The Dodgers’ postseason run is over much earlier than expected, and however the team might respond to its upset loss in the NLDS, moving on from manager Dave Roberts doesn’t appear to be under consideration. Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports that Roberts “is expected” to return to the dugout next season.
The news isn’t overly surprising, considering that Roberts has yet to even begin the three-year contract extension he signed last March. 2022 was the final season of Roberts’ previous contract with the team, and his new deal will keep him as manager through the end of the 2025 season.
Through seven seasons in Los Angeles, the 50-year-old Roberts has enjoyed enough success to put him on a Hall of Fame path. Roberts has a 632-380 record over those seven years, and as Harris notes, Roberts’ .632 winning percentage is the highest of any skipper in MLB history who has managed at least 315 career games. (Negro League managers Bullet Rogan, Vic Harris, and Rube Foster are the only managers with a higher winning percentage in any recognized major league.) The Dodgers have reached the postseason in all seven of Roberts’ seasons, won six NL West titles, three NL pennants, and one World Series championship in 2020.
Amidst that tremendous resume, of course, winning “only” one title has brought some criticism Roberts’ way, given how the Dodgers have been favored almost every one of their trips to the playoffs. This year, L.A. dominated the league en route to a franchise record 111 wins in the regular season, only to be upset by the Padres in four games in the NLDS. It marked just the second time in Roberts’ tenure that the Dodgers didn’t win at least one playoff round.
The decision to remove Tyler Anderson after five shutout innings in Game 4 loomed large after the Padres took the lead in a five-run seventh inning, and it joined a rather lengthy list of bullpen decisions that have backfired on Roberts in the postseason. Beyond just the bullpen, however, the normally dangerous Los Angeles lineup went into a collective slump in the NLDS, going 5-for-34 (.147) with runners in scoring position. It’s hard to blame Roberts for such a breakdown, and yet given the Dodgers’ consistent track record of regular-season success, nothing short of another Series championship will fully quell the criticism.
He sucks lol
False. Great person, clutch player, great coach, but the narrative explaining the upset will revolve around a few different factors, him inevitably being one of them.
False. Dave Roberts can’t mange the bullpen and it’s been that way for years. Tired of this nonsense.
His hands are tied by Friedman and the analytics department.
They are dictating the decisions that he must make.
So you’re saying that Roberts gets no credit for LAD’s huge winning percentage these last few years?
Therein lies the rub with the modern manager. He executes what the data analytics team tells him to do, but if the decision turns out to be a negative one, it’s the managers fault.
No way does a veteran manager like Roberts pull Anderson as a normal baseball decision. Over the course of a 162 season, more times than not, it probably works out. The data supports it. But in the playoffs, it’s a whole different ballgame.
If you want to argue that Robert’s needs to have a Come to Jeezuz meeting with the FO and tell him “the playoffs are mine”, then I could buy that argument.
It’s more than a coincidence that you often see the same group of managers in the playoffs (Tito Francona is one of the best examples).
How do you know this?
Nonsense!
Silly take
Every manager in baseball has matchup decisions dictated to them. Bullpen management is run by analytics departments. It’s todays game. Analytics departments come up with the best possible lineup each game too. This is not 1988. Tom Lasorda is not filling out a lineup card and deciding when Hershiser comes out and Howell goes in…that version of baseball is gone forever.
Managers should get more credit for wins today than ever. They don’t decide lineups or make pitching changes but they do have to contend with a roster of 26 players who are making a boatload of money whether they are at the league min of 700K or making millions. Tom Lasorda didn’t have to coddle anyone, and he could and did bark at everyone. Those days are gone. Managers need to be psychologists and motivators like never before. When they get a team to gel, they deserve accolades.
fox471 Dave
How do you know this?
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They don’t. A lot of fans use this as a cheap way to either criticize or laud their manager. Same as GMs. There is absolutely -0- people in here that knows what goes on in the dugout.
Bullpen wasn’t why they lost the series. RISP
Actually he doesn’t make those decisions. The boys above him do. There goes your hateful theory out the window.
He’s just following the direction of the front office. It was already pre-determined that Anderson would only go 5 innings.
dirk – I agree with everything you wrote except the last paragraph.
Tito had a .440 career managerial record until he joined a highly talented and highly paid Red Sox.
Torre had a .475 career managerial record until he joined the highly talented and highly paid Yankees.
Bad managers can ruin postseason runs (ie Grady Little), but you don’t have to be a great manager to win a championship.
Respectfully, all any postseason manager can do is learn from their missteps each year, but the bullpen and LAD pitching was not the problem this NLDS, nor was Dave the root of the problem.
Joe Maddon won with the Cubs so I have to agree somewhat. I doubt he ever gets a managerial job again. What an AH.
When people say the front office makes all the decisions, when to take out a pitcher, when to insert a particular reliever, etc., how does this actually work? Is the manager communicating with the front office between each inning ? Is there some go-between running back and forth, “OK Dave, Andy wants you to put in Vesia after the next batter, only if he gets on base though, if not stick with Anderson. And get Graterol to start warming up please, thank you.” ???
Joe Brady
Not no credit…Roberts manages the clubhouse, personalities, preparation etc…But, the Front Office and analytics departments. on many ballclubs are over riding Managers, dictating Manager’s decisions based on computerized matchups, dictating which pitchers face which hitters, who is in the lineup to face which pitchers, when they pitch hit, when they replace pitchers, whether to use a shift against hitters (can’t do that next year with rules changes)
I think he’s terrible. The Dodgers should fire him immediately.
The minute he hangs up the phone with the Dodgers, the Angels should call him and simultaneously hire him and hand Phil Nevin a plastic Walmart bag to collect his things.
Anyone who loses to Bob Melvin in the playoffs should be fired instantly.
@dirkg….UNLESS Walmart is charging for bags again.
Then, Nevin might need to leave the Angels BYOB style in this slightly farcical version of managerial hirings and firings.
Roberts is great at managing people, players and the media. But an in game manager he is not. He manages off of numbers and analytics and by what the front office tells him to do. So no he will not get fired.
Taking out Anderson in game 4 after 5 dominate innings was a huge mistake. First he was only in the 80 pitch range. Second Anderson was never really in any trouble and had only given up two hits. Third, the day prior was a bullpen game as Gonsolin couldn’t get through 2 innings.
So why would you take out your starter who was dominating? Even though you know you have a tired bullpen? Because roberts is scared to death of any pitcher facing a lineup for a 3 time in a game. That same reason he’s taken out Kershaw, Hill, Stripling in perfect and no hit games. He is so analytic driven and forgets to use his eyes.
He makes the same mistake every post season .
Still, he’s a great manager except post season.
Because Friedman and the analytics department are micro managing him
and forcing Roberts to make decisions based on computer analysis.
If he wants to keep his job in LA, then he must comply
with the analytics decisions as to who plays, when and for how long etc.
So you’re basically saying that Roberts isn’t even a manager then?
JoeBrady- I guess you haven’t read any articles regarding Joe Maddon have you?
My son is a statistician and makes an interesting point. He believes that teams should have a separate post season data base for the purpose of analytics. In the regular season hitters face 3rd, 4th, and 5th starters. There are AAA call ups due to injuries.
Mixing in the regular season skews the data.
Roberts is the Manager of the Dodgers. But, Front Offices and analytics departments are changing the Manager’s job (many think not for the better).
The Manager is the public face of the team. He deals with the press and the players. He helps keep the clubhouse together, He manages personalities, people, fragile and big egos. And, a successful, modern manager must be astute at managing relationships with the Front Office, Analytics, Scouting, Coaching Staff, minor league staff and players.
The Front Office and analytics departments are encroaching on the Manager’s former responsibilities like: lineups, bullpen management, in game matchups of pitchers, defenses, hitters and more.
Hall of Fame Manager Dick Williams would go off on or just ignore micromanaging Owner Charlie Finley who would call him in the dugout during games trying to micromanage him. One time Williams just ripped the dugout phone off the wall after telling Finley to stop calling him in the dugout during games lol!
Williams won two straight championships with the A’s in ’73 and ’73,
When he couldn’t stand the micro managing anymore, he quit and was not around for the ’74 Championship.
I’ve read some articles irt Maddon. Why?
THIS
Bob Melvin is the same way, and absolutely awful to have to watch.
What is up with this “new” generation of managers (theyre still mostly old) that care more about being best friends with the players more than they do winning? I’m an A’s fan and am sick of our last title being in 1989, but I am even more sick of A’s fans buying the propaganda that the manager does anything but lose games for his team, and the support Melvin had despite being incompetent during the actual playoff games was even worse.
Can you name these instances with Melvin? One that stuck with me was not giving Dunn an AB in 2014 WC loss to Royals. It’s been so long I can’t remember actual scenarios I’d have put him in, but the feeling that he should have gotten an impactful AB sticks.
Beyond that my frustration has been with ownership/ FO for not addressing team needs for the playoffs. Losing in 2018 and 2019 doing a bullpen game with Hendricks and then Manaea hardly having pitched that year was FO not acquiring an ace. 2020 all I really remember was feeling like I wasn’t watching baseball anymore with the golf balls they were using flying out of Dodger stadium.
Not contesting really but would love to hear some examples of Melvin’s mismanagement.
What you see in Roberts is the mirror image of Boone in New York. Could you ever imagine someone telling Jim Leyland, Whitey Herzog or Sparky Anderson how to manage?
We saw it come to a head this season. Old and new school collided and Joe Maddon lost his job. Right or wrong, the new school is here to stay.
And we should note that the new school is the teams that go to the playoffs year-in and year-out.
True, but I think we’re seeing with the Dodgers – while decisions based on analytics makes sense over a 162 game season, the postseason may be a different animal.
Yeah for sure. But I think it’s in the way the team is built. Winning a lot for 6 months takes tons of depth. Winning in October is much more dependent on the top 6 or 9 or however many players. Seems like they’ve mastered building depth but that’s it.
Right or wrong, the new school is here to stay.
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It’s not really new school. Shifts existed for about 100. Platoons existed for about as long as I’ve watched BB. The only thing that’s changed is that we have computer printouts instead of the notebooks managers use to use. And recording equipment to measure spin.
I love Dave Roberts coming back as the Dodgers manager yet again. Just means he will out manage himself again. Only one World Series title with Roberts at the helm with their super power teams and even that was in a 60 game regular season.
FG has an interesting article. They listed the top-20 teams with the best 5-year stretches. Those teams, truly dynastic teams, still only won 19 WSC in 100 opportunities. And many of those 19 WSC were before the expanded playoffs. Using a random cutoff of “dynasties” starting 2000 and later, they’ve only won 2 WSC in 40 years. The idea that teams should be winning multiple WSC’s is unsupportable.
They just won a world series 2 years ago. Not sure why LA fans are calling for him to be fired. He should get at least a couple more years of your patience.
They won a technicality World Series dude. Don’t act like that trophy means anything lol.
The “hunk of metal” means a great deal and we shouldn’t pretend like it’s any less authentic because we dislike the Dodgers or rar jealous plus of their finances – that’s intellectually disingenuous.
Not really.
2020 teams were realigned and so were playoffs. West teams didn’t play central or east and it was 60 games
Dodger fans can’t simultaneously complain about a best of 5 games saying BUT BUT NOT FAIR SHOULD BE 7 and celebrate the 2020 world series where you played 1/3 the games.
If a 5 game series is unfair your world series means absolutely nothing.
I’ve looked at the 2020 championship from different angles. First, one of the essential differences between the baseball season and the seasons of other major American sports is the length of it. MLB players play almost every day for six months. It’s called a marathon for a reason. Sixty games just don’t demand the stamina that 162 games do. There just isn’t the same “last team standing” aspect to a season that short.
On the other hand . . .
2020 was grueling in other ways. Players had to get up for every game without the energizing presence of cheering crowds. They had to worry about a potentially deadly disease that did, in fact, take out some players with serious symptoms (e.g., Eduardo Rodriguez had Covid heart problems that ended his season), and they had to get tested regularly. The whole atmosphere of that time pretty much eliminated the kind of fun and relaxation that would help players recharge during a normal season. And the World Series was played at a neutral park in Texas, so neither team had home field advantage at any point.
So, should there be an asterisk? I dunno. Maybe a comma or a semicolon. I think it’s fair to say it didn’t amount to a normal championship, but it’s also unfair to say it was worthless or a joke. It came with unique challenges and every team had the same chances. It was an anomaly — and one that I hope is never repeated. That’s the most I can say, I guess. I think the only ones able to form a legitimate opinion are the players who lived it.
Sorry buddy, this is the internet. Four word, fragmented sentences followed my “lol” are the only accepted answer format. Please resubmit when all stations Lott is removed from your answer.
Just read the last sentence then — and add an emoji of your choice.
2020 was a 60 game season, many of which were only 7 inning games. The Dodgers played their last 16 postseason games at Globe Life Field in Texas without needing to travel. I don’t see how 2020 compares to a typical baseball season, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Can we finally be done with this nonsense argument that the 2020 win was a “technicality” or somehow less than a real championship? Here are the reasons why it’s completely stupid:
1) The Dodgers we’re 1,000% going to make the playoffs in 2020, and almost certainly were going to win the NL West, whether the MLB played 60 regular season games, 600 games, or 6 games. The argument I keep seeing about “Uh duh, you got to keep in mind that a full 162-game season is long and grueling, the Dodgers only played 60, so you never know what would have happened, uh duh.” The Dodgers went 43-17 in those 60 games and we’re coming off like 6 or 7 NL West titles…they were going to the playoffs. Yes, injuries could have happened, but they also could have happened to any team. There are no teams that have a special talent to avoid injuries.
2) Even if you convince me that the Dodgers were not guaranteed to win the West in a 162 games, which, OK, I guess was not guaranteed although they were running away with it through 60 games, they did win the West in 60 but still had to play the same best of 3 first round series that all playoff teams played that year…which means there was essentially no benefit for winning your division that year like there always had been.
3) In case any of you mouth breathers forgot, the Dodgers had to win 13 playoff games in 2020 instead of the standard 11 in non-pandemic years. TWO MORE WINS, IDIOTS!! How is that somehow easier to do than 11 wins? I’ll do the math for you: it’s not easier. If one of these Wild Card teams wins the WS this year it will be the first time a team has had to win 13 games to get the trophy…since 2020 when the DODGERS HAD TO WIN 13 PLAYOFF GAMES, LIKE NO OTHER TEAM HAD TO BEFORE THEM.
4) Besides the initial three-game series, the Dodgers had no home field advantage for the other three series that they won, despite having the best record in the majors (and I’m going to go out in a limb and say that LA’s .717 winning percentage through 60 games would have held up more or less through 162 games and they would have earned home field advantage in a normal season too). But again, the pandemic rules made it MORE DIFFICULT for the Dodgers to win it all, not easier.
Got it, dummies? Let’s stop with this garbage once and for all. It’s probably all guilt-ridden Astros fans spewing this BS, trying to cheapen the Dodgers LEGITIMATE World Series win somehow. Legitimate win, unlike theirs.
PS. Roberts is of course a good manager and should return. If the Dodgers played 10 more 5-game series against the Padres they’d win 7-8 of them. I don’t think any playoff team is going to beat another playoff team in a 5-game series every time. This series the Padres beat the odds — that’s playoff baseball.
I think you missed the point, it wasn’t to say 2020 didn’t matter.
It was to say that you can’t cry about a 5 game series being unfair, while also glorifying the 2020 win.
Just accept it all and stop being a hypocrite
Not if Soto, Bell and Hader are performing like they did with their former teams. Not when Tatis Jr is back etc…
The two teams have reached relative parity.
The regulation season records do not take into account
the huge restructuring of the Padres roster at the trade deadline.
The Padres are just starting to jell after a major shake up of personnel.
The Division spread of 21-22 games is what is misleading.
Those teams are relatively equal in talent now
As a Giants fan whose team actually won 3 real World Series championships in the last 12 years I definitely would not feel the same had they won the 2020 Covid championship. But I guess if that’s all they ever won I’d probably make up reasons to try and legitimize it also. That **** was a joke
I think it’d be one thing to discount the Dodgers’ win if they were a bad team that rode a hot streak into and through the playoffs., but this team has won six of its last seven division titles. If the Marlins or the Reds had won, by all means strike it from the record books.
Now HERE’S how you do a reply on the internet!
I don’t understand this line of thinking. If anything about 2020 was a joke, it was the shortened regular season. The Dodgers consistently win the regular season. The 2020 playoffs were legitimate. The Dodgers won that. So why are the Dodgers a joke? I have no love for the team, but these comments are mostly from Dodger haters.
The dodgers are not a joke at all. The entire 2020 was a joke
I think the Dodgers had their chance to remove the asterisk from the 2020 title in 2021 and 2022 and failed miserably to do so. * it is.
“If the Dodgers played 10 more 5-game series against the Padres they’d win 7-8 of them.”
I would bet against that hypothetical scenario. These teams are a lot closer that you’re BS paragraph suggests.
So few players get to play in a WS, and for those that 2020 was their only WS I’m pretty confident they cherish it no differently than any player from any year. Players define the legitimacy. Some team had to win in 2020. It could have been any team. It was the Dodgers. Season short or long, as we’ve seen this year, the playoffs are a whole new season. Playoff season 2020 the Dodgers were the last team standing. WS champs same as the champs in any other season.
The Dodgers won all six series this year against the Padres. So, they won 6 of 7 in 2022. How is my argument BS? Do the math mouth breather.
Nope
The Padres had suffered injuries, got off to a bad start and made huge roster changes before and at the trade deadline. And most of those games the Padres played early against the Dodgers were close games that could have tilted the other way.
When the Padres finally gelled with their new roster, then you see results of them knocking 2 100+ win teams out of the playoffs.
That was not a fluke.
Just like it was not a fluke that an 88 win Braves team ran the playoffs
gauntlet last year and won the World Series in ’21.
The Braves then won over 100 games this year and lost in the playoffs,
You’d be proclaiming the same if your team won the World Series in 2020?
Actually a lot of fans would cringe at that. It’s almost more embarrassing to win a pseudo season that it is to lose it. That 2020 stink doesn’t come off.
Me?
Sure. And I’d also accept my team being eliminated in a best of 5 and say they should have played better.
Not find fault with the system. Two years in a row dodger fans have whined about the playoffs. Braves getting home games despite less wins but won their division and now it being a best of 5.
You are so full of cr*p. No fan base would be upset if their team won the 2020 WS.
Uhh, that’s extremely illogical, even if you don’t count 2020 as a true season, Neon Cop. You’d rather have lost than won in 2020 because the season was different? Quite frankly, I think you’re lying; if you’re not, then you’re just weird.
I would. 2020 was basically like a fantasy season. And not in a good way. Those games should have never been played, even though I was one of the ones that was happy MLB did decide to play. Hindsight has made me realize I was just bored and wanted something to do.
You would’ve been crying if they didn’t play and desparately wanted a season, but for some reason in *hindsight* it was a fantasy season that never should have been played… that’s gotta be up there with the most absurd takes I’ve seen on this board.
Sigh…I guess that makes 61.
You’d take the win if your team got it, and you’d give another team grief if they won it. A lot of people would, anyway. That’s the nature of fandom.
The World Series championship for the 2020 season is legit witn an extra degree of difficulty due to the opening round that was tacked on to allow for a 16 team field.
But they also played 100 fewer games and avoided the potential injuries that comes with that. It was not more difficult, it was just having a good month of June in a normal season.
So other teams would have been more skilled at avoiding injuries than the Dodgers? Think about it
I’m no Dodgers fan but it means the same as any other season to me and I wish the Mariners won it. If the Astros 2017 title means anything, then the Dodgers 2020 title absolutely does.
My point is that to the Dodger fans its real so why are they trying to kick him to the curb. Unless of course in their hearts they question 2020 too.
Don’t act like that trophy means anything lol.
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Enough of the silliness. For allpractical purposes, nothing changed. They won the division, and they’d have won no matter how many games were scheduled. And they beat the best teams in the playoffs.
Nothing changes.
And all the preseason favorites (based on vegas betting lines) made the playoffs.
All this discourse over 2020 is dumb. There were games to be played and the Dodgers won. Not their fault they were the ones who pulled through. Everyone accepts the Astros have now made 6 straight ALCS trips. You can’t pick and choose what counts and what doesn’t.
Oh but if The Brewers won it you would armed guards guarding it 24/7. The Dodgers didn’t make the rules. They just followed them.
@Milwaukee-2208 Brewers fans would kill for that “technicality” World Series title
As much as I hate the dodgers how can you not count 2020? Every team played by the same rules and one team was left standing.. the Dodgers. Give credit where credit is due
It’s simple: the baseball season is 162 games, or some rough approximation of that. You can’t skip 100 games…come on now.
The point is a virus hit the world and mlb played what they could. The dodgers went to the playoffs handled business and won a title. If you had bet in Vegas on them winning the 2020 World Series you would have won your bet
Well if gamblers say it was real, then it must be so. BTW, Vegas also makes bets on WWE wrestling matches,
What casino in Vegas takes bets for WWE? Answer None
OK, so not Vegas. But you can place bets on WWE elsewhere in the gambling world. I’m not a gambler, so I didn’t know specific locations.
That’s a pretty weak argument you got there. You can bet on some pretty outrageous stuff on the internet, which is why I clearly stated if you bet in VEGAS on the 2020 Dodgers you would’ve won.
I live in Vegas you cannot place a bet on WWE
Right, because the Dodgers weren’t going to make the playoffs in a 162 game series, even though they had won 7 NL West titles in a row at that point and had a .717 winning percentage through 60 games. And in the playoffs themselves they beat everyone, including the three teams with the best winning percentages that season besides them (Padres, Braves, Rays). No.
Well, based on your logic, Philly Blue, because the dodgers have won like the previous 6 nLDSs that they were in, then they were gonna winn this year, amirite?! Oh wait…
“You bet AGAINST the Harlem Globetrotters??”
OK then stop replying to me if I am so weak. Says more about you than me if you keep chiming in against a weak opponent,
Vegas does not take bets on predetermined outcomes.
Casino El Mirage O
You came at me I was just putting you in your place. Maybe do some research before making comments like “BTW Vegas also makes bets on WWE”
You didn’t put me in my place. I made an error and that should have been the end of it. But you just had to keep coming at me.
Why in the world would I research anything before making a throwaway comment to an anonymous person on a baseball website? Maybe you shouldn’t take everything you read so seriously.
Another troll (hiflew) muted. Man I love that button
Well, it’s not – it’s 162 plus the postseason. The Dodgers were the best team over 162 games this year, and it still didn’t matter come playoff time. The team that wins every year, is the team that simply gets to the playoffs, then gets the most hot from there.
Fans desperately trying to undermine the 2020 season are tripping over their own arguments.
Betting Establishments will not take bets on outcomes that can be controlled or predetermined
Not sure who you’re responding to.
I’m personally not saying it doesn’t count
I am saying it doesn’t hold the same value as other championships do
Sure. All teams played under same rules. Except not all teams were affected by the rules equally. Remember when the Indians and Marlins wiped out each other’s rosters at one point? Not all teams were equally affected by the covid rules.
Looking back. Taking out a relatively healthy athlete cause they tested positive for a virus and preventing healthy ppl from playing over a shot the company admitted to not going for prevention definitely lessens value of championships earned under “covid” rules. Still count.
That still stands today that if a player has the virus they will be taken out of the lineup. Everyone played the same number of games, everyone played with the same virus restrictions, everyone had a fair chance to win in 2020 but only the Dodgers can say they won. Bunch of fans on an internet site say it doesn’t count yet mlb acknowledges the dodgers as winners that year who’s right?? Pretty obvious answer
And the history books will ALWAYS reflect back on 2020 that it was the season of the Covid pandemic, where teams played 60 games. Just like the history books talk about the strike that took away a championship season from a team. Took away the chance for Matt Williams to try and break Maris record. 162 is not the same as 60. Dodgers are champions of a season shortened by the Covid pandemic. Facts.
Dumb argument. Dodgers were going to the playoffs that year no matter how many games were played. They haven’t missed the playoffs in 10 years
It can be a dumb argument but it doesn’t change the facts. They may have been going to the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they still would’ve won. I personally can care less. Dodgers are a great team, they shouldn’t be having these issues with trying to convince people they are worth the ring. They should have 5 or 6 rings by now with how many division titles they have won. But facts are facts. They are shortened season champions, history will always reflect that, not us commentators.
They should have 5 or 6 rings by now with how many division titles they have won.
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Not even close. Even if they were a 75% favorite to win each series, which they aren’t, that still only makes them a 42% favorite to win in any given year. Even taking 2019 as an example, their 106 wins doesn’t make them a prohibitive favorite over Atlanta’s 97 wins, and theoretically, they’d be an underdog to the Houston’s 107 wins.
There is a reason why no one has repeated as WSC this century.
Should have and would have is two different things, but my comment is towards everyone stating that they deserve 2020, and would be there anyway because they are 10, 11, 12 whatever national league west division champs. If that’s the case shouldn’t they have more rings then the shorter season?
Because they have ONLY won one with the teams they have had.
I believe anything and everything from 2020 should be vacated from the history books. All the stats, all the awards, all the banners. It was a charity tournament, basically. Played without fans in fairly abhorrent conditions. They began a Spring Training of sorts, canceled it, then restarted it in June. No minor league season. Look, at the time I was glad to see baseball as some sort of mirage of normality during that weird time in our lives. But it was a carnival act that needs to be expunged from our memory banks. I would feel just as equally charged up about this issue, if not more, if my Seattle Mariners had won it all. I wouldn’t respect it, and I would not consider it a true championship. And as time goes by, I bet more people will become convinced of this and MLB will do the right thing and vacate/rescind that freak show 60 game tournament in 2020 from the official record.
You say that but I call bulls@it. You’re a mariners fan and your team hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2001. If they won in 2020 you would’ve been ecstatic just like all the mariners fans were this year for just making it to the playoffs. Seems like a bunch of petty fans in here. The dodgers out classed every other team in 2020 facts. The dodgers won the World Series FACTS
As a Padres fan, and I have said this many times, if we had won it all in 2020, I would not have been satisfied. It would feel like our only ring would be tainted with an asterisk. That is a fact.
Did they not play normal baseball in 2020? Was it not the teams best players vs another teams best players? Was it not the dodgers smoking everyone else like a joint? When your favorite team doesn’t win the championship I get how you could try to say that year didn’t count. Sorry but it did, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2020 World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays lost the 2020 World Series. It’s in the books, it’s history just accept it
Latino heat…no they did not play normal baseball. They played select teams, with no fans, with rotating players coming in and out of quarantine, and even some players opted to not play at all like Posey. Los Angeles will always be remembered by baseball writers and historians, like I said above, as the champions of a shortened Covid pandemic season. Period. It doesn’t mean it’s not a real gold ring or trophy, it just means exactly as I stated. All they have to do to put this all to rest is win a ring after the grueling 162 marathon of a season and they’ll quiet the critics
Balk-I disagree. So you’re saying the 1981 LA Dodgers doesn’t count because it was shorten season because of a strike.?
So what if they’re no fans., Rotating players. It was done that way to protect the fans and the players.
I know you will argue it was done because of $$$ the owners and players would stand to lose. They played the teams they did because of travel.
It was MLB and it better than nothing. I rest my case your Honor.
I didn’t say it doesn’t count, what I said was it’s not 162 game season, and history will always reflect that, just like how you knew the ‘81 season was another year of a strike. Those mean exactly what they say. Dodgers are a Covid pandemic 60 game season champion. They are not a 162 game champion, Bonds is a steroid home run king. Furthermore I understand why mlb did what they did to protect players. Still doesn’t change the facts.
Your comparing the Dodgers winning a WS in a shorten season. ( playing by the rules) to a ball player who cheated to set a record? Why?
Because no matter the outcome of winning or losing, history will always be there to remind us the truth. Dodgers will be remembered for winning 60 game shortened season, Bonds will be remembered as the steroid king, ‘81 Dodgers remembered even by you, the strike champions. That’s why.
You’re screen name is appropriate. That is a ridiculous argument. Nothing that you said actually undermines the Dodgers win that year. See my post above to learn how dumb it is
Jaysus I’d never have thought I’d agree with a Philly fan, but here I am. Good luck in the NLCS.
@PhillyBlue M’kay…so you think winning 2 more games against a 29-31 Brewers team makes it even more legit than a regular title? And it appears to me they had home-field advantage the entire way, and why wouldn’t they with that record? But regardless, how important is home-field advantage at neutral sites with zero fans? Kind of negates the whole concept of an advantage. 2020 was a clown tournament of a season and will always be regarded as such.
I think it’s very hard to leave a rested Graterol and rested Treinen on the bench in that game. Maybe plan A isn’t to get nine outs from them, but he picked other pitchers when it was clear Kahnle didn’t have it. I thought that was more questionable than a quick hook with the starter.
It would be crazy to fire the guy over that. There’s at least some degree of Monday morning QB-ing here, and none of the other pitching routes were slam dunks.
Buck Showalter was criticized in 2017 for not putting then-legendary Zach Britton in to close out a Wild Card game that cost them contention.
There was a lot of Monday morning QBing over that as well. Here’s the rub though – if managing was easy, so many wouldn’t fail so easily. It must be tough to have to tell the future without a crystal ball. Fans get rabid over a child’s game and I say that as a diehard
It was a 2016 wild card game
And Buck was criticized because it was yet another disastrous pitching usage decision for a manager with a history of them
The situation
Bottom of 11th inning, tie game
To be faced that inning
– Ezequiel Carrera (can only hit LHP in 2016, neutral splits over career)
– Devon Travis (2nd year player who couldn’t hit LHP in 2016)
– Josh Donaldson (reigning AL MVP)
– Edwin Encarnacion (multi time All Star)
– Jose Bautista (2015 MVP runner-up)
LH RP Brian Duensing is brought in and faces 1 batter, striking Carrera out on just 5 pitches. He is then inexplicably removed
Ubaldo Jimenez, a RH SP with a 5.44 ERA, 1.560 WHIP and .268/.354/.418/.772 line against on the season is then brought in to face the top of the order
Jimenez promptly gives up 3 straight hits; a single to the guy who cant hit LHP, a single to the reigning MVP, and a HR to the AllStar
All the while, the All Star RP who would receive Cy Young and MVP votes for his efforts on the season, sits on the bench doing nothing. The very specific batters he should be used against were allowed to cross the plate, the game was over
2016 is one of multiple playoff series where Buck Showalter’s pitching decisions directly led to the elimination of his team. It’s just what he does, and he rightfully gets criticized for it
I remember that well. Any time someone doesn’t bring in their closer, they get criticized. But had he brought Britton in one inning, and then brought in Jimenez to save the game in the 13th, he’d get criticized for that as well.
The standard philosophy is that, if it is a road game, without a save opportunity, you bring in your closer in the 9th inning or so, maybe based on matchups.
But in a home game, you save your closer to close.
This is a rare postseason that doesn’t have Dave’s fingerprints on the Dodgers elimination. I would’ve liked to see Graterol or Treinen over Kahnle but that’s not really what lost their season. It was pathetic how much the offense dissappeard. The were 1/6 on making productive outs with a runner on 3B. That’s last place baseball.
I think Dave does stuff the way the front office wants stuff done. Maybe they’ll fire him for the optics or whatever, but it sure wouldn’t be them firing him for taking out Anderson when their data says he should come out. Trea hit two homers but basically sucked every other moment. Freeman had one good game and several bad ones. Mookie hadn’t hit in a month. What should Dave have done?
Completely agree. Roberts is doing what the FO wants. They won’t fire him because he’s the fall guy. This year, Friedman is the one to blame by doing absolutely nothing at the deadline, but then again Andrew is truly one of the best FO minds, and I don’t want to let him go…. Just please stop saying, “the playoffs are a crap shoot,” and continue with the same strategy.
It’s worth a mention, check the odds on a game between first and last place. Sometimes the Dodgers facing, say, Colorado would be like -300? Tops. Why are some of the odds when a Golden State plays (whichever last place team)? Quite different right? Yet both sports sort the playoffs based on 5- and 7-game series, despite baseball being a much more high-variance sport. I think you could argue the playoffs are too short.
Then fire the entire front office.
These are Oakland A’s-level playoff failure excuses “Not the managers fault even though it totally is!”, coming from the richest team. Insane.
…
They won 111 games. Why would it even be a thought?
They probably would do the same regardless of a manager.
Have you seen their roster? The Dodgers should have won 140.
The Dodgers are a perennial regular-season juggernaut that wilts under the weight of their own expectations. Roberts only compounded the problem last offseason when he said they were winning a title this season.
Do you guys understand how difficult it is to win almost 70% of your games in an MLB season?
Their 111 wins were tied with the 4th most all time. Tied with the 1954 Indians. All. Time.
This was an unbelievable season that got derailed by an unfortunate run-in with the Padres. You can blame Robert’s and the analytics, but the bats went cold. They just didn’t get on base.
From Fangraphs:
“The combination of an 0-for-20 streak with runners in scoring position that ran from the third inning of Game 1 to the third inning of Game 4 — after which they began another hitless-with-RISP streak — and some puzzling bullpen choices by manager Dave Roberts doomed them.”
I think Roberts made at least one error. But at the end of the day, they didn’t get the big hit. FWIW, the LAD had a significantly higher OPS in the series, .704 v .665. But just like any team can win a single game, any team can win a 5-game series.
Imagine all this dude & Kershaw ever see is a fake ring from a fake season LOL — abject failures, truly. The butt of every baseball joke.
You seem caught up in 2020 friend, let it go. The dodgers won the title, when you say “hey Siri/Alexis/google/mom/etc who won the World Series in 2020” you know what answer you get??? The Los Angeles Dodgers.
Or here’s a Wikipedia article about the 2020 World Series and they say…. The winner was the Los Angeles Dodgers.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_World_Series
The world is right, you are wrong
My post was deleted probably because I linked to Wikipedia. Point I made was:
Ask google/Siri/alexa/your mom/ANYBODY who won the World Series in 2020. Correct answer is that Los Angeles Dodgers.
2 posts about the same thing man get over 2020 it’s now 2022 almost 2023
People who love the sport tend to look a little deeper than the media & fans who live in LA. Nobody with half a brain thinks 2020 was the same…it was basically a spring training tournament.
Yet if your favorite team had won you’d be singing a different tune. Dodgers won the 2020 World Series it’s in the books time to move on
Melvin > Roberts!
Nah its a 1/10 manager vs another 1/10 manager
Both Melvin and Roberts are massively bad for baseball, and we shouldnt be hiring managers who care more about how a player is feeling off the field than they do winning ballgames.
What in God’s name are you talking about
The dude is toast. He thinks that he knows what goes on in the LAD dugout.
I was born an hour east of Dodger Stadium, and I grew up 1 hour south from it in North OC. And if this is the case, I’m done. I have a 100 year anniversary hat that I got as a kid at the stadium in 1990, and I’ll put it on eBay (along with my Vin Scully bobble head). The Dodgers are a 100 million dollar yacht, but some busboy that all the employees like is at the helm. Oh, hell…
Cool story guy, don’t think the dodgers will miss you. You could always be an LA Galaxy fan instead. Or maybe the Anaheim/California/city of Los Angeles Angels fan that could work too
Chavez Ravine is so close to Hollyweird anything could happen. But if the Dodgers fired Roberts he would have a job in less than a week. The Yankees or the Red Sox would hire him in a minute.
I could manage a team with a $290 million payroll to 100 wins a year. Let see him manage the Pirates, KC, Cincinnati, Cleveland and other small market teams to see just how good he is.
You are not one win less good at managing MLB games than Buck Showalter
Managers are only as good as the players.
Exactly, Roberts is a fraud exactly like how Bob Melvin is a fraud – neither of them actually know how to win, they just get gifted rosters that are impossible to lose with, yet still somehow lose due to their own in-game incompetence.
Sox would not move on from Cora for Roberts. Absolute schizo take
Cora would be out the door so fast he’d get whiplash.
Playoff failures mean 1000x more than you think
“Only” one “title.”
why would Dodgers not even consider replacing Robert to see who is available? At least wait until you are sure.
Good manager
Dodgers just can’t win the games that are relevant in a post season plain and simple. We know why they “won” the World Series in 2020, gosh the Marlins made the post season that year.
Dodgers just can’t win the games that are simple. We know why they “won” the World Series in 2020, gosh the Marlins made the post season that year.
Another article that asserts the Dodgers bats went cold – no denying the statistics but could it be that the Padres pitching had something to do with it as opposed acting as if the Dodgers just had a bad day (or 3) and that was the only reason the Padres won?
A little credit where credit is due too much to ask?
A bit of both for sure. Dodgers offense lacked aggressiveness on pitches in the zone and chased too much. Padres did well exploiting it
For real, Suarez Garcia and hader were nails
L move
This playoff format is just stupid. The Dodgers went 16-7 against the Padres this year and yet the Padres move on simply because they won the last 3. Same with the Phils and Braves. It’s just silly when you really think about it.
Too many teams in the playoffs.
So you think MLB should force the Padres to forfeit or what?
The 2022 Padres won 89 games, the 2021 Braves won 88.
Quit freaking crying.
The difference is that the 21 Braves WON their division and the 22 Padres finished 25 games out of first place.
I don’t care that the Dodgers lost. In fact, I love it. Of course I would have also loved it if the Padres lost. I hate both teams equally.
It’s not crying to question the ridiculous nature of the MLB postseason just because I am not rooting for your team.
The baseball season, it’s often said, is a marathon.
If a marathon runner led the pack by a quarter-mile until the 24th mile and then began to tire, and another runner who’d trailed him from the first mile closed in on him and reached him at the 25th mile, and then passed him at the 26th mile and won, would the guy whose stamina failed him deserve the trophy, or should that belong to the runner who passed him at the end?
Why is it so hard for people to fathom that teams evolve throughout the season? It’s 162 freaking games. Heck the Phillies don’t even have the same manager they started with, The Padres have Juan Soto and Josh Hader, they have Robert Suarez who blew the very first game of the season and is now a premier reliever.
If your team plays great from start to finish then that’s awesome, but it doesn’t mean they are the best team on the field on any given day in the playoffs. The playoffs have always allowed teams to shorten their rotation and their bullpen. That changes who can be competitive, and it isn’t new this year.
Counterpoint: the Dodgers should get good and stop mostly sucking in the postseason.
Agreed, Darkside
“Same with Phils and Braves” Not true at all, as the regular season matchup was fairly close.
Oh no
Roberts is a total puppet to the front office.
Now you know it’s more important the front office get their way than stacking up rings in LA.
Many teams are tying the hands of the manager and making him use their computerized, analytical instructions for their decisions.
Ask Joe Maddon and others about this.
In 20 years, baseball will resemble a video game
with most decisions coming form their mainframe computer
Count me out!!!.
It’s not just the MLB. Have you watched an NFL game recently? The data shows going for it on 4th down and almost all of the teams now do it. Clock management, field goal lengths and spots, etc. are being dictated by a computer.
Analytics are here to stay for all sports.
Analytics are here to stay for all sports.
==============================
It worries me when people question this. Analytics run our lives, and always have. Everyone calculates the fastest way to work. The cheapest prices. When lines are shorter.
Most people calculate retirement age, mortgage rates, household budgets. The use modern tools for health analysis.
This is an Oakland A’s playoff excuse, coming from the richest team.
Pathetic.
As a fan of another team I hope Roberts is retained
The regular season and the playoffs are two different seasons. The regular season has it’s set of rules. The playoff has it’s set of rules. Only one team is guaranteed to successfully navigate both and be called champion. That’s how it is set for all 30 major league teams.
David Ross regarding the 2020 shortened season: “If they’re passing out a trophy, I want it,” Ross told reporters in a Monday Zoom session. “If they’re handing out rings and we’re all starting from the same point, I don’t care if it’s a five-game season.”
The regular season is a marathon. The post season a sprint.
Roberts over used the regulars in the Braves favor last year. 2022 Once when it was announced, Kimbrel to be left off nlds roster, I figured the dodgers got bullpen problems. Put roberts on scouting and hire joe Maddon.
Having the best collection of talent allows them to win 100+ games per year. But the playoffs are a different beast and he is not great there. I don’t think he goes to another team and wins off his managerial Acumen. Bruce Bochum won three rings with lesser teams because he was able outmaneuver other coaches- something Robert’s hasn’t proven an ability to do
Exactly this. Roberts on a team with a substantially smaller payroll isn’t going to win a lot of games. Look at Mattingly with the dodgers and then with The Marlins.
Prime example of how the postseason is a crapshoot. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Phillies wins it all.
The Padres are scorching hot right now, and have some terrific lineup and bullpen talent. They were assembled to do exactly what they did, which was to Beat LA.
This was not a Dave Roberts Failure.
I’m not the biggest fan of that 6+ day layoff. A bye week in the NFL is way, way different than in MLB. Just how it is and that scenario has played out many times. Sitting around for a week or more has been a bad thing over the years, not always but frequently enough.
Many “best teams” have been iced by that layoff. Roberts is an excellent manager. He is not a problem that needs separation..
Explain how the Padres are scorching hot? They entered the playoffs 5-5 in their last 10. They averaged less than 4 runs a game against LAD. Their pitchers got into a ton of jams. But, as we all have been accustomed to, the Dodgers choke in October.
They’d have to be moderately hot to beat a 100+ and 110+ win teams in consecutive playoff rounds
Dodgers were the best team in baseball. Padres had (arguably) the best trade deadline in baseball. The Padres played incredibly well and their acquisitions were the keys to beating the LAD in this series. LAD beats the Padres 80/100 series, most likely. But, when it mattered, the Padres were clutch.
On the Dave Roberts topic: I do wonder why he left that RHP in during the seventh inning when it seemed that he was not pitching well. This game was obviously a must-win game and that was a very Boone-like decision.
And, the Yankees should’ve done what they needed to acquire Hader.
He had to pitch to 3 batters, kahnle only saw profar, grisham and Nola, almonte threw to Kim Soto Machado and Drury, vesia to cronenworth Myers and profar, everyone but almonte pitched the minimum and almonte wasnt too bad, really, aside from the double n single
That makes sense, Damascus. I thought Almonte had thrown to more batters. Perhaps it just seemed that way while I was watching it. He did take him out with a 2-1 count, or something like that, which I agreed with – get him out as soon as Vesia was ready.
The Padres closed the talent gap, on paper, at the trade deadline.
The Padres team didn’t really gel until the end of the season and the playoffs.
Soto, Bell, Hader slumped and did not play as well in the 2nd half after the trades with the Padres as they had played in the 1st half with their other teams.
They are just getting going.
If the newly acquired Padres players had “gelled together” in the 2nd half and played to their own talent levels, then there would not have been a 20 game gap in the standings.
Soto hit in the very low 200’s in the 2nd half with very little power.
Josh Bell hit something like 150 in the 2nd half with very little power.
Hader, All Star Closer form Milwaukee, had a 7 or 8 ERA in most of the second half that just began dropping near the end of the season with the Padres
His career numbers in Milwaukee were much better.
Friedman is a stand up guy. He won’t fire Roberts for decisions that he himself is made
Roberts moves are being dictated by Front Office (Friedman) and the Dodgers analytics department.
Let the manager manage.
Or just hire the Janitor to make all moves based on the computer’s decisions?!
So Roberts gets no credit for all the Dodgers’ success?
If he gets credit for their successes, he deserves a hell of a lot of blame for their failures too, right?
Exactly. You either blame/credit Roberts for his standard 102-win teams, or you attribute all of it to the front office. There is no such thing as “Roberts is a great manager, but the FO is responsible for all his losses”.
That’s funny. As if there is a question if he is coming back.
Reading all the comments about Roberts over the years does it really matter who manages this team? It always sounds like every move is pre-planned by some ridiculous team of people in the background. Yeah they won a ton of games this year but look at the talent on that roster.
Glad they are keeping him so the Dodgers can choke again and again.
From what I can see, it’s the playoffs fault that the Dodgers lost. But if they won the 5 game series then everything would be fine.
Exactly
Seriously, just own that L d*dger fans. Complaining about the format or the randomness of the playoffs is just sad and pathetic.
To blame the manager for a postseason outcome is to view the situation in a vacuum. Throughout the year any team is capable of beating any other team in a series. Why would the playoffs be any different particularly when you’re assembling the best available teams to play one another? Every matchup is at best a coin flip.
Playoffs are random events. Great teams can have a hiccup or two in October and are done and gone in a flash. Adding more mediocre playoff teams mean more money, and that’s what really matters.
My criticism of Dave is this. In playoff games where there are fans in the stands and a team actually has a home field advantage, Dave is 32-31. Many of those wins playing garbage wild card teams that resulted in sweeps in the division series.
When it comes to high intensity atmospheres, Dave can’t handle the heat. He’s too reliant on analytics or saber metrics or whatever. In the regular season, sure. They work the majority of the time because you’re playing sub .500 teams half the time. But in the playoffs, where it’s the best teams in the league, you have to go with instinct. Joe Torre won 4 rings in 5 years with a stacked team without doing what the stats say.
As for the Dodger fans who say “there’s nobody better to replace him with,” I’ll leave you with this. I went to a Laker game when Mattingly was manager. I ran into JA Adande and I asked if the Dodgers would/should fire Mattingly. He replied, “who do you replace him with?” Well here we are. Replaced with a nobody (at the time). And now widely considered the game’s best. When you have an infinite bankroll, anybody will win games.
Dodgers are entering 90s Braves’ country – a lot of regular season charm with only one title to show. The Los Angeles Maple Leafs might work, too. No, that’s not true – the Leafs never win.
Welp, Dodgers going to have outplay their F-tier manager to win a title, nice handicap.
As a Padres fan, I don’t like the Dodgers one bit but I like and respect Dave Roberts a great deal!
good to see Hader get his revenge against Freeman. now they are 1 to 1. Maybe this brings Hader’s mental confidence back and makes the Pads really dangerous now.
It’s completely random in the playoffs. It all depends on who has their good stuff and who is seeing the ball well
Scherzer didn’t have his good fastball so the Mets lose
The Phillies are seeing the ball well and lit up Strider and Fried
Any team in the league including the A’s or Nationals could win a playoffs like this assuming all their pitchers have their best stuff and the hitters are locked in
The lowest teams in the league sweep or win series against the top teams all the time during the regular season
Even the worst pitchers in the league if they have their best stuff will function like aces with that stuff
Trent Grisham hit .184/.284/.341 in the regular season .308/.400/.538 this postseason
You might as well flip a coin to predict things. There’s no way to determine which pitchers will have their good stuff or which hitters will be picking the ball up
saying the Nationals or Athletics would beat the Doyers in a 5 game series is pretty outlandish.
Not outlandish at all if one team gets hot and the other team isn’t seeing the ball very well
Happens all the time
Dodgers lost a five game series to the Rockies, all at home. They lost a three game series to the Nationals at home. Were swept by the Pirates in a three games series at home
So, there goes your argument
Ha, the Nationals did beat the Dodgers in a five game series in 2019, when the Nats were a WC team and the Dodgers were again a juggernaut. Some people thought Roberts’ big mistake in that one was leaving Kershaw in too long in a crucial game.
I’m not sure that Roberts is the greatest in-game manager but he’s pretty good overall. The Dodgers probably couldn’t find anyone appreciably better.
Back to the OP, no the current Nationals could not beat the Dodgers in a 5-game series. They don’t have any starting pitching at all.
amen
Not really. Baseball is more random. Look at the win percentage for the bottom five teams for example for baseball, basketball and football. Even terrible MLB teams win 55-60+ games over the course of a season. Over the course of 5 games, certainly possible that they can win 3 of those. That’s what you call a small sample size. Dodgers even though they won 111 games, lost series to teams like Nationals, Pirates and Rockies among other bad teams.
Your mention of his bullpen failures points to the reason he should not be considered a great manager. He doesn’t trust his pitchers and it has screwed the Dodgers numerous times. It’s easy to have success when you have a stacked team. But he just doesn’t have the depth to be the success he should be with the team.
What a series. It’s always nice for a team that finished 4th/15th in attendance and drew almost 3 million fans to reward their fanbase with a couple postseason games like that. I don’t want to say the d*yers choked, but I don’t know how else you can put it.
Dodger fan- This playoff format sucks, too many teams, the best teams win over 162 games
Also Dodger fan- 2020 was legit, 60 games and a 16 team playoff is totally valid.
For any dodgers fans who want a more rational take (than the “lol sucks’ people of the world), as always Jon Weisman of DodgerThoughts is (imho) pretty spot on about how things ended and why, and only a little of it has anything to do with the scapegoated manager (a little DOES) but plenty of blame to go around plus some credit for their opponent. He also looks to the future. Definitely worth a read all of it, since he says it all way better than I could. (I agree with Jon on everything except feeling bad for Notre Dame. 😉 ) I do think AJP’s often mystified and mystifying commentary does not help the lay fan have the right perspective, too.
dodgerthoughts.com/2022/10/16/dodgers-padres-nlds-…
Competitive sport would be as boring as f@ck if results just went the way they are expected to go. The Phillies and Padre results are great for baseball. Good luck to their fans.
Results like these are the reason why this lifelong Dodger fan has watched fewer and fewer games over the years. When the regular season simply does not matter, there really is no point to the average fan.
Actually, the average fan cares more about the underdogs winning than the top team. Also why are we acting like all sports don’t work this way always? The best regular season teams rarely win it all. It’s the magic of the playoffs. Introducing am extra WC just introduced more chaos.
The best regular season teams used to meet in the World Series. I don’t really care for or watch the other major sports.
In my life time (born in the 80s), the best regular season team won the WS less than 15% of the time. So this isn’t a new thing.
You watched fewer and fewer games because the Dodgers always lose in October.
When it’s against a team that has no earthly business playing in October, yes.
The Dads have a great team. So they lost to dodgers a lot during the reg. season. Big whoop. The dodgers went 9-8 against the rockies during the reg. season.
The padres are a good team, especially after reinforcements from the trade deadline.
Well maybe someday Dodger fans will get to make the rules, until then they just have to deal with getting emabarassed by an 89 win team.
Dave Roberts is a great regular season manager of humans and keeping the team focused for the long haul. Not sure it is only Robert mapping out these failed playoff strategies, but I suspect it was a collective decision to only allow the starting pitchers go five innings in the NLDS. All three positive starts, Urias, Kershaw, and Anderson went just 5 innings.
This was a failed strategy on multiple fronts. One, anytime you proactively go to the bullpen when a starter still has a manageable pitch count and is pitching well is a mistake. Covering four innings with a bullpen means more relievers and more chances for just one reliever to have a bad game. One bad relief outing and you most likely lose.
Secondly, they wanted to win the World Series, they did not have singular goal to win the NLDS. This failed strategy would have burned up the bullpen long before the Dodgers won the World Series. It was probably a bit fatigued already in Game 4.
Why have Miguel Vargas and Joey Gallo on the roster and not use them in the most logical spots. Vargas should have PH vs. Hader in Game two and Gallo should have hit for Barnes, not Lux in Game 3 down by one run. Lux is least likely go on the team to hit a HR and that is what you needed late in that game. Dodgers were not putting together rallies with small ball.
Friedman failed the team, as he made zero meaningful additions in July. You have to plan for what might go wrong. You cannot just assume things will go well.
I think Friedman was active at the deadline. Do you think he will land every player he is interested in? Let’s get real.
Roberts is the common denominator in the Dodgers post season failures.
I wonder how the analytics department manage their fantasy teams
The Dodgers need to rethink the pull your starter before the third time around strategy. The theory behind the strategy sounds right but the reality is that you have to evaluate depending on the performance of the starter.
Anderson was throwing a shutout in five innings and probably could have gone at least one or two more innings. He was throwing the ball well. Why take the added risk of bringing in at least four relievers to get the final 12 outs. We all know that all pitchers have off games. Sometimes they can’t command certain pitches or all pitches. Remember Joe Kelly completely losing the ability to throw fastball for strikes. Had to throw curve balls almost every pitch. Sometimes the opposite. Phillips in game 1 couldn’t command his slider. He couldn’t throw it for strikes at times, spiked a couple and then hung a couple. Very lucky to get out of it. Point being you don’t know what version of each reliever you’re getting but you knew which version of Anderson you were getting after 5 innings.
@ mlbdodgerfan2015, exactly. Unfortunately, you’re making too much sense for the “new era” way baseball is now managed. Hoping some how it turns on its head.
I’d gladly welcome Dave Roberts as the Brewers manager. Unfortunately, the job belongs to Counsell for as long as he wants it unless the team loses close to 100 games or he commits a major crime.
Does Counsell ever smile? He always appears he has crons disease.