Los Angeles Dodgers: A cynic’s guide to the NLDS
By Jamaal Artis
The Los Angeles Dodgers now know who they will be playing in the National League Divison Series.
After the Washington Nationals’ comeback win against the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers will now face the Nationals in the best of five-game series.
It’s been 31 years since the Dodgers won a World Series and this will be the seventh year in a row in which they begin their chase. The Dodgers are a 106-win team with power at the plate and depth on the mound. Everything points to a successful October, except this isn’t a make-belief fantasy land where wishes come true.
This is the baseball playoffs and it’s a crapshoot; that’s what they tell fans every year, so this year should be no different. That means despite their 106 wins, the Los Angeles Dodgers should start getting their vacation reservations ready and Nationals fans will finally get what they want: a playoff win.
Will the real Cody Bellinger please stand up
Cody Bellinger arrived on the Los Angeles Dodgers like a supernova bursting with talent. In three short seasons, he’s proven himself to be the best homegrown slugger since Duke Snider roamed the outfield at Ebbets Field.
In the regular season, Bellinger is a home run smashing RBI machine, averaging 40 home runs and 104 RBIs, but in the playoffs, Bellinger is a shell of himself. His slash line these last two years is .172/.226/.336/.562 and has never gotten more than one home run in a series with his highest RBI total being five in the 2017 World Series.
If raw numbers don’t persuade you, let me put in succinct terms: he sucks in the playoffs.
106 means squat
The Los Angeles Dodgers set a franchise record with 106 wins, quite an achievement and it means squat. The Dodgers love to torture their fans and they are especially good at teasing them with great seasons.
You know how many Dodger teams have won 100 games and won a World Series: zero. Eight Dodger teams have hit triple digits in the win column and none have brought back a World Series trophy.
What does this have to do with the Nationals and NLDS? The Dodgers should do their fans a favor and lose there because you can’t lose a World Series if you don’t get there.
Hottest team wins
The Los Angeles Dodgers go into the NLDS on a seven-game winning streak, so they have momentum, the “Big Mo,” going into the series. Let me splash some cold water on your face, the Nationals have a nine-game winning streak going and have scored the most runs in baseball since the All-Star break.
The Nationals just won their biggest game since moving to the nation’s capital in 2005 and they are the matchup nightmare with three starting pitchers who have more than 230 strikeouts. They have an MVP candidate in Anthony Rendon and a future star in 20-year-old Juan Soto.
The #Nationals are the first team in baseball history to have three different pitchers each with at least 225 strikeouts in a season.
— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) October 1, 2019
Stephen Strasburg - 251
Max Scherzer - 243
Patrick Corbin - 238
For good measure, the Nationals also have Gerardo Parra, who has .296 career average against the Dodgers. C’mon people, the script writes itself: the Nationals in four.
Next. Biggest questions for the postseason roster. dark
Disclaimer
(If Cody Bellinger hits five home runs, Gerardo Parra goes 0-10, and the Nationals starters never make it past the fourth inning you may not use this post to rub back in my face. Please sign at the bottom attesting to this.)