“Shock factor, very high. Disappointment, very high. It’s crushing,” Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts mentioned. “Each guy gave everything they had all year long, and a tremendous season. The great thing about baseball is the unpredictability, and the tough thing about it is the same thing.”
The Dodgers are the most dominant common season group of the previous decade. They have won 73 more regular season games in the past 10 years than anybody else. They have crushed their common season opponents by greater than 1,700 runs in that span, greater than 700 greater than the second-best Houston Astros, according to MLB.com. They have won only one World Series in that point, and it got here in the 2020 covid-shortened season.
“It’s always disappointing to lose in the postseason. I think that’s what makes winning so great, what makes losing so bad,” Clayton Kershaw advised reporters, including NBC Los Angeles, Saturday. “It’s just abrupt. It just ends when you don’t expect it to.”
In the Dodgers’ case, it ended 5 days after a six-day layoff whereas they waited for the wild-card spherical to find out their opponent. When coupled with the fall of the Atlanta Braves and the potential demise of the New York Yankees, the Dodgers’ loss tempts observers to attract conclusions about the new playoff format. All three of these groups acquired byes into the first spherical after successful tough divisions. All three performed groups that completed not less than seven video games (in the case of the Cleveland Guardians) and as many as 22 video games (in the case of the Padres) behind their division sequence opponents in the common season. And all three of them seemed downright beatable from the begin of the division sequence to the end.
“Point your fingers to whatever you want, but the bottom line is we didn’t get the job done,” Justin Turner advised reporters after the sport, when requested about the layoff.
“Not for me,” Freddie Freeman advised reporters, when requested whether or not that break had an impact.
Almost everybody apart from Houston Astros Manager Dusty Baker — whose group was the just one with a bye to clinch a championship sequence berth thus far — has dismissed the concept that the layoff issues. Baker mentioned he remembered from his taking part in days that timing begins to deteriorate after even a day or two and not using a sport. But each group anticipated that. Every group deliberate for that and did their finest to simulate sport conditions whereas they waited. The layoff, like the grueling 162-game schedule, like the equally unforgiving playoff schedule, is just one thing to be handled.
And apart from, one yr’s value of pattern just isn’t sufficient. What the Dodgers’ loss does recommend, nevertheless, is that even a wonderfully crafted lineup that scored 40 extra runs over 162 video games than some other group in baseball, grew to become the first National League group to win not less than 111 video games since 1906, and tied for the fourth-highest run differential (plus 334) since 1900, should change one thing in October. Because they merely should discover a technique to hit.
“We just didn’t hit, man,” Mookie Betts mentioned. “That’s on us. That’s on the hitters side. We didn’t execute any type of plan or anything. During the season we did.”
The Dodgers didn’t essentially hit lower than different playoff groups did this October. Their .227 batting common in 5 video games was just a point lower than the Cleveland Guardians have by means of 4. Their .704 OPS was second highest amongst groups that performed not less than 4 postseason video games this yr. They scored 12 runs in 4 video games towards the Padres. San Diego scored all of three extra. The Padres had seven hits with runners in scoring place. The Dodgers had 5.
“Nothing I can say is going to make it feel any better,” Roberts mentioned. “Obviously we didn’t expect to be in this position.”
Nothing he can say gives an ideal rationalization, both. Perhaps the Dodgers might have gotten the few extra hits they wanted if Cody Bellinger was hitting, or if they’d introduced in yet one more bat to bolster the backside of the order. But they did add Freeman to a group that already included annual MVP candidates (*111*) Turner and Betts, one among the sport’s finest offensive catchers in Will Smith and a confirmed playoff performer in Turner. How many bats is sufficient to assure October success? And if the Dodgers didn’t have sufficient, can anybody?
The Dodgers might endure vital renovations in the offseason. Turner shall be a free agent. Kershaw shall be, too, if he decides to play one other yr. Turner can hit the open market. Andrew Heaney and Tyler Anderson and different key depth members of their pitching workers can depart, as properly. The Dodgers might attempt to exchange them with the likes of Aaron Judge or Jacob deGrom in the event that they need to attempt to make flashy gives to attract both to Hollywood. But even when they do, might both participant deliver a assure of October success?
If there may be any comfort to the Dodgers, it’s that nobody has discovered the system for successful usually in October. When the Braves misplaced to the Phillies on Saturday, they assured that MLB wouldn’t have a repeat champion till not less than 2023. No one has won back-to-back titles since the Yankees in the late Nineteen Nineties. For years, particularly the previous few, the Dodgers seemed like a group constructed to finish the drought. Instead, they’ve served as a strong reminder that constructing for October means crossing your fingers and hoping the large hit is there if you want it.
