Steve Webb
Dodgers must embrace “small ball” against the homer-happy Giants
LOS ANGELES — “Honestly, I was trying to hit a single and not trying to do too much,” Chris Taylor said in a postgame TV interview after his huge walk-off homer in the Wild Card game on Wednesday night. “Think small, big things happen.”
That sentiment needs to be stitched on a pillow and put on every sofa in the Dodgers locker room (assuming they have a sofa in there). Because that is what is going win this NLDS series against the San Francisco Giants. In order to send the Giants and their 107 wins home early, they must embrace “small ball”. Which is a funny thing to say to a team that led the league in run differential, but let me explain.
The San Francisco Giants have great pitching, but their offense is pretty one-dimensional. Their 241 homers were the most in the National League, and only trailed those mashers up north, the Toronto Blue Jays, who led the majors with 262 long flies. True, the Dodgers did hit 237 homers of their own, and all of their runs in the Wild Card win were via the long ball, but there is a difference. The Dodger hit fewer home runs and scored more runs. If we do the quick math, the Giants have a 3.3:1 run to home run ratio, whereas the Dodgers score about 3.5 runs for every home run they hit. They doesn’t seem like much, but in a short series, it could be huge.
But what does this mean in terms of winning this series? The Dodgers must find ways to keep the pressure on the Giants’ pitchers: Stealing bases. Going first to third on singles. Tagging up and taking the extra base on a fly ball to the outfield. Situational hitting to move runners into scoring position. You know, old school baseball stuff.
Typically the Dodgers have been content to just mash and move station to station, but that strategy only works when you are facing inferior pitching. With the Giants’ strong staff, it will be necessary to manufacture some runs by any means necessary. And, for the first time in a while, the Dodgers have the team to do it.
`The Dodgers have three elite baserunners in their starting lineup: Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, and Cody Bellinger. Obviously, Trea Turner leads the pack. With his elite sprint speed (second only to the Twins’ otherworldly Byron Buxton), Turner stole a league-leading 32 bases this year. That is a skill that must be put into action in the postseason.
In addition, Mookie Betts is a different kind of fast. Though he isn’t as speedy as Turner in raw terms, his baseball acumen is off the charts. Nobody gets a better read on a batted ball than Mookie, and he can make the first-to-home run on a double like few in the league. Plus, as witnessed by his amazing Game 6 in last year’s World Series, he can literally create a run out of nothing.
Finally, Cody Bellinger. When he’s healthy, his sprint speed is 29.2 feet per second, well above the league average of 27.0. And we saw just what that speed could do in the bottom of the ninth in the Wild Card game. After showing the discipline to take a walk when every fiber in his MVP body wanted to swing for the fences to win the game, Bellinger impacted the game with his legs. With Alex Reyes, in the game and Chris Taylor at bat, Cody stole second to get into scoring position. It must have flustered Reyes, because on the very next pitch, Taylor hit the shot heard round the world. This is what being aggressive gets you.
With these three guys dotted up and down the lineup, there is a real chance to keep the pressure on the Giants throughout the game. This is what is necessary. The Dodgers simply can’t play “bloop-and-blast” baseball against the Giants. They have to be aggressive and win the small things.
And then the big things will come naturally…
