Cody Snavely
Betts changing the postseason narrative
Make no mistake: The Dodgers are where they are because Mookie Betts‘s bat has finally awoken after a disastrous start to the National League Division Series.
The postseason slumber of Betts’s bat is no secret to fans of Major League Baseball, as the eight-time all-star and 2018 American League Most Valuable Player has been the running gag of not showing up in October.
Coming into Wednesday’s game at Petco Park, Betts was 0-for-6 in the postseason and a combined 0-for-22 since October of 2022, with his last hit being a leadoff single in the 2022 NLDS game four.
In his career, Betts has seen his regular season dominance numbers take a massive dip in October, where the right-handed bat had a .245/.333/.367 slash line with a .700 OPS, a near two hundred-point drop off from his career regular-season OPS (.897)
However, after Jurickson Profar robbed him of a game-tying home run in game two, Mookie Betts decided to step up his play over the next two games.
Betts went a combined 4-for-9 with two home runs and three RBI in games four and five, raising his OPS to 1.056 and becoming the best hitter on the team again.
For the Dodgers, they hope that Betts can continue his torrid two-game stretch into the final game of this NLDS to propel them on to the next round in what we hope is a deep October run.
Bullpen game forces NLDS Game 5
In the new age of Major League Baseball, the Dodgers accomplished a rare feat: the nine-inning bullpen game shutout.
The idea of a bullpen game is not new, and it has been used by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and numerous other teams around the league have deployed it since the mid-2010s.
Even this October, the Detroit Tigers, who only have one reliable starter in American League Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal, have deployed a “pitching chaos” approach.
The Dodgers bullpen had a collective 3.53 ERA coming into yesterday’s game if you took away Michael Grove and Edgardo Henriquez‘s game two innings and lowered that number even further with nine scoreless innings.
Give huge props to Ryan Brasier, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech, Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Daniel Hudson, Blake Treinen, and Landon Knack, who were all excellent and look to be a significant factor in tomorrow’s game five.
Plan for Friday’s game?
The Los Angeles Dodgers have yet to formally announce their game plan for game five of the National League Division Series, with Friday’s starter listed as to-be-determined.
However, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did allude that it is one of three options: Jack Flahetery, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, or perhaps another bullpen game.
For the Dodgers, the main takeaway is that they have options to choose from and should feel confident in the arms they have after holding the Padres bats to just seven hits and no runs in yesterday’s game-four win.
In my opinion, the best approach would be to have all hands on deck approach. The Dodgers’ biggest issue this series, especially in the first two games at home, was holding the Padres scoreless in the first inning, which neither Flaherty nor Yamamoto could do.
An opener to start the game would make sense, given the situation and how well they’ve handled the two best hitters in the Padres’ batting order, Fernando Tatís Jr. and Manny Machado.
However, after that opener, the Dodgers should use their big trade deadline splash in Jack Flaherty to get the bulk of the innings, and once they either run out of gas or get in trouble, go to all their high-leverage arms in the bullpen.
One name I do not want to see again in this series is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has allowed thirteen runs in nine innings against the Padres in 2024, who seem to have his number.
Flaherty has also added experience coming out of the bullpen in his career, which seemed to be an idea the team explored last night as the righty was seen in the bullpen after the second inning and even got as far as throwing in the ninth inning.
On the offensive side, the Dodgers will have to do a much better job at attacking Padres veteran right-handed starter Yu Darvish, who pitched seven innings, allowing just one run on a sacrifice flyout.
Interestingly enough, the 38-year-old will be starting on just four days rest, a feat he accomplished four times this season, and in those games, he posted a 6.43 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and .905 OPS against, so statistics are on the Dodgers’ side in this one.
Roberts record in winner-take-all games
When Dave Roberts took over the Los Angeles Dodgers as their manager after the 2015 postseason, his club made the postseason every year in his nine years at the helm. This stretch has seen the Dodgers make three trips to the World Series, five trips to the National League Championship Series, and a World Series Championship during the COVID-19-shortened season.
Coming into Friday’s game, it will be the eighth time that Roberts has managed a winner-take-all game for the Dodgers, and in the previous seven games, the Dodgers are 5-2.
- 2016 NLDS Game Five versus Washington Nationals (W)
- 2017 World Series Game Seven versus Houston Astros (L)
- 2018 NLCS Game Seven versus Milwaukee Brewers (W)
- 2019 NLDS Game Five versus Washington Nationals (L)
- 2020 NLCS Game Seven versus Atlanta Braves (W)
- 2021 NLWC versus St. Louis Cardinals (W)
- 2021 NLDS Game Five versus San Fransisco Giants (W)
Despite his critics, Dave Roberts has managed as well as anyone, and that was on full display on Thursday night as the Dodgers managed to shut down the mighty San Diego Padres offense with an eight-pitcher bullpen game.
Roberts will look to add another win to an elimination game, get the Dodgers to their first National League Championship appearance since the 2021 season, and become the first National League Division winner to make it to the next round in the new postseason format introduced during the 2022 season.
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