Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Friday night felt like every time the Dodgers failed in the playoffs since the beginning of this run in 2013. Despite three other trips to the World Series and a win in 2020, it felt like they were reverting to their old ways; a PTSD, of sorts (not to make light of real post-traumatic stress disorder). The Yankees had done what they needed to do be in a position to win, but it felt like the Dodgers had a ton of missed opportunities.
Then, Freddie Freeman — bum ankle and all — came through with the most dramatic swing in Los Angels in 36 years — maybe ever. With that swing, he saved — propelled, even — the Dodgers’ championship aspirations. That might be a bit overblown, seeing as a 1-0 series deficit is something a team can overcome, but 63% of the teams that win Game 1 go on to win the Series. That number climbs to almost 85% in a 2-0 scenario. At 3-0, it’s 100%. In fact, only three times in 24 occurrences has the series not ended in a sweep — and those three ended in five games. While it’d be nice to celebrate a championship at home, that probably isn’t going to happen. Instead, fans will just have to settle for a parade.
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These Dodgers are different. They aren’t the best present team in the Andrew Friedman era. They won 98 games in the regular season, which is a lot but not the 100-plus we’ve gotten used to over the last several years. The talent is probably the best he has ever assembled, but injuries have dampened that. The 2017 and 2020 squads have, clearly, been the best over this decade-plus, and even those teams had a way about them. The 2017 squad mowed through the NL playoffs with Clayton Kershaw in his prime, Cody Bellinger bursting onto the scene as the NL’s top rookie and Justin Turner being the heart and soul of the offense. The 2020 team was led by newcomer Mookie Betts and overcame a 3-1 deficit in the NLCS in improbable fashion. But this 2024 version has something else going for it.
Yes, having the best player on the planet in Shohei Ohtani doesn’t hurt, even if he hurt himself in Game 2 of this series and hasn’t been as good as he was in the NLCS. Ohtani had to do a lot of the heavy lifting in September for the Dodgers to hold off the Padres to claim the NL West crown. He sputtered a bit in the NLDS (even if his 3-run homer in Game 1 of that series was the catalyst for the win) before putting it together in the NLCS.
But other than a couple of the superstars finally showing up — Mookie and Freeman — the Dodgers have had some unexpected contributors in the likes of Enrique Hernandez and 2024 NLCS MVP Tommy Edman. Jack Flaherty has done what he was brought over from Detroit to do (we’re just not going to talk about Game 5 of the NLCS). Michael Kopech has stepped into a high-leverage role without much concern. The rest of the bullpen has taken on the challenge of being needed because of the injuries to the starting rotation. The next tier of stars down from the Bettses, Freemans and Ohtanis have also had their moments. Teoscar Hernandez has been one of the best 1-year deal players Friedman has ever signed. Max Muncy set a record for consecutive plate appearances getting on base in the NLCS. All of this is in the recipe of a championship team — ingredients that have been missing in the past. With said ingredients, the chef has cooked this month. And while Doc is a much better nickname for Dave Roberts, Chef is a solid secondary moniker.
Roberts has progressed in his managerial style. He’s no longer leaving pitchers (starters or relievers) in too long. He’s making the right decisions regarding the lineup. Hell, even most of his silly bunt calls have worked out for the better. He hasn’t been perfect this postseason, but this is easily his best performance as Dodgers’ skipper over the last nine years, even if 2020 was damn good in its own right — especially Game 6 of the World Series. He was a big reason the mood, seemingly, shifted a couple weeks ago. Of course, there will still be folks who call for his job when he makes one mistake in a late-May game in Cincinnati, but those folks are probably just miserable wonks.
Something else that has made this postseason run feel different: The bats have shown up. That’s something that has only happened in two other playoff runs for the Dodgers. Unsurprisingly, that was ’17 and ’20, and the results were really good, despite getting cheated out of one ring. The offense has averaged 6 runs per game in the 14 postseason games so far. It has slowed down a little in the World Series — four of the 14 runs scored came on one swing — but I’m sure we’d all take this team averaging 4.7 runs per game in the Fall Classic based on past, inept playoff performances.
Dodgers’ offense in the postseason:
— Dustin Nosler (@DustinNosler) October 12, 2023
2013: 10 G, 3.2 R/G
2014: 4 G, 3.75 R/G
2015: 5 G, 3.6 R/G
2016: 11 G, 3.3 R/G
2017: 15 G, 5.5 R/G (*)
2018: 16 G, 3.7 R/G
2019: 5 G, 4.4 R/G
2020: 18 G, 5.6 R/G (🏆)
2021: 12 G, 4 R/G
2022: 4 G, 3 R/G
2023: 3 G, 2 R/G
Looking forward to updating this tweet for next year.
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Roberts has been at his best this postseason. He deserves all the credit he has received and has coming to him. Even with all the injury adversity this team has faced, Roberts’ belief in his team never wavered.
That’s a strong statement regarding his team, considering he has managed multiple 100-win squads, two pennant-winning clubs one one championship club. It isn’t a slight to any of those other teams, it’s his belief, and who are we to question it? Maybe it’s just something he said in the moment, but knowing Roberts like we do (publicly), I believe it.
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The season isn’t over yet, but it’s close. If the Dodgers can’t win one game in the next four, then they deserve the negative history associated with such a failure. But this team will not allow that to happen.
It has been a wild ride, and the Dodgers are on the verge of being World Series champions. Maybe idiot people will shut up about the 2020 title now … but we know they won’t. Whatever. The Dodgers are about to win their eighth championship in franchise history, and it has been a collective team effort — one that has been a bit of a foreign concept in the majority of Dodger playoff runs. It has been a breath of fresh air and something we, as fans, could get used to going forward.
Soak it up, Dodger fans. They’re up 3-0 in the World Series for the first time in my lifetime (and I’m kinda old), so I’m willing to bet it’s the same for most of you. If history is any indicator, we’ll be celebrating tonight or tomorrow night.
