The Role Player

Just like every other fan, I have my favorites.  I believe I have been more than obvious that Corey Seager has been my favorite Dodger since he was drafted.  I also have jerseys for current Dodgers, Kershaw, Buehler, Bellinger, Turner, and Wood.  I love the stars, but I am also partial to those who are more role players and not top of the rotation pitchers.  The angst I feel with some fans is that they seem to expect every Dodger to be an ALL STAR at every position, all five starting pitchers to be CY candidates, and every reliever to be a lock down closer.  But that is not how a team is built.  I like and respect the role player.  Not everyone does.

I know it was the last time the Dodgers won the WS, but they do not win it without the help of the role players, AKA The Stuntmen.  Everyone remembers the Gibby HR, but how about Mike Davis coming off the bench with two outs in the 9^th and getting a walk off Eckersley, and stealing 2^nd to get into scoring position before the Gibson HR.  Everyone remembers the Bulldog himself, Orel Hershiser, in that series.  But in Game 1 after Tim Belcher allows four runs in the 2^nd inning, it was Tim Leary who came in to pitch the 3^rd and pitched 3 scoreless innings followed by two shutout from Brian Holton and finally two shutout innings from Alejandro Pena.  (Belcher/Leary – May/Gonsolin). What about the back breaking 3 run HR from Mike Marshall after run scoring singles from Franklin Stubbs and Mickey Hatcher in Game 2.  Mickey Hatcher getting 2 HRs in the series including a 2 run HR in the 1^st inning of Game 5, and Mike Davis going deep in Game 5.

I was an Alex Wood fan when he was in Atlanta, and bought his jersey as soon as he was traded to LA at the 2015 trade deadline.  Dodgerrick and I have had some disagreements on the value, usage, or…??? on Alex.  I was not going to change his mind, and he was not going to change mine.  My point on Alex is that he was never intended to be a top of the rotation pitcher, but always a #5.  Max Scherzer is not going to be a #5 behind a team of starting pitchers of Kershaw, Cole, Verlander, deGrom.  But Alex Wood is an 8 year vet, with a 53-44 career W-L, 3.45 ERA, 1.232 WHIP.  He was an AS in 2017 when he led MLB in winning % with a 16-3 record.  He was 26 in 2017, the same age as is Tony Gonsolin is now, and yet Gonsolin has not put up those 2017 numbers.  Alex will not be a Dodger next year, but some team will sign him, and IMO he will be a very productive back of the rotation pitcher.  I said enough about Alex in my response to William yesterday.  I like Alex Wood, always have, always will.

I felt the same about Ross Stripling.  He was never top of the rotation, but he was a good #4 or #5 on most teams and #6 for the Dodgers.  I discount what he did this year in Toronto after the trade. I look for Ross to make the rotation and succeed in 2021. I wrote a blog post on why I thought that Wood and Stripling could be the R-L version of Andrew Miller.  Miller was not as successful of a starter as either Wood or Stripling, but when Francona moved him to the pen after being traded to and then re-signing with Boston, Tito convinced him to convert to relief in 2011, and he became a very good high leverage reliever.  Miller was full-time relief in 2012.

I began writing about another failed starter who became a reliever in 2017 ST.  I said at the time that Brandon Morrow would get to the ML club by June and would then become the missing setup guy for KJ.  I also said the same thing about Jesen Therrien for 2019, and he has not been heard from.  I was also a Jose Leclerc fan, and after 2018 he has not been very good.  So I am far from always right on these relievers. Although at 26, with a four pitch repertoire, and an AAV of $3.69MM thru 2022, and two team friendly options for 2023 and 2024, I would certainly like the opportunity to see what Jose could do for LAD.  Texas will never let that happen.

I became a huge Caleb Ferguson fan after he was drafted.  I was writing about his exploits after his promotion to Great Lakes in 2016, helping them win the Midwest League A League Championship.  I kept writing about him until people actually knew who he was once he made it to the ML.  He was always a starter.  He was called up by LAD to start, and did not fare well at all as a starter.  In his first three games at the ML level, he started and pitched 10.2 innings and was not very good.  But Doc and AF knew he had a great fastball and a good curve.  It only takes 2 pitches to be an effective reliever and Caleb had that, plus he threw strikes.  Move him to the pen, and he was fantastic as a reliever in 2018. 

• As a starter, Caleb’s numbers were – 3 GS, 10.2 IP, 7.59 ERA, 1.406 WHIP, 12 K, 6 BB. 
• As a reliever, Caleb’s numbers were – 26 G, 38.1 IP, 2.35 ERA, 1.043 WHIP, 47 K, 6 BB

Caleb did not embrace relieving in 2019 as he still thought of himself as a starter, and did not pitch well for LAD.  In 2020 he not only embraced being a reliever, but looked forward to it.  Yes, he still wanted to start, but he went all in as a reliever.

I am now and always have been a huge Austin Barnes fan.  We already know that CK wants Barnes behind the dish when he pitches.  Walker Buehler could not praise him enough after his outing against Atlanta in NLCS Game 6.  Other pitchers are now talking about how much they like working with him behind the plate.  Not one pitcher has anything negative to say about Will Smith behind the plate.  In fact they all think he does quite well.  He is just not as good as Barnes at that part of his game.  I am not naïve, Will Smith has more than earned the starting catcher position, and if Barnes ever moves on, I am sure that CK will love to pitch to Smith.  CK moved on from AJ Ellis.  What will be interesting is when the lineups are posted later today, will Barnes be the catcher for Buehler with Smith as DH, or will Smith be behind the plate and Joc or Rios the DH?  This is the WS, and if Buehler wants Barnes, there should be no question that your co-Ace gets what he wants.  I have no idea whether that is something that is that important to Buehler.  Walker was simply on record as saying that he pitched as well as he did because Barnes guided him through that 2^nd inning “better than he has ever seen it before”, and that he leaned on him for the rest of the game.

I know of the many that did not want Wood on the roster.  Almost everyone did not want Barnes until he started to hit again.  How many were upset that Joc Pederson and Kike’ Hernandez took roster spots.  I do not know who was going to replace them.  I guess that is not true.  Some wanted an untested Zach McKinstry on the roster simply because of what he did in ST 1.0 and 2.0.  Joc’s and Kike’s previous Octobers meant nothing to them.  Nobody waived the banner higher for Joc than did Bums.  And nobody has done the same for Kike’ than Mark.  I am undoubtedly in that boat with Alex and Austin.  I have always been indifferent with Joc and Kike’.  They were Dodgers so I was a fan, but not fanatical.  However, come October I wanted all four on the roster.  Not one will get a HOF vote, but they are quality ML ballplayers and should not be so easily dismissed.  Especially those players under 30 who have 8 postseason HRs.

Why was that preface so important?  What I have been reading of late (outside of the distaste for Doc) is:

“They are not used to starting and relieving”. “They are pitching too much”.  “They aren’t pitching enough”.  “The team needed veteran middle rotation pitchers”.  “The team didn’t need anyone else; the kids were more than enough”.  “The stage is too big for them.”  These comments have been directed towards Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin.  One can generally tell whether the commenter is a fan of the pitcher or not by whether they are “making excuses” for not performing, or by indicating that they should not even be on the roster.

This is the WS, and there are no tryouts or do-overs.  You either perform or you do not.  In the playoffs, Clayton Kershaw has been no better than 50-50.  Right now, Walker Buehler and Julio Urias look like money pitchers.  Will that continue?  That part of the story has not yet been told.

“Not fair to take a starter and make him a reliever”.  Most of the time, I . would agree with that, but in 2020, not so much.  There were no off days until the WS so bullpen games became the #4 and #5 starters for many teams.  The playoffs are win or go home, and a team cannot afford the luxury holding pitchers back just because they were starters.  May and Gonsolin were considered the #4 and #5, so they were most likely considered for the bullpen role.  Interesting that Urias was also a starter and he relieved in the first Wild Card game, and gets the win.  He relieves in Game 3 of the NLDS and gets the win.  He pitched 3.0 and 5.0 innings respectively.  Julio starts Game 3 of the NLCS and goes 5.0, and comes back to pitch brilliantly in Game 7 to bring the pennant back to LA.  He was the winning pitcher in those two games as well.  The role change did not affect Urias.  But it did for both May and Gonsolin? 

Gonsolin started Game 2 of the NLCS, pitched well for three innings, and has not pitched well since.  Could it be that in his next 4.2 IP he issued 7 walks?  That is loss of command, not being tired. May was in the pen for his first three playoff appearances and he was outstanding.  Then he was asked to start Game 5 of the NLCS and he faltered.  I am sure the team was expecting more than 2.0 innings, but it was an elimination game, and the team could not afford to be patient.  The same with Game 7 when he only went 1.0 IP.

May relieved in Game 2 of the WS in a position when the outcome was still widely unknown.  However, he had no command of his pitches.  He was not too tired from overuse (I will get to that later).  He may have been too amped up. Whatever the reason, he was ineffective, allowing for four runs, and effectively putting the game out of reach.

Three pitchers who were starters during the season but were required to spend time in the bullpen because of the no days off scenario all teams played under.  Urias was exceptional, while May and Gonsolin were dubious.   

“They pitched too much”.  No they didn’t.  In 6 games, May pitched 9 innings, while in 3 games, Gonsolin pitched 7.2 innings.  May is 23 years old, and should have had zero problem pitching limited innings for 6 days, never back to back.  He certainly was fine for his first three relief appearances. Neither the number of games nor IP should have been too much for Gonsolin.

“They weren’t allowed to pitch enough to get into the game”.  In the NLCS Game 2  Gonsolin started, he was unhittable for 3.0 innings and then everything fell apart.  Already down 1 game to 0 to a very good Atlanta team, and not knowing what to expect from Kershaw, Doc was hoping that Gonsolin could have gone a little deeper.  But he wasn’t going to let him continue to struggle in a playoff game most thought the Dodgers needed to win.  He has not been the same since the first 3.0 innings in the NLCS Game 2.  In Game 7 of the NLCS, Gonsolin followed a very shaky Dustin May, with an even less effective 2.0 innings.  Doc was not going to let either pitcher pitch them out of the playoffs just to let them get the flow of the game.  They were both given a golden opportunity in Game 7, and neither could pull it off. That is the player, not the manager. The manager reacted quickly allowing the team to stay within reach and ultimately prevail.

“The team needed a veteran middle of the rotation pitcher”.  I was one of those calling for that.  I cannot be critical because I have no idea what was asked for by either Texas for Lynn or Cleveland for Clevinger.  I have no idea how Lynn might have pitched for LAD after the trade, and I have no idea whether Clevinger would have been injured as a Dodger.  It is irrelevant to discuss what might have beens (even though I like to). Because of the number of teams that were still in the playoff hunt, very few teams were willing to trade a mid level rotation starter, and those were the only two that were seemingly available. 

“The team did not need anyone else, the kids are fine”.  We have seen the results from the “kids” in the 2020 playoffs.

With that said, I am not upset that the Dodgers chose to go with May and Gonsolin in critical games.  I will not be upset if Doc continues to go with them, and they continue to falter.  Why?  Because I do not think they will continue to falter.  Doc far more than me believes in his pitchers.  If both pitchers go to their fastball in a relief role here on out, they could very well dominate a team that cannot seem to hit high fastballs.  Seems like a perfect antidote.  I believe they will.  I can foresee:

• Buehler – Game 3
• Urias – Game 4
• Kershaw – Game 5
• Buehler – Game 6 (3 days rest)
• Urias – Game 7 (3 days rest)

I suppose Doc could come back with May/Gonsolin for Game 6, but I think he may see more value in getting them into the right spots in Games 3-5.  I have no problem pitching Buehler or Urias on 4 days rest.  Last game for 4-5 months?  Don’t hold back.  Kershaw has not always been great coming in relief, but he hasn’t always been a disaster.  If Urias can only go 4 in Game 7, Kershaw can piggyback a couple in the middle of the game before turning it over to the pen.  The trick with Clayton, is get him out once he looks to be melting down. Regardless, Doc has options, and I think the roles that May and Gonsolin will play will be pivotal to bring the WS Championship back to LA.  Secondarily, it may not mean much, but this postseason experience for both pitchers should greatly benefit them (and the Dodgers) for future years.

Interesting to note that Roberts brings in May to face the RHH Manuel Margot and then RHH Joey Wendle, and Cash brings in Aaron Loup to face Cody Bellinger. May gives up the single and double and Loup strikes out Belli. Same situation, Roberts is an idiot and Cash is a genius. One caveat, I think I would have rather let VGon face the RHH Margot, and let May start an inning. But it was still the tactical move to get the RHP face the RHH. Cash does it too.

A team needs their stars.  Where would the Dodgers be without Mookie and Seager?  Quietly Muncy, Belli, and Fresh Prince have had good (not great postseasons). But a team also needs the role players to supplement and sometimes carry those stars.  Where would the legend of Kirk Gibson be if not for the walk to Mike Davis.