I'd do that with Hill in a heartbeat. Kershaw is at least capable of a quality start in between catastrophes.
LAD VS Stras - 282 plate appearances, .569 OPS LAD VS Stras @ Dodger Stadium - 103 plate appearances, .546 OPS Stras to LAD @ Dodger Stadium....
If they could've, at the very least, chased Scherzer from the game in 3 innings and forced Martinez to turn to Stras for 3 or 4 innings, have to assume their chances would've been a lot better in Game 5. Still think Stras would be starting tomorrow, but probably only giving them 40 or so pitches. So while Game 2 was devastating, it was expected..no contest between Kersh and Stras. But not chasing Scherzer yesterday was unexpected, at least for me
As doyer mentioned earlier, Nats being such a righty heavy lineup, probably not the setting for Kersh out of the pen. Have to imagine he's faced mostly lefties in the past in that role. And then of course, Matt Adams is lurking and waiting for his shot @ Kersh, so there's that..think we all have a good enough imagination there, don't even need to see those VS numbers. If Adams takes Kersh deep in a pivotal spot tomorrow..not sure if there would be anything worse
If they were to chase Stras, they'd have to be incredibly confident moving forward. They won't see anybody better. Maybe Cole. Maybe
Bad times, I mean really bad times, were the years post 1988 when they never even reached the Series. The past couple of years, while gut wrenching, are nothing like those.
Kershaw wasn't used to face lefties, so it was a steady mix. Most of his postseason innings were Game 7 of the 2017 WS, where he pitched 4 against the Astros. The other 1.2 innings were save opportunities to finish off the Nats in 2016 and Brewers in 2018. I'd actually be surprised if we don't see Kershaw tomorrow. I suspect that's the one reason he got the Game 2 start.
Exactly. That's the spirit. If Dave coached to win instead of being afraid to lose we would have lots of parades already. Time to exorcise those bad spirits.
Flaherty's had a great year. Too wet behind the ears. Verlander is sustained excellence, obviously. But old and may slow a bit by then. When I said Cole, I'm thinking prime of his career just like Stras..both likely to be strong to the finish
I mean, not that lefties can't take Kersh for a ride. We know that all too well. Whether it's Rizzo, Adams, Carpenter, whatever. Who was the starter in these games? Can't quite remember, but it couldn't have been anyone with Buehler's power profile. Buehler with the power and now Kersh with the soft stuff from the opposite could very well be formidable, and maybe that's how it should stay..as in Kersh never starts again. Lol I know CKWG thinks the Nats are gonna blow the doors off LAD, but I still feel like Buehler can keep it close through 5 or 6 innings. From there, god bless us all
I'm tired of hearing how phenomenal Strasburg is, and I sure as hell hope the Dodger batters aren't buying into the hype. He was a 3.40 pitcher this year... solid but not unbeatable. He shut down the top scoring team in the NL a few days ago... the top scoring team should now be able to make adjustments after having seen him so recently. They need to get back to what they do well -- take pitches, run the count up, and take advantage of opportunities when they're there. And Roberts needs to be smart with his decisions. I love the potential that Lux has shown, but it's painfully clear now that he isn't ready for this stage yet. Pollock and his 10 Ks in 12 ABs should only be used as a pinch runner... to get coffee, sunflower seeds, and anything else needed from the clubhouse. Beatty and his 1000% contact rate so far is a no-brainer over Pollock. And one more memo to Roberts: You have a guy with 10 HR/36 RBI's/.923 OPS over 203 career postseason ABs on your roster. Why is he not playing full-time, Einstein?
I can tell you who started in game 7 of the WS, when Kershaw pitched relief. Oh, I can tell you who that was... I'm definitely on this bandwagon, at least for the playoffs. We need the likes of Urias, Gonsolin, and May to step into the playoff rotation.
Well, not that one, of course. Lol Man, man..I so wanted LAD to re-sign him too. He may or may not be fixed with CHI, but he's taken them through a lot shit May looks like he may have the stuff to hold it together for 4 or 5 innings. His movement looks pretty good..the movement on the pitches and the movement with the hair. Think I'd trust him or at least give him a try. Has his game face on