It's Over Now!
I like to break things down to their simplest form, and here is why the Dodgers were swept in the NLDS: They could not score more than two runs a game. In 162 games, the Dodgers averaged 5.6 runs a game, but in this three-game series, they scored just two runs a game. They were…
I like to break things down to their simplest form, and here is why the Dodgers were swept in the NLDS: They could not score more than two runs a game. In 162 games, the Dodgers averaged 5.6 runs a game, but in this three-game series, they scored just two runs a game. They were blown out in the first game, but the next two games were very winnable and failed to hit. PERIOD! It was just like last year… and the year before. I detect a trend…
The Dodgers team ERA was 6.58 in the playoffs. Another 100-win team was Baltimore and they were worse with a 7.27 ERA. The Arizona Diamondbacks ERA was 2.20. Do you see the problem here? The Dodgers had a team OPS of .498, while the Diamondbacks were nearly 400 points higher at .877. The Diamondbacks have hit 13 Home Runs in five games, while the Dodgers have but one in three games. The team batting average was an anemic .177!
So, we have to blame someone… anyone… Right? Where do we start?
Andrew Friedman – Start at the top, Blame the guy in charge, “He knows how to build a team that wins 100 games but can’t win in the playoffs.” So, you expect me to believe that winning three games is harder than winning a 100? 5 out of 4 people struggle with math. “Well, he did not trade for any good starters after May, Gonsolin, Kershaw, and Company were injured!” There are two things here: (1) Teams have repeatedly demonstrated that method is not the path to winning (many of you wanted Jack Flaherty. His ERA after he was traded to the Orioles was 6.75), and (2) THE PITCHING WAS NOT WHY THE DODGERS LOST THE SERIES TO THE D-BACKS! Andrew traded for Mookie Betts and signed Freddie Freeman, and both were Top Five players in the NL this year. They were good enough to win 100 games, but not three!
Dave Roberts – Of course, there is the “Fire Doc” faction, even though he has the best all-time winning percentage of any manager ever in the history of modern baseball! Of course, some of you say, “Well, anyone can win with the teams he has.” That contradicts anyone who has a beef with Freidman and there are a few that do. I think that the Dodgers will have Dave Roberts back, but this is something that has to be considered. Ultimately, I think that this is not the problem. People love to second guess what a manager does because it somehow empowers them. People second-guess because they think there are ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ answers or ways of doing things. Since they believe there is the perfect answer to a problem, they get caught in a conundrum of questioning decisions and believing that they know better. Of course, with second-guessing, they are always right, and that makes them feel smarter too. Can Roberts improve on anything? Of course, but he will be back in 2023, I believe.
Robert Van Socyoc – Now, we are getting somewhere! “It’s the all-or-nothing approach. Teams that rely on the home run can be easily beaten!” Yeah, that’s the ticket. RVS can resurrect JD Martinez’s career along with Jason Heyward. He can help James Outman improve his “caveman swing” and help Mookie and Freddie be candidates for MVP, but you can’t be too reliant on the home run in the playoffs. Whoops, the D-Backs have 13 HR in the playoffs. The three teams in the playoffs still alive, are all reliant on the home run this postseason. I am sure that the Dodgers will look at RVS with a microscope up his butt, but ultimately, who is better?
Mark Prior – He seems to be able to help pitchers resurrect their careers (yes, it didn’t work with Thor because he thought the Dodgers could get him back to throwing in triple digits again, as he also believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny). Mark Prior’s arms problems de-railed a Hall-of-Fame career. Maybe he knows too much about contorting the arms and spinning the ball, which causes arms to blow out with more regularity? I am being serious. That has to be looked at. The Dodgers have had an unusually high number of arm issues. Dodger pitchers led MLB with over 2,200 man games lost to the IL. Could it be that Prior is “too good” at his job? Ultimately, I think Prior will also be back, but he will also have a colonoscopy!
The Players – How about the guys who failed to hit? Let me list them: Mookie (.000 BA), Freddie (.100 BA), JDM (.200 BA), Muncy (.182 BA), Peralta (.167 BA) Outman (.000 BA). Kudos to Will Smith, who hit .417, Kike Hernandez, who hit .375, and Miguel Rojas, who hit .333. Other than Smith, Hernandez, and Rojas, the entire offensive team sucked so much that they choked! When all of your leaders hit like sissies, the team goes home. The Dodgers are where they belong and where they deserve: at home!
I think the real culprit is Bill Plaschke, who cursed the Dodgers by saying they were going to in the World Series. Instead, the Diamondbacks sent them home with their tails between their legs. Disgraced and ridiculed on the biggest stage. The fans are clamoring for someone’s head, and there is a saying that “It better to hang some feller than no feller!” This feels like a lynch mob. No rational thinking – just hang someone! The video below says it all.
Mookie barely hit .200 in 2018 when the Red Sox won the World Series. In 2020, he hit .296 in the playoffs and World Series. In 2021, it was .319, but then in 2022 and 2023, he hit .143 and .000, respectively. Freddie Freeman has a career BA of .291 with a .402 OB% and a .933 OPS in all of the combined playoffs, while Mookie has a pedestrian .256 BA/.338 OB% and a weak .722 OPS in all the combined playoffs. He is an amazing athlete who can bowl 300 but can’t lead HIS TEAM to a win in the playoffs.
You may never see another team like this. It’s a team full of good character, guys… Guys who help little old ladies across the street and visit sick children in hospitals. They do a lot for the community and each other. Their character is impeccable, and they can win 100 games, but they can’t win three when it counts! There will be lots of changes next season. Joe Kelly, Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, Jimmy Nelson, Clayton Kershaw, David Peralta, Kolten Wong, JD Martinez, Chris Taylor and even Jason Heyward could all be gone. Maybe the team needs a Juan Soto in LF and will cough up the prospects. Maybe Blake Snell will become a Dodger. Maybe Shohei Ohtani comes to Chavez Ravine. Maybe they sign the Japanese dude.
Get ready for the winds of change. It’s in the air!
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Discussion (129)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Here’s some free agents the dodgers should look at to get how about Adam Duval, outfielder playoff experience Adam Frazier second baseman can hit field pretty good a second baseman Luis Saverino starting pitcher Matt Chapman third base Blake Snell starting pitcher Michael Brantley Leftfielder looking at free agents catchers there’s got to be a better hitting catcher then Barnes, that’s just some players that will be free agents and true don’t know if there Scott Brosis boys buy there were some guys to add to the mix of dodgers they have which could be better then Peralta or Hayward or Wong and Lynn. If they keep JD Martinez as DH and let Muncy go I wouldn’t mind that Martinez had a good year for the Dodgers.
I have enjoyed interacting with all of you this year. I will enjoy talking about the off-season, and the rest of the playoffs and WS.
This season was fun. Crazy, unexpected and fun. Despite all the ups and downs.
I am not bitter.
My son knows Brandon Marsh on the Phillies. Got to know him when he played in the CA League when he was with the Angels. He gave my boy crap (this was 2018) because my son would be out there during BP wearing a Dodgers shirt and a 66ers hat (Angels). They bantered before every game.
I’m all Phillies. For Brandon.
I love this group. Have a good night.
This is the first time in MLB postseason history (excluding shortened seasons) that all 4 teams in the LCS have 90 or fewer regular season wins.
Here’s the rub:
If you are one of the best teams, you have to sit out a week before you play while the inferior teams get to play on… and STAY SHARP!
If only the playoffs were in August!
Vaunted Braves offense, averaged two runs the game just like the Dodgers
So does that make it a crapshoot? Or do the Braves have that negative self fulfilling prophecy like the Dodgers? Asking for a friend
If it were me, I would trade Mookie, Freddie, and Max for as much pitching as I could get (young prospects). I would also trade Barnes and Taylor with the above players.
Then this would be my team next year:
C – Smith, Feduccia
1B – Busch
2B – Lux
SS – Rojas
3B – Vargas
LF – Outman
CF – DeLuca
RF – Pages
Screw the rest!
Dismantle this bunch of losers!
Nick Castellanos — a player I really wanted!
He summed it all up: “The regular season and the playoffs are totally different!”
Yes, and when your two team leaders go 1 for 21, you really understand that.
You can put the best players on the team, but if they do well in the regular season and bad in the playoffs, you fire the Manager and Team President?
What kind of disjointed thinking is that?
If anything, you fire the damn player!
So, the two best teams in the NL all year are not the best teams because they lost. I guess the Braves would trade their team for the Phillies and the Dodgers would trade their team for the D-Backs team?
Maybe I should say: that the team with the best talent does not always win.
But it’s not a crapshoot… no way, no how?
Not a good week for 100 win teams or MVP candidates!
I’m angry too, but it will pass. I’m also tired of the crapshoot BS. It very well may be for 88-90 win teams, but there are teams like the Astros and now the Phillies that understand about pacing and getting ready to play your best baseball in October, they are hard to beat and play hard for every out. Can you say that about this Dodger team?? It hasn’t looked that way to me. Yes we somehow won 100 games and yet that doesn’t mean shit because we are sitting home just like teams who won 60 games. C’mon there is only one outcome that the Dodgers aim for every year and they have failed miserably the last 2 seasons. Losing in the NLCS is one thing and that I can accept is more of a crapshoot, but the NLDS should be almost a given with a team who wins 100 games and is playing a team that finished 16 games behind them in there own division. Losing a game is one thing, but being swept and pretty much destroyed is not okay with me and it shouldn’t be for ownership either.
Gotta love Alanna, she said it the best in the playoffs aren’t a crapshoot just look at the asstros but if you want to blame the crapshoot for beating the dodgers that’s your privilege. And I say look at the Phillies to there not crapshooting there way into being Damm good when it counts. Truth is this year as opposed to last is for me more than a gut punch. I’m downright angry
Interesting take.
Without massive changes it will be same ole thing playoff after playoff and it’s ok if anyone doesn’t agree with that. Your opinion or my opinion doesn’t make it a fact. Sometimes wish I could be like some on here who are ok with just having a good season but I can’t. It’s not good enough
I feel very different with the ending of this season compared to last year. Last year I did have some monster expectations. 111 wins. Solid rotation depth. Good bullpen. And losing to the arrogant Padres was just gut retching.
I had very low expectations going into the playoffs this year. Despite the 100 wins. The fact that we got to 100 was extraordinary. This was a transition year to begin with. With the injuries and criminality destroying our starting rotation and taking away Lux, it went from a transition year to a crisis year. Yet, Doc and AF managed to still win the division. Somehow.
AF, correctly, has every intention of seeing who among the myriad of young talent in the system will be MLB contributors. The train wreck of what became our rotation forced his hand with the young arms. That will be a good thing come spring training. Some of our best young talent aren’t coming in totally green in 24. They have the experience of trial by fire.
I’ve said it 100 times. The playoffs are a crap shoot. Just get in and anybody has a shot. The Braves might be knocked out tonight. The Phillies might take their 90 wins to the WS, again. Acuna got his only 2 hits in the series yesterday. The 3 top MVP candidates have played like dog s**t. That’s the playoffs. Some players get hot and some get cold. Arizona got red hot at the right time. So did the Phillies. They smacked the Braves around yesterday like mule.
My expectations this season were tempered. I believe the Dodgers simply making the playoffs with a 90 or so win season would be a “win”. We did better than that. And then fell completely flat against a red hot team. Getting swept hurt. But the end result isn’t surprising. The Dodgers massively overachieved this season.
Dodgers will make some moves in the off-season. No question they will go after some top arms. And I’m sure there will be some other moves. Likely ones we won’t see coming. But the kids will get their shot in ST. This team is set to be successful for years to come.
With the current playoff format, it will be a crap shoot again next year. I’m not pissed like I was last year. We were lucky that the kids got to eat at the adult table to begin with.
This was not a failed season. I don’t want to hear anymore about needing massive changes. 99-100 win teams have been dropping like flies. That’s the game today.
Man can’t even wait one day to start up all the bull crap fantasy trades, player moves and predicted lineups that won’t even be close to actuality when next season starts. Oh well some live for that discussion I reckon
In my opinion, I think the “blame” goes to the organizational philosophy of their adherence to the analytics. Generally speaking, they’ve built a team that looks at a lot of pitches and swings hard in case they make contact. Over a large sample size, this leads to a lot of wins. But this also makes them susceptible to losing when they aren’t hitting home runs. The middle of the order is stacked with players who have more strikeouts than hits. Most of the team’s stats are against non-playoff teams. I don’t think approaches that are good over 162 games, against all types of opponents, necessarily translate well when you need to win a specific 3, 5, or 7 game series against the playoff caliber teams.
I don’t know if it is arrogance or stubbornness, but the Dodgers seem too one-dimensional when it comes to the playoffs. It probably didn’t help that they were down 6-0 before taking an AB to start their post-season, but they became very pull happy trying to hit 5-run bombs every at bat. I get that it takes a bit of luck to win in the playoffs. I also believe you make your own luck. The 2 runs scored last night were from 4 consecutive singles, mostly from going up the middle or the other way. I’m guessing analytics looks down on that. It seems to me that a run is a run and finding various ways to produce said run mitigates against the bad luck of not hitting home runs.
As for firing/not firing managers and coaches, does it really matter? Dave Roberts wasn’t brought in for his game management skills. He had never managed before. He was brought in to manage the clubhouse and follow the game plan script. The Dodgers have a game planning committee that decides line-ups and player/pitching changes. Players seem to love playing for him and you don’t hear about any clubhouse concerns. Clubhouse unity is important to the Dodgers. The FO has a system. If they send the manager, coaches, or players packing, they’ll just replace them with more people who will also fit their system. I think it’ll be more of the same unless they change their organizational philosophy.
Just my 2 cents…..
Buehler Snell Miller Shehan Pepiot would be a way better rotations then what we had this year in the playoffs Old Bear and Blake Snell wants to be a Dodger and also Juan Soto does to and Chapman is a California kid. So why wouldn’t he not want to play for the Dodgers. Would be a better fielder then Muncy okay Old Bear name a third baseman better then Chapman. And way better then Busch or Vargas please were trying to get better not just move up rookies.
I’m sitting here stomach in knots. In shock mode unable to fathom what I just seen. How is it possible for two of top three mvp candidates to go 1 for 22 with the one hit only because pitcher hesitated to cover first when it counted most. I’m not a doc hater. He does a fine job in regular season but he is the only consistent part of all the postseason meltdowns. They say insanity is trying same thing over and over again and expecting a different result which leads me to believe going at it again with the same formula would be insane. Change’s are needed. New leadership, a new voice, a different kind of spark. In my humble opinion that means squat I think it’s time
If there was his much tension in the clubhouse maybe we’re still playing! Still say it’s easier to change the manager and the intensity and fire than the stars
Dodgers need this to happen for next year sign Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery a one two punch at the top of the rotation with Buehler and and Miller and Shehan okay. They sign Matt Chapman as the thirdbaseman. They try to trade with Padres for Juan Soto who then plays every day in LF Betts every day in RF Freeman every day at first base. Now you have Lux at second base and Rojas at shortstop or you go sign a veteran second baseman say a Adam Frazier playoff experience you got smith at catcher and you being a guy up from the minors that can hit more then 200 and be a decent backup catcher or you go sign Grandal who we know as a dodger and hwy he be better backup catcher then Barnes . So thats what they should do and then you got some gritty players on the team like a Kirk Gibson then they pretty boys. So a lineup of Lux, Betts Freeman Chapman Smith Muncy Soto Outman Rojas that is a playoff and world series team an a rotation of
Buehler
Snell
Montgomery
Miller
Shehan
Pepiot
There you go if they want to win a world series.
Hell let’s just blow the whole damn thing up and start all over. Let the kids play. C, Feduccia, 1B, Freeman, 2B, Busch, 3B, Vargas, SS, Lux, RF Mookie, CF, Deluca, LF, Outman, DH, Smith, Feduccia and Smith can alternate at catcher. Taylor would be one bench piece; they would sign some other free agents to fill the gaps. Let Muncy and his K’s walk. Rotation, Miller, Sheehan, Pepiot, Buehler, and Grove. Sign a lefty starter if you want or bring back Kersh for 1/2 a season. Have Phillipa, Graterol, Brasier, and Vesia as the front of the pen, and fill in the rest with Yarbrough as the long man. Trade or non-tender Ferguson, Gonzalez, and a few others. Now let’s see you win 100 with this bunch.
I’m a big fan of both Mookie and Freddie, and their colossal failure in this year’s playoff disaster doesn’t change that.
I also have no problem with their greeting the opposition on the base paths. After all it’s a game and we already have too many people pissing on each other throughout the world.
That said, this roster is missing something very important. I’ve mentioned this before and I’m going to repeat it. When AF makes his roster changes this winter, he desperately needs to add a guy with attitude, someone who would rather punch the guy on the other team instead of patting him on the butt. I don’t expect that to be Mookie or Freddie because that’s not who they are, but I firmly believe that we need a different type of personality to lead this team into the playoffs. Look at the effect that Harper has on the Phillies. That’s the type of guy I’m talking about. Unfortunately, those guys don’t grow on trees but if AF can identify someone in free agency or in a possible trade, he should spare no effort to bring him on board.
Freddie and Mookie will open the door and always say “you first”. We need a guy who pushes his way past everyone and barges through that door, bringing everyone else behind him, not wanting to be left behind.
I would like to thank the Dodgers for another enjoyable season of baseball. It would have been nice to do better in the post season but, que sera, sera. I’m looking forward to next season and hoping that some of the young players can shine. It’s going to be a long wait until March. Thankyou Mark and Old Bear for all your work on LADT. I hope you can keep it going thru the off season.
Go Dodgers!!
I will make the call, Betts said no comment because the format didn’t play like crap, he did and the rest of the team. He knows better than to point the finger when everyone could see the Dodgers messed their pants.
Just step up. They sucked! Plain and simple.