Boston Still Needs to Win One More
Did Alex Cora make a mistake by staying with ERod in the 6th? As a Dodger fan, I say absolutely not. A 3 run jack by Puig put the Dodgers up 4-0. And the Dodgers have not lost with a 4 run lead all year long. 54-0. But what will Boston fans say? Well now they could care less because of the lack of a bullpen by the Dodgers. And
Did Alex Cora make a mistake by staying with ERod in the 6th? As a Dodger fan, I say absolutely not. A 3 run jack by Puig put the Dodgers up 4-0. And the Dodgers have not lost with a 4 run lead all year long. 54-0. But what will Boston fans say? Well now they could care less because of the lack of a bullpen by the Dodgers. And the second guessers are going to be out in bunches on Doc’s use of the pen.
Okay, I’ll start. How do you take Rich Hill out while pitching a 1 hitter after striking out Eduardo Nunez in the 7th? Hill only had 91 pitches. He could have finished the 7th. After the game, Roberts said that Hill was tiring. What is he supposed to say? “I screwed up. I felt more comfortable with taking out a pitcher who was dominating the Red Sox for two pitchers who have not been able to get any Red Sox hitters out all series.” The genius of somebody was to replace Caleb Ferguson, arguably one of the best relievers the Dodgers had down the stretch, with Scott Alexander who is a walk machine. And what does he do when he comes in? 4 pitches for a 4-pitch walk, and then he’s gone.
In a replay of last year with the overuse of Brandon Morrow, for some brain dead reason, Doc brings in Ryan Madson who has allowed 5 inherited runners to score already in this WS. He inherited 2 more tonight, and now make that 7 inherited runners scoring in a WS for a new WS record. Mitch Moreland just unloaded on Madson to make it a one run game. But the fun is just beginning for the Red Sox.
Again, much like last year’s WS, Jansen cannot answer in the 8th. I do not know if I can be any more upset with what has happened. The pitch to Pearce was absolutely grooved. How does supposedly one of the best closers in the game (highest paid) groove two pitches in the WS in back to games to blow 2 saves? After doing the same last year. The pitch to Pearce could not have been any more of a hitter’s pitch. I am not sure how much more I can watch at this point. Just like last night, a great start by a Dodger starter is wasted. But unlike last night the bullpen was just a mess and the result was 9 unanswered runs before a 2 run HR by Kike’ in the 9th.
The Red Sox 9th proves what many of us had said at the trade deadline. GET SOME RELIABLE RELIEVERS. Floro was not the answer with allowing 1 run on 2 hits and a walk, leaving two inherited runners on for Alex Wood. Wood gets Benintendi to ground very softly to JT who could not get the speedy Benintendi out at 1st. It is not like Benintendi tattooed Wood, but unlike last night when Wood got more of a feel for the game as he continued to pitch and came through with a 6-4-3 DP, he was pulled after one batter in favor of Maeda who proceeded to give up a 3 run double to Steve Pearce. Maeda then intentionally walks JDM and allows the 9th run on a single by Bogaerts.
Six Dodger relievers, and each one of them gave up at least one run. But the big damage was done by Madson and Maeda who allowed 5 inherited runners to score.
Going back to the home half of the 8th, with the score tied at 4-4, Machado opens up and goes with the pitch, and lo and behold he gets a single into RF. He had not done that all series and with runners in scoring position. After Puig beat out a throw to 1st to negate a potential DP, CT3 singles into left and Puig continued to 3rd. But this year, that is where Dodger hitters stop hitting. With runners on 1st and 3rd and 2 out, Yasmani Grandal PH for Barnes and believe it or not, he struck out. Can you believe that???
The Dodgers are down 3 games to 1, and the chances for a WS victory seem to be fleeting. The Dodgers’ backs are against the wall, so hopefully they will fight through this, but something has to give. Either the hitters are going to have to get hits with runners in scoring position, and/or the relievers are going to have to shut down a Red Sox offense. If my math is right, the Dodgers are 4-18 wRISP in the series. The Dodgers have scored 9 runs in the last 27 innings. 2 came home on errors, and 7 came home on HRs. Tonight, the Red Sox go 5-7 wRISP, while LAD went 1-4, and that was Puig’s 3 run jack.
Clayton goes on Sunday in what some are already calling his final home start as a Dodger at Dodger Stadium. I still do not believe it. I also believe he is going to opt out because some organization is going to offer Kershaw more than $100MM. The question will be will the Dodgers be a participant in that starting pitcher auction.
My spirits are down, but I am not giving up. Let’s win Game 5 and go back to Boston and hope for the best.
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Discussion (247)
Disagree, not disagreeable
A couple of responses. Brooklyn is correct, I have not bought into this team was built for the playoffs. For the last four years I have been a FAZ supporter because their genius is to build a team to get to the playoffs where anything can happen. I still believe the Dodgers have the most versatile and deep team in MLB over a 162 (or 163) game season. The Dodgers have been to three consecutive NLCS and two consecutive WS, so nobody can truly question building the team from the offseason to the trade deadline. This year FAZ went out and acquired Manny Machado. Okay he was not a huge help for the team during the season. But Machado was supposed to get the Dodgers over the hump IN the playoffs. So far that has not worked out. But it is not over.
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What they chose to ignore (IMO) was the bullpen. Mark believed that putting Maeda and Wood in the pen made the pen a weapon. I have never believed that. Anyone who has followed me at all knows how I feel about relievers. I have never believed that you can just drop a starter into the pen and make it stronger. They prepare differently, they are not used to getting up multiple times a game, they are not used to pitching in back to back games. What I do believe is that you can eventually transform a starter into a reliever. There are multiple examples of just that. But I do not believe that this can happen just for the playoffs.
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Caleb Ferguson may in fact have lost a little velocity. I do not know if that is true, or if so how much. Then I assume that Clayton Kershaw should have been left off the playoff roster because he has lost some serious velo. But Ferguson threw 49 innings during the season and put together a 4.92 K/BB ratio. He pitched in 6 games in the playoffs (3.0 IP) and allowed 1 base runner on a walk. In comparison, Scott Alexander pitched in 73 games (66 IP) and had a 2.07K/BB ratio. In 4 playoff games, Alexander has now pitched 2.1 innings and has allowed 1 run and 1 hit and 2 walks. Not for a minute do I buy that Ferguson was dropped because of reduced velo. IMO it was all due the ground ball impact. FAZ believes Alexander gave the team a chance to get out of an inning with a DP.
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I believe in SABR metrics in building the team. But in the game, you hire a manager to SEE with his own eyes what is happening and make decisions accordingly. Rich Hill is a warrior and does not rely on sheer power to get out of innings. Nathan Eovaldi (a power pitcher) pitched 6 innings and threw 97 pitches after pitching in the first two games. Hill was at 91 and still dealing. I cannot see any top manager who would have pulled Hill for Alexander. Anybody can see after striking out Nunez that Hill was IN THE GAME. It was his game to win or lose.
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This team also attacks the game with a singular purpose…Home Runs. There is no thought to changing an approach because of the situation. Machado has RISP in multiple situations and is trying for a knockout punch, when a single gets multiple RBIs. Steve Pearce comes up with the bases loaded and clears them with an oppo double. Who has more talent? Machado. Who was the better situational hitter IN A PLAYOFF GAME? Pearce. How many pop ups did the team have with runners in scoring position. I keep thinking that Belli is learning and maturing, but then I see him try to do too much and pop up. Yes he JUST missed it. But maybe a little Brock Holt (also a LH Hitter) putting a ball just inside 3rd and down the line for a double to start the 9th is what the Dodgers need. I will give Machado credit, he did get a single into Right Center to start the 8th. Unfortunately Doc turned to Mr. Keep Me Out of October, Yasmani Grandal, to deliver, and he struck out.
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I will Keep The Faith, and believe this team can come back from a 3-1 game deficit. But it is going to take Clayton Kershaw to pitch a great game, because the Red Sox have done this without Mookie Betts. You have to believe at some point he is going to warm up. The Red Sox are a much better two strike and two out team. And that is what wins playoff games and series.
The problem with the Dodgers is:
The only professional hitter on the team is Justin Turner. He knows the strike zone…knows when to attack…and when to dial it back a bit and shorten up and go the other way…
The rest of the guys do none of that. And when faced with Red Sox caliber of pitching, the only way to success is two strike hitting…choke up, shorten up, and go up the middle…
The Red Sox have this down pat…name me one guy other then Justin Turner who approaches the plate with that strategy…just one…I’ll wait……
The series is over, we ain’t winning three in a row, especially two in a rabid and cold Fenway.
Not with this BP, not with these swing and miss hitters, and certainly not with this manager.
So what does Friedman do now? Where does ownership enter the picture because to repeat a phrase used on the other site, no owner or franchise wants to be remembered as the Buffalo Bills. The Dodgers are headed in that direction.
The all or nothing swing and miss approach at the plate has to be moderated, it is not working when needed the most. Real relief pictures must be signed – dumpster diving must not be the only way to find a BP. In game management must improve. Roberts has to grow and evolve, but presently you could almost say Roberts has skills for the 162 season but NOT for the playoffs.
The series is not over until it is over but it is over. Somebody said heart may play a part and I agree. Boston players are anxious to pitch while la doesn’t appear to be. Boston is just better, hungrier, and tougher. Hill is such a competitor and shows the belly needed to win but doc did not appreciate it. Where was Baez last night? Roberts falls in love with somebody like Madson who has blown every game. Kenley is a shadow of what he was 2 years ago for whatever reason. I think he has the heart he is just not the same pitcher. This team needs to be blown up. Get younger, rebuild, and refocus. There is not going to be a World Series champ with these core players. Trade joe Kelly for any dodger reliever and we lead the series. Over the course of a full year doc is probably good but in a short series he continues to make dumb… moves. While it is so hard to get to the world series and the dodger organization deserves credit we are missing the pieces to win it including the manager. So sad really but when you have game 7 at home and can’t win in large part due to stupid managerial moves the boat has sailed.
Doc, is doomed, stupid, cursed, or insane. Every time he makes a decision it backfires. He doesn’t have a situational lefty on the roster, but uses his lefties like he does. He doesn’t know how to ride the hot hand with his hitters or pitchers. Bringing in Kenley in the 8th and it’s deja vu all over again. Why not use Baez there like he’s done all down the stretch? The definition of insanity is to duo the same thing over gain and expecting different results? I guess we should call me Mad Doc. I’m keeping the faith. We can win 3 in a row. This can happen. Let’s hope the Mad Doc can get out of the way of himself.
Brandon Mcarthy’ take:
“So if Rich has told Roberts he’s fading, bringing in Alexander, a super GB% specialist, in a lefty lefty double play situation seems like the exact matchup you’d be searching for in the later innings.”
While I see his point I’d still leave Hill in
Brandon McArthy’s take:
“So if Rich has told Roberts he’s fading, bringing in Alexander, a super GB% specialist, in a lefty lefty double play situation seems like the exact matchup you’d be searching for in the later innings.”
While I see his point I’d still leave Hill in
Absolutely no reason to take Hill out of the game and then make all those poor decisions that didn’t have to be made. Roberts is a poor game manager and doesn’t seem to be getting any better or ever accept any of the blame.
I did not see the game. We were playing bridge. Did tape it, but will not watch. As I said in yesterday’s thread. There are ball players Doc likes and players he does not like. I cannot explain Doc’s moves any other way. He has pulled Hill early quite often in the past two years. Another player is Freese. You bring this guy in for his play off experience and professional hitting. In Friday ‘s game with runners on first and second he has Dozier pinch hit. The only way I can explain Dozier hitting in that situation is Doc likes Dozier and not Freese. Common sense tells me Freese is the better hitter. In the play offs he starts Freese and then he pulls him after one or two at bats. Why start him? Keep him for a pinch hitter situation when you really need him. Doc just wasted a bench player in the first couple of innings. Toles and Verdugo are two others players I do not think Doc likes. Verdugo was given some playing time in September, but Toles was given none. Yet, Toles was a starter until he hurt his leg. In my opinion, Verdugo should of been on the play off team and not Dozier. Taylor and Kike can play second.
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I am really down on Doc. I just do not understand some of his moves. He just will not manage with his gut. He is strictly metrics. I do not think we will ever win the WS with him as manager. He does not play the kinda baseball that is required to win a WS. How much influence does FAZ have on Doc, I do not know. I wish I knew.
Rich Hill was tiring. Huh! Just ask Nunez if he looked like he was tired. The moment he was taken out I knew the game was in serious jeopardy. I was right though when on the previous thread I said the Dodgers would score 6-7 runs. They did. I just din’t figure the Sox would score nine.
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Analytics drive me crazy. Perhaps over the long haul in a season they are the difference maker. In a series or given game, in my opinion, the manager has to have more of a feel for things and not live or die just by analytics. I think Cora did that. Doc didn’t.
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Buck Martinez was right when he said , “… just use your eyes.” He didn’t diss analytics totally but indicated just observe what your pitcher is doing. That is, how dominating he is, how sharp his breaking ball is, how well he is mixing his pitches, his energy level regardless of the inning. Hill is a warrior who thrived on the front lines and Doc pulls him.
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I am not giving up but I am not very confident that Clayton can be Walker Buehler or Rich Hill. He doesn’t seem to have a fire in his belly. Our bats better be alive tonight.
Yes it has been a rough playoff , but nearly as rough as previous years. 2013 and 2014 we’re brutal in the sense we lost to an inferior team. 2017 was brutal in the sense we were equally matched and outplayed Houston but had what I would call horrendous statistical luck and a little Robert’s/FO bull shit sprinkled in. 2018 was brutal because as fans we thought there was no way to recover from 2017 but somehow we were very close to doing so.
Now that I have calmed, and had my Robert’s tireade, I need to talk about the real issue that is bothering me. That issue is heart and resolve and I think Boston has shown more of it and I believe it helped them prevail. The fact, whether true or not, that every player went to Cora and deemed themselves available for Game 4 speaks volume about that club. I wanted to believe our players did the same, but I have come to find out we had players unavailable for a even bigger must win game then for the Red Sox. That, we had a pitcher asked to be watched for tiredness? That we had a generational pitcher claims he has nothing to prove to anyone, all this does not sit well with me. It just does not speak to a champions mentality. I am sorry for saying that. I don’t believe it makes me any less of a fan, I still bleed blue and will be their with bells on come spring training 2019.
Absolutely speechless
Jorge, this post was written by AC, who to the best of my knowledge has never bought into Mark’s contention that this team was built for the playoffs. And actually I don’t buy into that either. For me, a team that’s built for the playoffs has a lockdown bullpen, and an offense that has multiple ways to score. That’s not the Dodgers.
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Things don’t look very good right now, and the Dodgers could get knocked out as early as tomorrow. And they could also end the season with a 3 game winning streak. Until it’s no longer possible, I am going to treat these next 3 games as a three game series that the Dodgers have to sweep.
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By the way, add dominant starting pitching to my list of items necessary to build a team for the playoffs. The Dodgers have that to some degree.
You have always said that this team was created for the playoffs, maybe you are right (This series could go 2-2 or even with some luck could go 3-1 in our favor) but unfortunately who was not created for this type of games It’s Mr. Roberts !!
From what I read Ferguson’s velocity was down in the NLCS. Hence Alexander being added. That said Alexander should never have been put in when he did.
Totally thought when our favorite whipping boy Puig, who has came up huge in the play-offs, launched that homer, we had a 2-2 series. The bullpen just friggin blew up. Can’t really rag on Doc for this one, he went with the same guys that bailed him out in the Brewers series. Like J-hair and Nomah have said the last two weeks, in this stage you have to execute, execute, execute when you have the chance. No excuses, that’s what separates the team that get ‘s the ring from the team that doesn’t. Really really surprised that the one place that would let us down was our bullpen. Wow. Just, Wow…