Carpe Diem!
This Has Been Best World Series Ever . Especially After Tonight! Justin Verlander was tough, very tough he pitched 6 innings of 3 hit ball while striking out 9 and walking zero. The three hits were timely and gave the Dodgers a lead that the bullpen would not relinquish! Morrow and Maeda were nails and Tony Watson held his own, but Kenley Freaking Jansen closed out the final six outs
This Has Been Best World Series Ever…. Especially After Tonight!
Justin Verlander was tough, very tough – he pitched 6 innings of 3 hit ball while striking out 9 and walking zero. The three hits were timely and gave the Dodgers a lead that the bullpen would not relinquish! Morrow and Maeda were nails and Tony Watson held his own, but Kenley “Freaking” Jansen closed out the final six outs on just 19 pitches, 18 of which were strikes. The Dodgers only had 5 hits themselves and none were any bigger than Joc Pederson’s Big Fly in the 7th inning. Boy, has Joc come full circle or what?
When I saw last night’s lineup, I thought “That might be the lineup we see Opening Day 2018.” Joc Pederson could be in LF, Austin Barnes behind the plate, Logan Forsythe at 2B and Rich Hill as Opening Day Starter while Clayton rehabs from surgery. Just a fleeting thought! Logan Forsythe will be back and I predict he will have that “Career Year” for the Dodgers in 2018. He will look nothing like this years’ model. But, we will talk about that later.
Last night was truly a Team Win. Here the Dodgers are: on the verge of Destiny with the #3, #4 and #5 hitters hitting .130, .167 and .167 respectively. It’s not like they have not had big hits, but there haven’t been many. In the World Series, the Dodgers are hitting .208 with a .285 OB%. The Astros are hitting .242 with a .306 OB%, but the Dodgers have outscored them 33-29! The hitting has been spread out and it has been timely!
Surprisingly, the Dodgers have a 4.53 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP while the Astros have a 5.24 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Go figure! It’s interesting to look at all the stats, but none of it matters right about now. All that matters is what happens between those lines tonight. Darvish will start, but at the first sign of a problem, like a HR or a runner reaching 2B, he will be yanked and Alex Wood will get a shot. Maybe Darvish will pitch like he did against Chicago when he gave up one run in 6.1 innings. I just know that it will be everyone and the kitchen sink!
We may even see Rich Hill again for an out or an inning. Morrow and Jansen will be ready as will be Cingrani and Maeda and you can rest assured that Clayton Kershaw wants an opportunity for Redemption in Game 7. These are the guys who “brung” us – we have to play ’em! The Astros aren’t going to roll over an die – they will be fighting and scratching too. I have no idea who steps up and does what, but it’s time. Carpe diem! Someone or someones must seize the day!
It’s a Gunfight at the OK Corral, ‘er I mean Dodger Stadium:
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Discussion (81)
Disagree, not disagreeable
After Darvish gave up those runs seemed like the wind was dumped out of the Dodgers sails. And their bats.
Though if they’d just laid off that low knuckle curve.
Total team loss this series. Darvish was great in the NLDS and NLCS and terrible in the WS. I would make that trade every time. Who knows why he failed in the WS. I have a hard time believing he choked after the playoffs, but it is possible. Beltran and others indicated he tips his pitchers when he grabs his slider. If so, our coach should have caught it. Maybe he choked, maybe it was the balls. Maybe he just had two bad games. Who knows, he will be the top free-agent pitcher on the market. I wouldn’t want him for 5 or 6 years, but I would still want him.
The offense looked like it was pressing games 6 and 7 in my opinion. McCullers had nothing last night and they didn’t score off of him. JT started chasing which is unusual from a guy who walked more thand K’d this year. Seager and Bellinger did the same. Puig’s numbers weren’t good for the WS but he was having more disciplined AB’s than the 2-4 hitters. The Dodgers top 5 hitters had to produce and did at moments, but for the most part did not in the WS.
The biggest moment of the WS was the HR Kenley gave up in game 2. It happens to the best of them. They lost the game. If up 2-0, Roberts doesn’t have to burn up Maeda in game 3 after Darvish left. A Stripling or McCarthy can be used.
Clayton? One great start and one clunker with a good relief appearance. Front office? McCarthy didn’t belong on the roster. Doc? Some moves could certainly be questioned too. It was a great season and beating the Cubs was awesome. It hurts because it feels like we gave away games 2 and 5. There are plenty of good reasons why the Dodgers were in that position to win it all and plenty of good reasons whey they blew it. Not just one or two players.
AC you are right about the first inning. We had bases loaded and no runs . Seager and Bellinger strike out. That set the tone for the entire game. If we would of broken through in the first inning it would of been a different game.
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I also thought there would of been a fast hook on Darvish. I really thought he was finished after the first innng. You could see Darvish looked just like he did in game three. He was pitching defensively and not attacking. I sincerely hope we keep Ryu.
I have no problem with the Dodgers making a run at Stanton, although the cost in players (both in prospects, and some on the current 25-man) and would almost certainly be high. That’s something for FAZ to evaluate. As for taking on his salary, that’s also something that FAZ will also need to evaluate. In any case, they are the only ones with enough information to make an informed decision.
I’ve also read that Miami may also be interested in unloading Dee Gordon as well. That’s something I could support, considering the following:
– Gordon hit over .300 again this year, but still leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to getting on base overall. But if Turner Ward is really as good as he appears, then I believe he would have a chance to get Dee to buy into the a much more patient approach at the plate.
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-I don’t necessarily think that Dee would fit at leadoff for the Dodgers, since I’m extremely satisfied with Taylor in that position. However, I think that Dee’s speed, with a more patient approach could play up very well in the 8th position. He’d certainly be an easy runner for the pitcher to sacrifice over to 2nd or even to 3rd. And I like his speed, no so much for stolen bases (although I have no problems with stealing bases, when necessary), but for his ability to go from first to third, or put more simply, his ability to get us another 90 feet in various different ways.
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-In addition to Gordon buying into Turner Ward’s program, I would hope that he would also enthusiastically buy into Doc’s program, much like Puig has.
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Of course, I also like Logan Forsythe. However, with the addition of Gordon I believe he would become expendable, especially given that I believe that if his option is picked up by the Dodgers, he will earn $9-10 million next year. If the Dodgers were still able to fit him into a viable role with them along with Dee, I would have no problem with that.
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At this point, I have not looked very extensively at what free agents will be available over the winter, and therefore, everything above is just preliminary. Other possible names to consider are Jake Arrieta, Yu Darvish, and J.D. Martinez. And maybe there are others, since I currently have very little knowledge of who is available, and what will be the prices.
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There are clearly Dodgers prospects to be considered. However, who those prospects are will depend on who might be made expendable over the winter. And of course, if the Dodgers do anything, it might include current players like Joc Pederson, Kike`, etc.
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Whatever the Dodgers do this winter, they clearly need to address both the offense and the pitching (both starters and the pen). And I think what the Dodgers do this winter will tell us a lot about how hard they intend to push for a championship in 2018.
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Regarding hitting Stanton in the cleanup spot. At this time I don’t think that it much matters. Just having him in the lineup lengthens it. If anything, I would like to see Stanton hitting behind Cody. Got a feeling that with additional experience and maturity. The specific order of the lineup is less important than it’s the sum of the players that comprise it.
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Getting tired, so I’ll leave it at that.