle I did not know or even believe that they had, ultimately prevailing in Game 1, 5-3.
Here's Fangraphs' win probability. That is nuts.
Ohtani not only settled down after that second inning, he didn't allow another run in four more innings of work, shutting the Phillies down (especially their top three formidable bats). And that wasn't easy, given how Philadelphia fans were jeering him all game. Teoscar Hernandez hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the seventh that was totally unlikely given his play this year, but maybe not so given his postseason resume.
Speaking of postseason resumes, Kiké Hernandez, a woeful .203 batter in the 2025 season, is up to his same clutch self: batting .417 with a 1.000 OPS this postseason. His two-RBI double in the sixth put us on the board and created some tension in a game where the Phillies seemed to be rolling. It makes no sense that Kiké is so clutch in October, but so it happens every year.
And even Andy Pages scored a run and had a hit in this one (he's now 1-for-13 in this postseason).
During yesterday's off-day, I watched the condensed game highlights of Game 1, and Rick Monday (on his radio call) was spot-on--Citizens Bank Park turned as silent as a library after Teo's HR. It was amazing.
From the LA Times, "When you can hear a pin drop in the stadium, that’s the ultimate feeling in baseball,” Max Muncy said of the home run. “I felt like the people in the upper deck could hear us cheering in the dugout.”
And so today, we try to steal another game from the Phillies in NLDS Game 2, a game I do plan to watch. Blake Snell was great in 2025 NLWC Game 1 for us, and given Dave Roberts' new "all-starters, all the time" strategic approach and/or necessity (Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki got 26 of the 27 outs in Game 1), we again will need Snell to go long.
I've mocked Snellzilla for most of this year. It would be great to see him breathe fire in Game 2.
Shohei Ohtani (1-1, 2.87) vs. Cristopher Sánchez (13-5, 2.50).
In the marquee game of the day--pushed later in the evening (screwing the Cubs @ Brewers!), just to further elevate the contest--the Dodgers are giving what the worldwide MLB audience wants to see: Shohei Ohtani's first postseason pitching start.
Holy shit, this is huge.
But here's the problem (which I'm sure the Phillies are already considering): Ohtani hasn't gone beyond six innings all year. In fact, the last time he pitched into the seventh inning was July 27, 2023 (a complete game win over Detroit, when Ohtani was with the Angels). And we all know what happened after that, with regards to his injury. The bubblewrap has to be on Ohtani for this start (which may not be such a bad idea when he's pitching, lest a comebacker go up the middle).
And then that means we have to deploy the bullpen, upon which the Phillies are gonna feast.
So yeah, I'm psyched for the Ohtani start. I'm just dreading what comes next.
On the eve of the epic 2025 NLDS against Philadelphia, let's not lose sight of the fact that the carefully-constructed team from Andrew Friedman and company achieved the pinnacle of the sport, in pitch clock violations:
The Los Angeles Dodgers topped the major leagues with 26 pitch clock violations this season, while the Tampa Bay Rays' Shane Baz led pitchers and the Athletics' Lawrence Butler was first among batters as the overall big league total dropped substantially once again.
Los Angeles committed one more violation than the New York Mets, according to Major League Baseball's figures. The Colorado Rockies had 23, and the Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Angels and Washington Nationals had 22 each.
The Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals tied for the fewest infractions with three apiece.
There were 465 violations in the third year of the pitch clock, down from 602 last year and 1,048 in 2023. Pitchers committed 369 violations, along with 91 by batters and five by catchers.
Thankfully, the Dodgers can launder their beer-soaked shirts today, before flying on a plane to Philadelphia for the NLDS. But the six other teams in Wild Card games are still alive, so we can keep tabs on these while we wait for the dryer cycle to finish:
Tigers at Guardians, 12n. Harvard-Westlake's own Jack Flaherty (8-15, 4.64), who helped the Dodgers hoist their 2024 World Series Championship trophy, now tries to stop Detroit's late-season collapse. He faces off against the resurgent Guardians' Slade Cecconi (7-7, 4.30), who has the same first name as Deathstroke.
Padres at Cubs, 2p. 2017 Dodger Yu Darvish (5-5, 5.38) tries to lead the upstart Padres, the four seed, against the #5 seed Cubs' Jameson Taillon (11-7, 3.68). The Padres' bullpen has been formidable in Games 1 and 2, but both Mason Miller and Adreian Morejon have thrown a lot of pitches in both games (Robert Suarez was only used in Game 2). The Cubs had three runs Tuesday and were shut out yesterday (the only team to be shutout so far this postseason); do they have enough offense to fromage the Friars?
Red Sox @ Yankees, 5p. Better get up (Connelly) Early (1-2, 2.33), who had only four career starts and 19.1 IP this season (his MLB debut), yet takes the mound against the Yankees' Cam Schlittler (4-3, 2.96). Not exactly the big-name matchup we'd expect in a winner-take-all game between storied rivals, but here we go anyway. There's been a lot of talk about Alex Cora's overuse of the bullpen yesterday, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone will be right with Cora in the dissection about his in-game decisions, if the Yank-Mes lose tonight.
The other Wild Card series today were pure chaos. Cleveland rose from the dead, scoring five in the bottom of the eighth inning, to tie their series 1-1. San Diego punched back in Chicago, with Manny Machado hitting a key two-run HR in the fifth, to tie their series 1-1. And then Jazz Chisholm's speed saved the Yankees' bacon, with New York downing Boston 4-3, to tie their series 1-1.
That left the Dodgers/Reds series, with the Dodgers up 1-0 in the series. It sure looked like the baseball gods wanted another WC series tie, when Teoscar Hernandez boffed a lazy fly ball in the first inning to put the Reds up 2-0 and drive Yoshinobu Yamamoto's pitch count up by almost double.
But the Dodgers battled back to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth, and then opened up for four runs in the sixth to make it 7-2 Los Angeles. In the seventh inning, Mookie Betts doubled in another run; Betts went 4-for-5 with 3 RBI and was the player of the game. Betts batted .667 with a 1.700 OPS in this NL Wild Card series, which is just unreal, even with the small sample size.
Meanwhile, despite being behind from the start, Yamamoto perservered and had an outstanding outing: 113 pitches, 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB and 9 Ks. The 113 pitches was his season high.
Leave it to the Dodgers to crumble in the eighth--again!--with Emmet Sheehan getting only one out and giving up two ER (and two walks), before Alex Vesia (who was hopeless last night) came in mid-AB and got a one-pitch striekout before striking out TJ Friedl (the tying run!) to escape a bases loaded jam.
I think I heard Rick Monday say that the Dodgers used 100 pitches to get through the two eighth innings in this NLWC series. That is just not going to cut it.
Roki Sasaki had a clean ninth inning to close out the game, which is a good sign. The Dodgers had three errors in this game: Teosscar Hernandez' error, then Kiké Hernandez and Ben Rortvedt joined the sloppy parade.
That lousy bullpen and lazy fielding ain't gonna cut it in Philadelphia. We need to regroup, fast.
And I'm not even going to talk about Andy Pages being 0-for-9 with 2 Ks this series.
I love how the Dodger Stadium field is beautified in the postseason.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Zack Littell.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a 5.0 WAR this season (second highest on the team, only to Shohei Ohtani). Yamamoto pitched against Cincinnati on July 28, going 7.0 IP (4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB and 9 Ks), earning his ninth victory of the season.
Zack Littell (3.2 WAR) was picked by the Reds at this year's trade deadline from the Rays. He went 2-0 with the Reds across 10 starts, sporting a 4.39 ERA which was a bit worse than his 3.58 ERA with Tampa Bay (where he went 8-8). He did not face the Dodgers this season.
I've got mixed feelings about last night's victory, given it showed our clear strengths (starting pitching and the home run firepower) as well as our weaknesses (most of the bullpen). Let's get the win today so we can wrap this up; I'd realy hate for a Game 3 to happen.
I was curious this morning as to what happens to Wild Card series and its participating teams after Game 1. Since the MLB Wild Card expanded to its current format in 2022, the team that wins Game 1 has won the series 100% of the time (12 out of 12 possible outcomes).
The Wild Card series has gone to a decisive third game only twice (both in the NLWC), and in both cases, the team that won Game 1 prevailed.
Five out of the six Wild Card series involving a #6 seeded team have been decided in a two-game sweep. The #6 team has won four of the #6 - #3 series, though in the National League Wild Card series, the #6 seed has advanced (over the worst divisional winner and #3 seed) all three times.
Yikes.
Like the Dodgers in their 10-5 win yesterday, only one other team has scored 10 runs in a Wild Card game (current format): the Seattle Mariners, in a 10-9 victory over Toronto in G2 of the 2022 ALWC. Seattle advanced based on that game.
3/27 vs. AZ (W, 6-4): AC
4/11 vs. TEX (W, 8-7): Sax
5/11 vs. SF (L, 3-9): Sax
5/25 vs. COL (W, 5-3): Sax
6/11 @ PIT (W, 8-6): Sax
6/15 vs. TB (W, 4-3): Nomo
7/4 vs. SD (W, 3-0): Orel, Sax
