Steve Webb
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of quality starts. It was the age of bullpen meltdowns. It was the epoch of mashing the baseball. It was the epoch of striking out with the bases loaded. It was a season of Light. It was a season of Darkness.
All in the same month.
As April comes to a close, it is remarkable for Dodgers fans to look back and think, “Wha’ happened?
April, Take One
The first month of the season, which comes to a close this evening in Milwaukee, can be broken nicely into two very different sections. First, the glorious first two and a half weeks of the season, in which the Dodgers looked not only like the best team in the National League, but the best team to ever exist in the history of baseball. And second, the last two weeks, which start with the Sunday loss to the Padres in San Diego, where the Dodgers looked like they were at best going through the motions. Let’s look at both parts of the month, because both made up the 2021 Dodgers experience so far.
The first fifteen games were amazing. There is no other word for it. After a “rocky” opening day in Colorado, the Blue Crew quickly reeled off a five-game winning streak against the Rockies and Athletics. Then, they lost one game to Oakland, after which they embarked upon another winning streak, this one of eight games against the Nats, Rockies, and Padres. The highlights in this great week of baseball included the fantastic opening weekend, with the ring ceremony on Friday, the tribute to Tommy Lasorda on Saturday, and the Fernandomania anniversary on Sunday. Throw in great weather and a sweep against the Nationals and it was a very nice weekend indeed.
The apex of this fantastic start was the series down in San Diego, winning a wild extra inning affair on Friday night, followed by the amazing Mookie Betts catch to save the game on Saturday. Just wow.
After that jaw-dropping catch on Saturday, the Dodgers stood at 13-2. They were clearly the best team in baseball, and had proven it on the field against their so-called rival from San Diego. They sat atop the National League West, with a 4.5 game lead on both the Padres, and the San Francisco Giants, who were starting to play some decent baseball up north. It looked very much like the Dodgers were going to win the Division in a cake walk. The only question would be where would the Dodgers fly the 2021 World Series banner at the stadium.
April, Take Two
Then, something happened. The Dodgers got beat by the Padres in the series finale, breaking the winning streak. And to be honest, it didn’t really look like manager Dave Roberts was even trying to win that one, as he put in second tier relievers, who let the game get away from them in the late innings. Suddenly the Dodgers looked human again.
More humanity was on display up in Seattle as the Dodgers finished up the road trip. They only scored four runs in two games and split the series. After an off day, the mighty Padres came into LA for a four game set. The Dodgers lost a tight one on Thursday, thanks to an insane double play started by Jake Cronenworth. Friday was even worse as Fernando Tatis Jr. mashed two no-doubters on the anniversary of his dad’s two-grand-slams-in-one-inning thing 22 years earlier. Saturday, he did it again, but the Dodgers managed to come away with the win in a tightly fought contest.
Then came Sunday. And it was a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. On national TV, we had listen to A-Rod blather away as the Dodgers figured out a way to lose a game that they led going into the seventh inning by a score of 7-1. There was no way that the Dodgers should have lost this game but somehow they managed to do it. Again, it didn’t really look like Dave Roberts was managing with any sense of urgency, as he kept trotting out second-tier relievers as the Padres kept inching closer and closer, finally passing them in the top of the eleventh inning on a sac fly from Eric Hosmer. Ugh. April had reached its nadir.
Maybe still reeling from the series with the Padres, the Dodgers quickly lost two tight ball games to the visiting Reds. They had a convincing and satisfying 8-0 win on the last day of the home stand, but the bats went quiet again on Thursday night in Milwaukee, wasting a solid Trevor Bauer complete game.
Big Picture Time
So where are we at, as April comes to a close? Well, for starters the Dodgers are in SECOND PLACE!! And not to the Padres, who are still two games back of the Dodgers. It’s the Giants! The freakin’ Giants are in first place on this last day of the month. The humiliation!
Starters live up to billing
First the good news. The starting pitching has been as excellent as we had all expected. Each of the five starters has had signature moments and dominating performances along the way. Clayton Kershaw, after the clunker on opening day, has looked great, posting a 2.09 ERA to lead the staff. Trevor Bauer has been nicked a bit by the home run ball, but his WHIP and average against are among the best in baseball. May, Buehler, and Urias have ERAs of 2.53, 3.16, and 3.23 respectively. Put it all together and its a 2.67 ERA for starters, the fourth best in all of baseball. It’s a damn good rotation and they’re proving it.
JT and McKinstry look good
In addition, despite the squads offensive struggles of late there have been some bright spots at the plate as well. Justin Turner has got to be the position player MVP for the month, as he has been consistently good all month long. And, in a bit of a surprise, he’s already got SIX long flies in the young season, which is unheard of in his career. Without Turner, the Dodgers production these last two weeks would have been pathetic. And with one swing of the bat, Turner managed to get your Los Angeles Dodgers on the national news.
In addition, Zach McKinstry has been something of a revelation. This low-round draft pick looks very much at home on a big league diamond, and he had a lot of big hits before he went on the IL. Oblique injuries can be tricky, so there’s really no telling when we can get this key piece back in the lineup.
Lots of question marks
But with every positive, there have been just as many problems. The bullpen ERA in the seventh inning or later is 4.48, which is 12th in the National League. Kenley Jansen has looked great at times, but he’s blown leads as well. Corey Knebel was looking fantastic, but then went down with an injury that will take months to recover from. Price is on the IL, Graterol is on the IL, and Joe Kelly and Tony Gonsolin have never gotten off the IL. It’s not great out in the pen right now.
You can paper over a so-so bullpen if you get plenty of run production. But that hasn’t happened in a good long while. Other than two big innings this week, it’s been tough for the Dodgers bats to get going and put crooked numbers up on the board. The biggest problem, and it pains me to say it, is at the top of the lineup. The Mookie and Corey Show has gone dead. Over the last two weeks, Betts has been hitting .208 and Seager has been even worse, at .189. That’s not gonna get it done, folks.
But it’s not just Mookie and Corey who’ve stopped producing. Over the same period, the team OPS is a paltry .626, which is good for 27th place in the major leagues. 27th freakin’ place! Even the Orioles are ahead of us in that stat! Yikes!
True, the Dodgers’ lineup has had their share of injuries, the most notable to center fielder Cody Bellinger. Belli barely got his season started before he got spiked in Oakland, and had been rehabbing the fracture ever since. We need him back in the lineup so we can get a little more length. Right now, the back half of the batting order looks mighty slim indeed.
Bottom line…
All of these concerns can be fixed. There’s nothing like another nice winning streak to allay my worries. But until then, I gotta say, it’s not great baseball they’re playing out there right now. Somebody needs to step up and light a fire under this team. I do not want to be looking up at the Giants in the standings for another month.
The future starts now. Take heart, Dodger fans. Let’s turn the page on the calendar and get this operation back on track. Cue the gif….
Let’s go boys…
