A Dose of Reality
Yeah, I know it is still mathematically possible that the Dodgers will catch the Giants. It ain’t happening! Accept it… move on and get ready for the Championship Round. If the Dodgers win the Wild Card Game, the NLDS, NLCS, AND the World Series, no one is ever going to say, “…
Yeah, I know it is still mathematically possible that the Dodgers will catch the Giants. It ain’t happening! Accept it… move on and get ready for the Championship Round. If the Dodgers win the Wild Card Game, the NLDS, NLCS, AND the World Series, no one is ever going to say, “Yeah but you did not win the NL West!” Well, Giants fans may say it, but all Dodger Fans need to do is show them their 2021 Dodger World Series Championship shirts!
There was once a commenter – I think he called himself “Oldtimer.” He was from Canandaigua, NY and when it came playoff time, he always said that playoff baseball was different. He always said, “Some player’s sphincters get tight in the playoffs. Others don’t!”
The 2021 Dodgers are finally healthy. Bellinger, Taylor, and Muncy have been in slumps, but are all showing signs of breaking out. I think they have their swagger back. These guys are battle-tested and the cream always rises to the top. Sometimes it takes a while, but the cream always ends up on top. Go down the Dodgers and Giants lineups and compare. If you were building a team, who would you take?
- Catcher – You might take Buster Posey over Will Smith for one game, but Posey’s best days are behind him. I am riding Smith everytime.
- First Base – Based upon this year, Brandon Belt is having a better season, but is older. Would you take him over Muncy? Oh, and BTW, he is out for the playoffs,
- Second Base – Whoever plays 2B for the Giants can’t compare with Trea Turner. End of discussion.
- Shortstop – Brandon Crawford has had his career year, but would you take him over Corey Seager?
- Third Base – Bryant and Longoria (combined) may be close, but they are no Justin Turner.
- Left-Field – Darin Ruf or Pollock and Lux?
- Center Field – Maybe you would take Duggar, Dubon and Slater over Cody Bellinger, but if I had that choice, I would take Cody every time, as I believe he will be fine and his elite defense is huge.
- Right Field – Betts or Yas and Wade?
Statistically, the Giants are close to the Dodgers both in pitching and hitting, but if you line up the players, I do not see too many Giants players you would take over a Dodger counterpart. Yet, they continue to win. I can’t explain it. It’s an anomaly! Some things cannot be explained. Accept it and move on. The playoffs are a whole different animal. So, just be ready for that. Kershaw needs to pitch tonight so that it can be seen if he is ready for it. But no matter what, I would pitch Mitch White on Saturday and have a bullpen game on Sunday. Buehler and Urias need to rest.
Scherzer starts the Wild Card game and I would make sure to give several regulars Saturday and/or Sunday off to make sure they are fresh. Farhan Zaidi has to be the Executive of the Year as no one has done more with less. Gabe Kapler is the Manager of the Year… hands down. But, I am going to say that the possibility of not making the playoffs in 2022 is quite possible for the Giants. This has been a magical season and it leads me to believe someone sold their soul to the devil.
The World Championship is just a few wins away and this Dodger team is capable of going through the playoffs like a hot knife through butter. I have never been more confident than right this second! Let’s get ready to rumble!
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Discussion (91)
Disagree, not disagreeable
With all those who disrespected Kenley Jansen do you still feel the same? When saying all those things against him, what do you say about now? I never lost faith in his ability to close and even after seeing him trip a few times and now again he looks the best.
Who woulda thunk?
That the Padres would not only miss the playoffs entirely, they would also finish under 500?
That the Giants would be guaranteed at least the second best record in baseball heading into the final series?
That the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Mariners would be fighting for a wild card with three games to play?
That three of the top Cy Young award candidates in the National League would all come from the same team that also has Clayton Kershaw who isn’t?
That phenom to be Gavin Lux would lose the starting second base job while also be in the hunt for the starting Center Field job possibly taking it from a former MVP?
That the Dodgers would Lose May and Bauer for the season, Kershaw for a third of it and still be in the hunt for best record overall with 3 games remaining?
That Seager, Betts and Belli would all spend significant time on the IL and still be in the hunt for best record overall with 3 games remaining?
That AJ Pollock would be the best hitter on the team?
The bullpen would have the second best ERA in baseball?
That JT and CT3 would lead the team in games played?
That the Dodgers would be a 100 win team without anyone with 100 runs scored or 100 RBI?
That Julio Urias would be MLB’s only 20 game winner and not win the Cy Young award?
That David Price would have a higher OPS than Cody Bellinger?
Notes from Internet:
If you have a moment or two, listen to the latest Chin Music podcast.
They get into Cody Bellinger (on tendering/non-tendering him, on how confident the Astros were back in that horrible playoff season, about the Bellinger and their ideal playoff OF)
Open on blogs.fangraphs.comhttps://blogs.fangraphs.com/category/chin-music/Trea Turner gets mentioned in this FanGraphs piece about who the NL MVP could be:
Open on blogs.fangraphs.comhttps://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-fascinating-and-still-unsettled-nl-mvp-race/Guess who the two Dodgers’ Minor League players of the year are for Dustin Nosler:
Open on dodgersdigest.comhttp://dodgersdigest.com/2021/09/28/2021-dodgers-digest-minor-league-players-of-the-year/Yup! Vargas and Miller.
Guess who the two Dodgers’ Minor League players of the year are for MLB.com:
Open on www.mlb.comhttps://www.mlb.com/news/prospects-of-the-year-for-every-team-2021Yup! Pages and Stone!
Editor’s note: I actually like that they’re different. (The two lists, that is.)
Don Szymborski Chat
Tiger Fan: Humor me – Tigers sign Chris Taylor to be a starting SS. Then they spend big on a SP like Guasman and a second SP like Heany. What else do they do to be a flawed, but legitimate, WC contender like Seattle or Toronto?
Dan Szymborski: They still need one or two serious bats
MLB.com’s top 100 has a new player at #100:
Open on www.mlb.comhttps://www.mlb.com/prospects/top100/It’s the one-time almost Angel, Andy Pages. He’s the 5th Dodger on that list. It’s 5% Dodgers!
Diego Cartaya make the Baseball America top 10 Low-A Prospects out west ($$$$)
Open on www.baseballamerica.comhttps://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2021-low-a-west-top-10-prospects/Despite his laudatory year, AJ Pollock will not be able to trigger his opt-out:
Open on www.mlbtraderumors.comhttps://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/09/dodgers-aj-pollock-miss-opt-out-plate-appearances-free-agent.htmlEditor’s note: I’m not sure if that’s good
Baseball America looks at Pitch Clocks, Robo Umps, raised mounds and more: ($$$$)
Open on www.baseballamerica.comhttps://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/did-pitch-clocks-robo-umps-and-other-2021-minor-league-baseball-rules-changes-work/Editor’s Note: I think Pitch Clocks are almost as certain as Bauer’s suspension.
MLB’s Thomas Harrigan notes that the Dodgers are on track to post best record by defending champ in divisional era
Open on www.mlb.comhttps://www.mlb.com/news/best-records-by-defending-world-series-championsBen Clemens Chat:
Editor’s Note: OLD friend alert.
Oneil Cruz fan: Oneil Cruz is destroying the ball since he got called up to Indy. I think it’s clear he’s not going to be the opening day SS for the Bucs for reasons *cough* service time *cough* but do you think we see him before June?
Ben Clemens: I do, and it’s going to be awesome! He’ll be the next big thing in Pittsburgh…
See what I did there? I’ll be here all week
joe schlabotnik: Why are so many folks suggesting corey seager will stay in LA? they have a equal or better shortstop already on the books, plus hes got FA with his brother. What are the odds that two great players, brothers, hit FA at the same time. Why wouldn’t they sign together?
Ben Clemens: I also think that the Dodgers will keep Seager. He can play 3b eventually, they like the depth, and there’s no guarantee Turner stays.
Now, if Turner signs an extension first, that changes things a bit.
Smiling Politely: People down here are drunk with tabloids and sports, but let’s humor them — what would a theoretical swap of Ohtani for Bellinger + $/others look like, and is there a meaningful, nonzero chance of it happening?
Ben Clemens: Um…. what?
Bellinger is sub-replacement level this year and he’ll probably make 17-20 million next year, more the year after that, then hit free agency. He’s been bad for two straight years, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to just say he’s an average player going forward, But one with huge salaries due to arb
Ohtani’s arb case next year will be interesting, and he’s a free agent the same year, but you’re looking at trading the likely AL MVP for a guy who is more expensive but also likely to be meaningfully worse. So like…. Ohtani for Bellinger (but first the Dodgers sign him to a two-year extension and cover 100% of the salary, say 40 million dollars) plus also Gavin Lux and Julio Urias? That sounds like an overpay but I think that’s probably the right range
The Dodgers have NO prospects to trade
5 Run Homer: Does Bellinger still have a good player somewhere in him? He was so, so good in his MVP season, I can’t quite reckon with the idea that he’s just broken now. He must!
But I totally agree with you… I’m not sure where it is, and wow he’s looked bad recently…But it’s there somewhere
Ben Asks Ben: What would your reaction before the season have been, if I told you that Cody Bellinger and Brandon Crawford would each have over 300 PAs and that Crawford would be worth more than 6 WAR more than Bellinger?
Ben Clemens: Let’s be honest, I just wouldn’t have believed you…
I wanted to say something more clever than that but no, I wouldn’t have believed you
Baseball America takes a look at the Dodgers’ Instructional League Roster ($$$$)
Open on www.baseballamerica.comhttps://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2021-los-angeles-dodgers-instructional-league-roster/Maddux Bruns and top 2019 International signee Luis Rodriguez highlight the players.
.All that could happen but they could also be eliminated in a single game, so the prudent thing is to go game by game, for now the Dodgers today still have the opportunity to close the gap to win the division and that is the game that matters, tomorrow it will be another day, another situation and the objective could be another, one game at a time.
MLB.TV has never in all the time I have subscribed to it shown the pre or post game shows. Over the last week, even when I am getting the LA feed, the commercials that they do show have been from Atlanta. Strange.
The reason most people don’t expect the Dodgers to win the World Series is that they are not likely to win the World Series.
In the best of years, with the strongest of teams they rarely exceed a 40% of winning.
It’s a crapshoot.
I switched over after our win in time to watch Lamont Wade walk it off against the long green insect with an affinity for arithmetic. Who are these guys?
I have Direct TV and subscribe to Extra Innings. Sports net LA is on channel 690 and I can receive that channel about an hour before and after the game.
I just heard on MLB Radio (I did not verify it) that the Dodgers have won more games than any other World Series Winner the next season EVER… and they still won’t win the division.
Hi fellow blue fans. Does anyone know why on MLB we never see the Dodger pre-game show? Seems like half or more of the teams we play or opponents pre-game is showed on MLB, but never ours. Both home & away games.
Just wondering
cheers
pb+
I’ll try it again:
Finish this sentence:
The Dodgers will finish the season as …
Castillo: not World Series champions.
DiGiovanna: a $262-million team with a hefty luxury tax coming due and no World Series title to show for it.
Harris: champions of the National League — but not the World Series.
Shaikin: still waiting for their first parade since 1988.
We aren’t eliminated yet. Win today. Get eliminated sometime later. Wild Card game isn’t for several days. We can figure all that out after the Division is settled. Scherzer or Buehler. At this point I rest Scherzer an extra couple of days and pitch him. If we play on Wednesday everyone should be well rested.
The wild card game is set for Wednesday at 5:10 PM. So they have 2 days off before they play? Okay, that gives the Dodgers plenty of time to figure out the best way to beat the Cardinals. The NLDS begins on Friday the 8th. Hitters are going to have to deal with those afternoon shadows at Dodger Stadium and the outfielders, RF especially the glare from the sun behind the stands. It’s time for playoff baseball. Funny, every game lately has felt like a playoff game.
Technically, the Rays did more with less last year.
Based on Bear’s last post, the LA Times writers must post here under aliases. Why would they think this 103+ win team can’t win the WS?
3 straight sweeps of the Padres? Talk about Karma.
Waino in the Wild Card game. If it’s high, let it fly. If it’s low, let it go.
Right on queue, Mad-Bum’s 5IP 4ER is par for the course. I didn’t think he was gonna help us out.
San Diego has lost 6 in a row and have just one win in their last 10. Get it together guys! Do you really want to be that team. Show some freaking pride.
Corey Seager is in full blown beast mode again.
A tip of the cap to Evan Phillips closing out the game last night in perfect fashion.
A lot has been said about Belli’s new swing. It only took 157 games to make an adjustment. Maybe the SVS team isn’t as good as we thought. It also seems like everyone’s fastball is down a tick this year. How are those driveline guys doing?
Belli’s swing. Feet are wider, not standing as upright, less head movement, further from the plate? Wow, that’s a lot of stuff to change. After looking at his homer two nights ago, over and over again, the biggest difference I could see was the dip with his hands, the hitch, was practically non-existent. His hands went from the load position, straight through the ball. That will keep the swing from getting too loopy if he can manage to keep that going forward. Now he just needs to stay in the zone.
It looks like CT3 played himself out of a starter conversation with the emergence of Gavin Lux. Now that Lux went down, and Belli is starting to heat up (keep calm after just two games), who’s going to win that CF job with all other positions set? I’ll keep Belli out there as long as he keeps producing.
Bueller or Scherzer, keep fighting, or let it go? If we lose tonight, the Dodgers will be the Wildcard. If we win, we still have a chance. The Padres are going to win one of the next three games and I have faith that they will try their best to win the series and end the season on a positive note.
If we’re one game back entering Sunday, do you pitch Bueller in 162 and try for the tie, or do you save him for 163?
If it’s me, I send Gonsolin down on Sunday morning and bring up Mitch White for Sunday’s game. Save Bueller for 163, if we don’t get there, he starts the Wild Card series on extra rest with Urias to follow. Max gets the Wild Card game. Even if we’re tied on Sunday, I hold Bueller out for a potential 163 game.
Two biggest surprises of the season; the Giants winning and the Padres imploding. As their announcers said after Wednesday’s lose, they’ve hit bottom. I
As I posted late yesterday, my original idea was to have Buehler pitch the wild card game because he is so dominant at Dodger Stadium and start Scherzer in game one at Oracle Park. I have since check the data….a rarity for me. Scherzer has NEVER pitched at Oracle. He also holds a 4-5 mark against the Giants. He also does not have a very good career record against the Birds….4-6. But his ERA against St. Louis is under 3. And they are hitting .223 against him. Buehler on the other hand is 7-1 lifetime against SF and 6 of those wins have come at Oracle Park. He is the obvious choice to start game 1 there. Kersh is 14-5 there with a sub 2 ERA. Urias is 2-2 there with a 2.92 ERA. I pitch Kersh in game 2 there. Urias in game 3 in LA.
IMHO the WC game will be the highest hurdle on our way to another WS title.
Having to face the hot Cards with AW on the mound in a winner takes all one game playoff is tough.
With our talent , deep starting pitching I worry less about a best of 5 or best of 7 series against any other contender.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I would have to agree with all of that. The Giants have a few players with playoff experience, but the bulk of the lineup has none. And except for a couple of their pitchers, most have never experienced playoff baseball. The Dodgers, even the younger ones, have been there before. Some want to atone for bad performances in the past, Pollock. Others are ready to add to the legacy. It should be one hell of a show. Interesting article in Yardbarker about the Padres announcers getting down on the team for the roll over in LA.