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 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!