Dodgers prepare for a rocky road en route to the 2018 World Series
The Dodgers may return to the World Series in 2018, but in order to do so, they have to move past the mistakes of the great and terrible losing streak.
The biggest hurdle for the Dodgers this fall? Not repeating the mistakes of seasons past. With the exception of Game 7, the Dodgers had a wildly successful postseason run in 2017. They learned how to win without Kershaw. They made use of productive outs, and they weren’t afraid to swing.
In 2017, the Dodgers lead the National League in walks, with 649 (an average of 4 per game.) They went on a historic winning streak. They won 43 out of 50 games, something that no team had done since the 1912 New York Giants. However, the Dodgers also went on a historic losing streak in the same season, losing 11 games in a row.
It’s a fact we would all like to forget but, because they didn’t win the World Series, we can’t erase it.
During that losing streak, I noticed something that returned to haunt the Dodgers in the World Series. They left a lot of men on base.
Last season the Dodgers fell just shy of first in the National League in men left on base with 1146 (one less than the Chicago Cubs.)
Pitching is not a problem for the Dodgers, and when it is, they solve it before it results in any season-altering consequences. Hitting isn’t a problem, either. The Dodgers came in fourth in total home runs, with 221. Their problem, really their only problem, is leaving men on base.
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In 2017, they lost games that they could have won, had they left a few less men on base. LOB is a statistic that correlates directly to each game. It justifies losses, and often times, it validates wins.
These are the Dodgers’ olds ghosts. At the end of the day, the losing streak barely had an impact. The only game it effected was game 7, the one game the Dodgers’ couldn’t afford to lose.
In order for the Dodgers to move ahead, and embark on a clear yet rocky road to October, they need to move past their mistakes, it’s something all teams have to do. They need to recognize everything that worked and remedy the things that didn’t.
The only way the Dodgers are going to make it back to the World Series is to remember how it felt after Game 7, and how bad they wanted it.
Next: Five Dodgers that deserve more credit in 2018
Then, they’ll take the field on Opening Day and October is all any of us will be thinking about.