Boston does worse against lefties than righties, which is good for us Looks like it's Kershaw+Hill for 1 and 2. I like it, push back Ryu to get some needed rest and have him at home to be better. Just need to win one of the first two to be in a good spot
For whatever reason, I feel better about Buehler and Ryu pitching at home, i'm 99% sure the numbers don't back that up.
actually, the numbers do back it up. Their ERAs were both significantly better at home than the road.
Look, it's no surprise the "experts" are all picking the RedSox. But I recall in '88 no one giving us a chance to get by the Mets let alone the A's. All for justifiable reasons of course. But that is why you play the games. I also remember in '81, the Dodgers losing the first 2 in NY and then winning the next 4 to win it all in 6. You have to play the games. You just never know.
Whoever pitches Game 3 would be lined up to start a potential Game 7. My guess is we go with Buehler.
That’s hilarious. “The one reason I will be wrong...” then goes on to list 7 reasons he could be wrong. Talk about hedging his bets. Why not just say “I think the Red Sox will win, and if they don’t win I think the Dodgers will win.”?
Just watched MLB Tonight. They gave the Red Sox the advantage in every category except the bullpen. They might be right but eff em. Sale and Price are fkags. Score runs.
If we punch the RedSox in the nose in Game 1, I like our chances, They have that stupid high wall in left field, but in a symmetrical field like Dodger Stadium, things will even out on the hitting side. The pitching will be crucial, and I actually like our BP vs the Sox.
Their lineup has more top end talent but ours is way deeper. We have more good players than they do which hopefully will matter in Fenway but will definitely matter in LA
I like being the underdogs this way we are not jinx. Yes I am superstitious Ever since we get predictions that we will do we do the opposite. Just like the video games when Puig was added in 2k3 and struggled for years then Seager Tommy John surgery. So fuck it I vote we get swept in 4 and we don’t win it and yes we suck we are the underdogs. I will happily eat crow but let them vote for them:comeatmebro:
Bill PlunkettVerified account@billplunkettocr Update to #Dodgers pitching plans -- looks like they will go Kershaw-Ryu in Games 1-2 in Boston followed by Buehler-Hill for Games 3-4 in LA. If Kershaw isn't ready for Game 1, Hill would take that start. -------------- I guess they flipped it.
I’m laughing out of sadness that they keep talking about the history of each manager with the opposing team and Roberts history is one of the most famous stolen bases in baseball history and Cora’s is a long at bat I loved Cora, and he did a lot more than that, but it’s like the One Moment they keep bringing up and shows how sad the late 90’s/early 2000’s were for the Dodgers
I’d really prefer the rotation to be Kershaw-Hill-Buehler-Ryu, because of my pessimism that Ryu is good to go on 4 days rest.
A couple of things: - I would guess that the flipping of Hill and Ryu could have something to do with the forecast for G2. I have not looked up G1, but I have already heard a couple of folks talk about that it is expected to be in the 40's and 30's during it. Not sure that is great weather for a guy that relies on the feel of a curveball like he does. - The Athletic had an interesting write up the other day with some enlightening comments from Madson(so glad that we picked him up, btw). I guess when they added him, Jansen went and talked to Madson about his struggles this season. Jansen said he had no motivation and just didn't come into games with the same mojo/adrenaline as the years before. Madson's response? "Welcome to the hangover". Madson told Jansen about the effects of going to a WS and how it takes a mental toll on you the following year, especially as a reliever/closer. Jansen didn't see a big immediate turnaround, but Madson mentioned that you could see it was coming and kept supporting the big right hander. He told Jansen that once the WS was in sight, he'd be back and boy was he right. Since the start of the NLCS, Jansen has looked like the guy of old with his fastball up nearly 3 full ticks from the season and tons of cut. We will see how that works going forward as last year by the end of the WS, the arms at the end of the bullpen were running on fumes(honestly, I wonder if that is what is happening with Maeda too). - Basically everyone is picking the Red Sox(I have not seen a single pick for the Dodgers besides from former Dodgers) and there are some growing concerns that this will be one of the least exciting World Series in recent memory. I didn't watch the Sox at all this year, but others that did say that when JBJr is on(and right now he is), the Red Sox steamroll teams. His struggles against LHP can not be understated and hopefully the starters can neutralize him. The other thing that doesn't work for this Dodgers club is that none of the starting OF'ers have played in Fenway. This is a dangerous problem as this can cost your team bases and runs if you do not play a ball off the Monster correctly, especially when you have a couple of OF'ers(Taylor and Bellinger) that lack tons of OF experience. They will really need to talk to one another and Puig needs to be fully aware that he should be tracking balls that go to the LCF gap in case of weird bounces. - The Red Sox had two LHP's on their roster for the ALSC and both come with some question marks. Sale has been dealing with shoulder issues that have seen a drop in his Velo which has then been followed up with a nasty stomach virus that was rumored to have done a heavy toll on his energy, while Price has just been a question mark since he got to Boston. The key for the Dodgers will be getting to both of these guys early and not letting them get past the 5th inning(That is asking a lot). Unless a change is made, they won't have a LHP in their pen(at least nothing close to the Hader sorts) and it could allow for the Dodgers to comfortably make line changes in games 1 & 2. This is an advantage of sorts for the Dodgers, except for guys like Freese, Taylor, Dozier and to a lesser extent Kemp had some of the clubs best AB's in the NLCS. - Two of the Sox key pitchers, Price and Kimbral, have been struggling somewhat mightily recently. Some not great news is that each of them feels they have found the reason for the issues and corrected them. Price says he discovered a quirk in the bullpen of game 4 when he kept having to warm up in the event that he needed to come into the game. Then former Dodger Eric Gagne called old friend Alex Cora and told him that Kimbral was tipping his pitches. The Sox then picked up on the problem and addressed it before game 5 where Kimbral had less issue closing things out. We will see how large of an impact both of these have on the games ahead and will be something to watch for. I think the Dodgers matchup considerably better against this Red Sox team over the Astros. The Dodgers LH heavy rotation is a change of pace of what the Sox are used to and as a team, were not nearly as good against LHP as they were RHP. The problem will be the middle of that Sox order against our LH starters. Betts and Martinez have absolutely MURDERED LHP and Martinez in particular has feasted on Kershaw and Hill. If Hill, Ryu and Kershaw are on their games, the Dodgers will set themselves up nicely, but if the Red Sox contact heavy bats are squaring balls up on these guys, it will be short short series. I felt both matchups were terrible to begin with and am not changing my tune after the shaky performance of the offense in the Brewers series. I agree with the pundits on this one and it will be Red Sox in 5 :-(. Prove me wrong boys.