the tale of two perspectives

Perspective is in the eyes of the beholder. I thought it might be interesting to get two different perspectives on last night's loss, which put the LA Dodgers down 2-0. There is no collaboration, and this is Jeff Dominique's and my perspective. No fans were harmed in the process of writing this blog.

My Take: Mark Timmons

It's hard to win three World Series in a row. Yes, I say that because it has never been done in the National League. NEVER! The Dodgers have been beaten by the Brewers in two consecutive games, and it looks to me that the Brewers are the better team... BUT hold on. It ain't over until it's over. Stranger things have happened... remember when the Red Sox were down 3 games to zero and came back?

That said, it's unlikely! However, I still believe that the Dodgers are the best team in baseball. But the best team doesn't always win. If you analyze the team position by position, the Dodgers are the better team. They are also the OLDER team. The Brewers are younger, faster, quicker, and hungrier than the Dodgers.

The Brewers have a "hunger" for a championship, while the Dodgers have grown accustomed to it. That, in itself, could be the difference in the series. Through the first two games, the Brewers are hitting .295 with an .837 OPS. Their OB% is an insane .411!

The Dodgers are hitting .169 with a .447 OPS and a .261 OB%.

You can't beat the Little Sisters of the Poor with those numbers!

The Brewers have a 1.50 ERA, while the Dodgers have a 5.06 ERA.

The Brewers beat the two best Dodger starters, and as they head to LA, is anyone confident that Snell and Glasnow will fare any better? I'm not. Of course, I will still be rooting for the Boys in Dodger Blue, but my confidence is waning. My eyes tell me that the Brew Crew is better right here, right now, and maybe it's because they are hungry and the Dodgers aren't.

I think the ONLY way the Dodgers can turn this around is if Shohei Ohtani is unselfish, admits he is a shell of himself, most likely due to multiple injuries, and steps away from the game. That selfless act and the injection of JDP's enthusiasm could turn this ship around. That is their only hope, in my humble opinion.

When you do what you have always done, you are going to get what you have always got!

Stop the insanity, Shohei! Admit you aren't Superman!

You can still win this thing!

My take: Jeff Dominique

IMO, too many LAD fans took the Brewers a little too lightly.  “Ahhh, the Dodgers swept the Brewers last year after being swept by the Brewers during the season.  Not worried.”  Somebody forgot to tell the Brewers that the Dodgers do not lose in the playoffs anymore.  Different year, different and more dangerous team. 

The Dodgers had Miz on the ropes in Game 1, and Skubal was dealing.  Miz fought out of the problems and turned it over to their lockdown bullpen.  The Dodgers did beat good pitching against Chris Sale and Atlanta, but lost a bullpen game before beating Sale and Mahle.  The secret?  8 HRs. 

This team is built for pitching and slug.  We fans can complain about the hitting approach all we want, but it has been successful.  Very successful.   AF/BG/et al know more than we do, so I am inclined to go with their approach until it doesn’t work anymore. 

The Dodgers got beat the first two games of the NLCS.  The Dodgers did not lose; the Brewers beat them.  For those two games, the Brewers were clearly the better team.  The Brewers even tried to give Game 2 to the Dodgers, but they would not take it. 

The Dodgers were hoping for a split in the two games in Milwaukee, and they had their Ace going in Game 2.  The Dodgers got a gift run in the 1st, and we have seen Yama take that run and go deep.  But he didn’t have his good stuff on this night.  He got to two strikes (a lot), but could not get that third strike. The Brewers played the game the Dodgers tried on Sunday, by building Yama’s pitch count.  They shortened up, kept fouling pitches, and most of the time reached base.  The key AB was Jake Bauers 12 pitch BB.  

The game plan worked.  Yama was gone with two outs in the 3rd inning after just 75 pitches.  In this series, the difference is that the Brewers got to the LAD bullpen while the Dodgers have not been able to touch Milwaukee’s bullpen. As it turned out, the Brewers threw 4 relievers over the final five innings.   They faced 15 batters, and retired all 15.  LAD got 4 runs off Henderson, but two of those were unearned due to his throwing errors. 

Not too many teams are going to win games in the playoffs against excellent pitching when they generate only three hits.  Kyle Tucker got a double for the first Dodgers XBH in the series.  They have 9 singles to go with that double, and not unsurprisingly, they have only scored 5 runs (3 earned).  They are now 1-10 wRISP in the NLCS, and not one LAD hitter looks poised to be that clutch hitter.  It is difficult to score runs when your 4-5-6 hitters are 0-11 with 4 K.  The only LAD batter to hit wRISP in 6 playoff games is Andy Pages with 2.  

The Dodgers had what they wanted.  They got Miz and Henderson out of the game before 5 IP but could do nothing with that Milwaukee bullpen.  In two games, the Milwaukee bullpen has 9.2 IP.  No runs, two hits, 3 BB, and 10 K.  

I keep reading that many LAD fans have little to no confidence in Tanner Scott.  He and Vesia were the two reliable relievers in both games.  Scott, Vesia, and Phillips look to be the only reliable LAD relievers thus far in the NLCS.  Will the others get better?  Did they make a mistake leaving off Jack Dreyer and Emmet Sheehan? 

The NLCS is not over.  The Brewers have pitched their two SP.  LHSP Robert Gasser gets Game 3, and who knows about Game 4.  Maybe Dustin May?  The Dodgers will counter with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.  The Dodgers should be favored, but they are going to have to hit.  Will they?  

The Brewers are living up to the hype.  Which LAD hitter is going to counter Brice Turang?  Willson Contreras?  Jackson Chourio?  

Two of the worst pitchers holding runners on are Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.  Can they stop the Brewers running game?  There is no reason why David Hamilton should not play.  Chourio, Turang, Cooper Pratt are threats. 

Only 2 games, but… 

The Brewers have 8 hits wRISP (8-22).  The Dodgers have 1 hit wRISP (1-10).  This is not a new problem, especially in the 2nd half.  

The Dodgers have hit into 3 DP, while Milwaukee has hit into 1.  Also, not a new problem. 

The Dodgers have no HR a 1 XBH.  The Brewers have 2 HR and 4 XBH. This cannot continue if the Dodgers hope to win. 

The Dodgers are slashing .169/.261/.186/.447, while Milwaukee is slashing .295/.411/.426/.837. 

Do the Dodgers continue to roll with Ohtani in the #4 or #5 spot in the lineup?  At what point do the Dodgers make some kind of change?  What’s that definition of insanity?  The same with Smith?  Smith barreled up 3, but only one was registered as a hard hit. 

The Dodgers bullpen has given up 4 runs on 9 hits, 7 BB, 1 HBP (17 runners) in 8.1 IP.  Milwaukee has given up 0 runs on 2 hits and 3 BB (5 runners) in 9.2 IP.  That is a 1.80 WHIP for LAD and a 1.00 WHIP for Milwaukee.  

For two games, the Brewers are beating the Dodgers in the pitching, hitting, and running game.  Neither team has shined defensively. 

The Dodgers are headed back home and should have the advantage.  Will they take that advantage?  There is absolutely zero reason to give up on them.  They are very capable of coming back and winning 4 out of 5.  Neither team should be afraid of the other’s top two starters if they need to come back and pitch.  The Dodgers can win all three in LA with Skubal beating Miz in Game 5.  If they do, I like their chances of splitting in Milwaukee as they did in 2018.  

I picked the Dodgers in 7.  As bad as they have played thus far, they can turn it around just as quickly.  I am sticking with LAD in 7.