Despite a less than stellar regular season, the Dodgers begin their march to retain their World Series title
The regular season, which felt like it was six months and six years long simultaneously, is over. The real battle begins now – successfully defending the World Series title.
The Dodgers look to be the first team to win back-to-back World Series since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.
First up in the Dodgers path is the Cincinnati Reds, the sixth seed in the NL. The Reds did not know their fate of making or missing the playoffs until Sunday afternoon, when the New York Mets failed to win their game against the Miami Marlins. That loss allowed the Reds to slide into the playoffs and head west for the Wild Card round.
On paper, the Dodgers look well prepared to take on the Reds and easily win the Wild Card round. But we know that things don’t aways go as they look on paper.
Exhibit No. 1 – the Dodgers regular season. Most of us here at TBLA had them winning somewhere in the 105- game area. They finished the season 93-69. Injuries played a huge part in that, as did the pitching from the bullpen. Both of those will factor heavily in the Wild Card round and beyond should they advance.
For the Dodgers to defend their title they will have to have the starters shove, and some other starters taking key roles in the bullpen.
For Game 1, the Dodgers will send Blake Snell to the mound. The lefty signed a five-year, $182M contract in December, and stated that big games are where he wants to be. Snell missed most of the season, but has been dominate in his return, garnering a 2.41 ERA. He’s allowed only one run in his last 19 innings, and two scoreless starts with double digit strikeouts.
Even more key is that Snell went six full innings twice, and once seven full in his last three outings. The starters are going to have to go deep into games for the Dodgers to go deep into the postseason.
As a team, the Reds rank 26th against left-handed pitching. In the bullpen, the Dodgers would presumably have Jack Dreyer, Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia, and Justin Wrobleski as lefties, depending on who makes the Wild Card Roster.
For their part, the Reds are sending their ace Hunter Greene to the mound. The Dodgers faced him August 25th, and plated three runs in 5.0 innings, including two home runs.
On the season as a whole, Greene has a 2.76 ERA with 132 strikeouts over 107.2 innings pitched and a 0.94 WHIP. The Southern California native would like nothing more than to shine on the mound at Dodger Stadium.
But, so would Snell.
“That’s everything,” Snell said. “The whole reason I came here was to pitch in October, to challenge myself personally. To face the best when the stakes are the highest, that’s what I’ve always wanted. I couldn’t be more excited to be in this position.”
The Reds come into this series with absolutely nothing to lose and would love nothing more than to take down the high spending Dodgers. L.A. took the season series 5-1, and the Reds relish in taking some retribution. Let’s hope this year’s team doesn’t turn out to be a paper tiger.
Wild card Game 1 info
- What: Wild Card Round, Game 1
- Teams: No. 3 seed Dodgers vs. No. 6 seed Reds
- Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
- Start time: 6:08 p.m.
- TV: ESPN (Jon Sciambi, Doug Glanville)
- National radio: ESPN Radio (Tom Hart, Tim Kurkjian)
- Local English radio: AM 570 (Stephen Nelson, Rick Monday)
- Local Spanish radio: KTNQ 1020 AM (Pepe Yñiguez, José Mota, Luis Cruz)
Category: General Sports
