Dodgers News: Insider Indentifies Lone Obstacle to LA Title Run
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers rolled into Tuesday with momentum and a clear identity. Insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today liked what he saw. He praised the way Los Angeles finished the regular season, the explosion in Game One, and the shape of the rotation. He also circled the one soft spot everyone noticed in the eighth. His read was steady: ride the starters, mind the ninth, and keep the pedal down.
“Looked very good,” Nightengale said when we caught up with him before Wednesday’s game. “Particularly Blake Snell. Talking to scouts, they said that’s the best they’ve seen his changeup all season long. They’re catching fire at the right time. They ended the regular season with 15 wins out of the last 20 and exploded for 10 last night. The offense looks tremendous and the starting rotation is the best in baseball right now.”
The quick turn from Sunday in Seattle into the Wild Card round struck him as a plus. “I think it keeps the momentum going,” he said. “They take a day or two off and they’re back at it. It also helps they didn’t have to fly anywhere. The best-of-three is all in L.A., and that part helps too.”
About the long eighth inning, Nightengale didn’t overreact, but he didn’t ignore it either. “It kind of limits who Dave Roberts is going to trust in the ninth inning of a postseason game,” he said. “It didn’t cost them last night. It could in the future. I think the starters may end up being the best relievers, whether it’s Clayton Kershaw or maybe Tyler Glasnow pitching relief. It’ll be interesting to see in tight games, and if they win and go to Philadelphia, who pitches the ninth inning for the Dodgers.”
Asked if leaning on surplus starters is the best path, he leaned in. “I think they’re going to count on him a lot,” Nightengale said of one high-leverage starter moving back there. “I’m not sure about closing, but late innings you can go Kershaw. I don’t see Ohtani pitching relief now. Maybe in the LCS or the World Series he could close out a clinching game. They need someone to step up in that pen. And who knows, maybe it’s rookie Roki Sasaki. I don’t see him pitching the ninth yet, but I can see him pitching the seventh and eighth for sure.”
On the Ohtani question, the roster rules matter. “It would have to be late,” Nightengale said. “He’s going to pitch Game One against Philadelphia if there’s no Game Three against the Reds, and then he probably can’t start again the rest of the series. You could use him in relief in a Game Five, but he’d have to close. If he comes in for middle relief and leaves as a pitcher, he’s also out as a DH. It’s a big risk. So it’s either closer or starter.”
Nightengale didn’t hedge on Game Two. “Totally, the Dodgers are heavy favorites tonight,” he said. “You’ve got their best pitcher, Yamamoto, going against the Reds’ worst starter in Zack Littell. He’s their number five. That would be a classic matchup next round. Remember last year Dodgers-Padres felt like the World Series. I think Dodgers-Phillies is a World Series, because it’s a coin flip who’s better. If the Phillies had Zack Wheeler still, I would say the Phillies. Right now I give a slight edge to the Dodgers.”
He pushed the thought one step further. “Whoever gets past that round wins the World Series,” Nightengale said. “Same thing as last year. If the Padres had beaten the Dodgers in Game Four or Five, the Padres are World Series champions. Whoever wins the Dodgers-Phillies series is the World Series champion.”
In short, Nightengale liked the arc: hot finish, dominant Game One bats, frontline pitching lined up, and a realistic plan to cover the late innings with the deepest arms. “The offense looks tremendous,” he said. “The rotation is the best. Keep the momentum, use the park, and find the right guy for the ninth.”
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