100 Wins History

For the first time in major league history, a team won 100 or more games in four consecutive full seasons. Yes, 2020 was wedged in there, but still, four full seasons of 100 wins! Pretty amazing when you think about it. The Boys of Summer team won 100 or more once. Alston’s Dodgers did it twice, 62 and 74. The only Dodger team other than this one to win at least two in a row was Leo Durocher’s 42 and 41 teams. And the 42-team finished second.

The Dodgers have won 100 or more in five of the last six full seasons. In 2017 they won 104, then only 92 in 2018. So, it is quite the big deal. Dave Roberts may be disliked by some and called a company mouthpiece. But the guy has his teams winning and doing so consistently. And the job he did this year? Wow. They have had obstacles before, but this season has to have been his most challenging. I mean it cannot be easy not knowing who is pitching one day to the next. Think about it. They lost all five of the starting pitchers who were supposed to be the backbone of the staff. And they started dropping early.

First Pepiot. Then in May, they lost Dustin May after he appeared in 9 games. He was 4-1 at the time. Syndergaard never pitched well. He did not rediscover his fastball and was eventually traded. Michael Grove was on the OKC charter. Tony Gonsolin eventually went down with arm trouble. Both he and May had to have surgery. That left them with few options. Rather than scour the waiver wire for starters released by other teams, they went the other route, they started using their top prospects.

Miller, Stone, Sheehan and when he got healthy, Pepiot again. Julio Urias, who rarely looked like the same pitcher he was the last two seasons, was inconsistent and then he got into trouble with the law and was placed on Admin leave. They traded for a starter, Lance Lynn, not the one everybody was hoping for, and a long reliever, Yarbrough.

The bullpen was awful to begin with. Then on June 21st, Ryan Brasier made his first appearance as a Dodger. Now, I am not saying he is the reason for the turn around, but since that date, the Dodgers pen has been the best in baseball. Old friend, Joe Kelly returned and guys like Graterol and Phillips kept up their great work. Shelby Miller has been good out of the pen also.

The offense was never the problem. But it can be streaky. There were games when they left the farm on the bases and could not get a hit with runners in scoring position. But they were the best two-out RBI team in the majors and their batting average with runners in scoring position is .279.

So, how will this 100-win team fare in the playoffs? I have read a lot on a bunch of different sources. There are some who think the Dodgers fall again in the NLDS. Others think the Braves will make short work of them if both make the NLCS. Personally, I think a lot of people are underestimating the bulldog in this team. Last year’s epic fail is one hell of a reason to not let that happen again. Can they make it work? Can they use the lessons of last year’s disaster to their advantage?

Outside of a few players, this team has playoff veterans. Yes, the pitching staff has a bunch of kids they need to lean on, but the leadership on the staff is battle tested. Kershaw, Lynn, Kelly, Graterol, Miller, Phillips, Vesia, Ferguson, they have all been there before. And the offense except for Outman, they have all been there before too.

I trust this time; the layoff is not going to be a problem. But I do believe MLB needs to make some adjustments down the line. Reseeding after the wild card would be one. No off days between games 1 & 2. The teams with the bye should be rewarded. Too many off days for the winner of the wild card. Making the wild card a five-game series would work.

I think this team is poised to have a much better playoff run than last year. Time will tell if I am right. Poised is one thing, doing it is another. As of right now they are one game from being bounced out of the NLDS by a wild card team from their own division for the second straight year. Wednesday will tell us something about the desire and fire in this team. One game at a time, are they as resilient as most of us believe, or are they just a poor man’s version of last season’s flameout?