Can Dodgers end 32-year drought?

 For many reasons, 2020 has been a non-typical year.

A pandemic, economic crash, insane presidential election, and for us baseball fans, a 60-game mini-season.

Going into the season, the Dodgers were odds-on favorites to win it all. On paper, they have the best batting order, starting pitching, and bullpen.

After disposing of Milwaukee in the Wild Card series, San Diego in the Division Series, and Atlanta in the NLCS, the Dodgers are still standing. Next up, Tampa Bay.

So what did we learn about the Dodgers during the first three rounds of the playoffs?

• Milwaukee was not a problem. 
• San Diego is going to be a problem for a long time. The young Padres, with superstars Fernando Tatis and Manny Machado, are the real deal. If pitchers Dinelson Lamet and Mike Clevinger had been healthy, I don't know if LA would have been able to hold them. The Dodgers surely would not have swept them in three games.
• Atlanta is scary good.  Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna, and Marcell Ozuna can rake. But what makes the Braves a threat is a young pitching staff of Max Fried, Ian Anderson, and Kyle Wright with Mike Soroka and Mike Foltynewicz coming back next year after injuries. The Dodgers made an incredible comeback from down 3-1 against the Braves but I wouldn't want to face them again next year.
• LA's lineup is deep. Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, and Joc Pederson had good numbers in the first three series but Will Smith, AJ Pollock, Max Muncy, Chris Taylor, and Edwin Rios produced timely hits as well. 
• Then there's Enrique "Kike" Hernandez. Hernandez is a super-sub who had only 18 at-bats but delivered four hits, two of them timely homers -- none more timely than Sunday night's game-tying blast.
• Bellinger has struggled all year after his MVP campaign in 2019 but he delivered the swing of the year in Game Seven, going yard for the winning run. He's got to take a large dose of confidence into the Series.
• Mookie Betts can play defense. His robberies in right field were critical for LA.

It's ironic that the Dodgers are back in the Series without Clayton Kershaw being the workhorse. LA's nine wins so far in this year's post-season have come from Julio Urias (4-0), Walker Buehler (1-0), Kershaw (2-1), and Blake Treinen (1-1). Urias only started one of those wins and Treinen came out of the pen as well. 

Urias emerged as the most valuable pitcher, throwing 16 innings and surrendering only one earned run for an 0.56 ERA. Buehler, he of the chronic blisters, tossed 19 innings and gave up only four runs for a 1.89 ERA. Kershaw has been mortal, throwing 19 innings and giving up seven earned runs for a 3.32 ERA.

LA's pen has been stingy, with Pedro Baez, Dustin May, Dylan Floro, Victor Gonzalez, Adam Kolarek, Tony Gonsolin, Alex Wood, Joe Kelly, Jake McGee, Brusdar Grateroland Kenley Jansen all throwing important innings. 

The distinction between a starter and a reliever has blurred. Dave Roberts will start a game with a reliever and bring in a starter to spell him. It's truly a team approach. Urias has been so valuable because Roberts can plug him in anywhere and anytime. 

In the Series, expect Roberts to continue shuffling in his pitchers to match up against the Rays.

Best team in baseball: What could possibly go wrong?

The Dodgers open up post-season play tonight in a best two-out-of-three set against the Milwaukee Brewers, the No. 8 seed in the National League who made the playoffs with a losing record at 29-31.

The Dodgers cruise into the Wild Card with the best record in baseball at 43-17, which over a 162-game schedule would equate to a 116 win pace.

Should the Dodgers avoid a stumble against the Brewers they would face the winner of the San Diego-St. Louis series. San Diego's two aces, Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet are dealing with injuries and are reportedly not available for the Wild Card series.

Prior to their pitching injuries, I saw the Padres as the biggest threat to the Dodgers in the National League but without their two best pitchers they suddenly seem beatable.

Los Angeles will go with Walker Buehler in Game One and Clayton Kershaw in Game Two. Should there be a Game Three, Dave Roberts could go with Tony Gonsolin, Julio Urias, or Dustin May. Gonsolin has proven to be the most stable of the three and I predict he would get the call.

Kershaw has been steady this year, posting a 6-2 record and a 2.16 ERA. He's not the power pitcher he was earlier in his career but he can still coax his fastball to 93-94 mph when he needs it. But this year Kershaw is throwing a lot of sliders, curves, and changeups, which makes his fastball seem a lot faster.

Buehler has the stuff to win a big game but he has a small sample size in 2020, spending time on the IL with blister problems. He last pitched on Sept. 24 against Oakland and struck out six and gave up only one hit through four innings.

Dave Roberts has a deep bullpen this year, unlike previous seasons, and is not afraid to use it. Don't be surprised to see Dylan Floro, Adam Kolarek, Jake McGee, Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol, and Victor Gonzalez pitching meaningful innings. Roberts has to be gun shy about staying with his starters too long. He will use his pen to try and win a Series.

On the offensive side of the house, the Dodgers are loaded. Mookie Betts and Cory Seager are having MVP-like seasons and Justin Turner, A.J. Pollock, Chris Taylor, and Cody Bellinger can rake. Bellinger finished a dismal season with a .239 batting average but did have 12 dingers and 30 RBI. 

But a deeper look into the numbers reveals that Bellinger, last year's MVP, is warming up at just the right time. Bellinger hit a respectable .284 in the second half of the 60-game season, .333 in the last 15 games, and a sizzling .350 in the last seven games of the year. If he can stay that warm the Dodgers could roll.

Max Muncy finished below the Mendoza line at .192 but will probably get the chance to redeem himself in the playoffs.

Most baseball people are predicting the Dodgers will win it all. The X-factor is Betts, who brings his A-game to the park every night. Whether it's at the plate, patrolling right field, or on the basepaths, Betts can be a game-changer.

If St. Louis can take out a depleted San Diego team the Dodgers would likely face St. Louis, Chicago, or Atlanta to return to their third World Series in four years. Their opponent? Tampa Bay is the favorite but I wouldn't count out the Yankees, Astros, or White Sox. 

The path is difficult but doable. What could possibly go wrong?

Bellinger is finding his stroke

 

In his MVP season a year ago, LA's Cody Bellinger was a beast. He hit at a .305 clip, slugged 47 dingers and drove in 115 RBI. It was a phenomenal year.

In 2020, the year of a 60-game pandemic-shorted season, Bellinger has been a bust. Until recently he was hitting under .200 and seemed lost and overmatched at the plate.

What a difference a week can make.

In the last six games, Bellinger has gone 10-for-23, hit four homers, and knocked in four RBI. In that stretch, he is hitting at a .435 clip.

He brought his season average up to .225 with eight dingers and 17 RBI.

More importantly, Bellinger is hitting like Bellinger again.

Max Muncy, who also was slow out of the gate, has heated up as well. In the last six games, Muncy is 6-for-20 with three dingers and five RBI and hit for a .300 average. 

This bodes well for the Dodgers in their quest for a return to the World Series where they hope to finally, after 32 years, win it all.

With Bellinger and Muncy heating up the LA lineup is very hitterish. Mookie Betts is hitting .293 with 11 homers; Corey Seager is hitting .300 with eight dingers; Justin Turner is swinging a .294 bat with 19 RBI, and Chris Taylor is hitting a steady .256 with nine runs batted in. Austin Barnes may be the biggest surprise, hitting .273 with seven RBI. Toss in AJ Pollock at .263, five homers and 15 RBI and you have a lineup that is difficult for opposing pitchers to maneuver.

The starting rotation is a strength and the bullpen has been downright nasty. 

This may be the year.

Halfway point: Dodgers have all the tools to return to Series

 After sweeping the hapless Colorado Rockies over the weekend, the Dodgers sit atop the standings at 22-8, four games up on San Diego, and holding the best record in Major League Baseball.

At the abbreviated season's halfway point, the Dodgers have all the pieces in place to get back to the World Series and end the 32-year championship drought.

The signs are promising.

• Mookie Betts is everything Los Angeles hoped for when they signed him to a long-term contract. He's hitting .300 with 11 dingers, 24 RBI, five stolen bases, and clubhouse energy that is contagious.
• Cody Bellinger, after starting the year with a horrible case of MVP hangover, has broken out of the doldrums. Bellinger is back to raking and that's good news for LA. Corey Seager has recovered from the elbow surgery two years ago and looks like his old self. Seager is hitting .298 with seven homers and 20 RBI. 
• Justin Turner (.272, 18 RBI), AJ Pollock (.275, 21 RBI), and Chris Taylor (.258, 9 RBI) are having solid years and Austin Barnes (.273, 7 RBI) is producing from the catcher's spot. 
• Max Muncy, who also got off to a slow start, is heating up and has seven home runs and 13 RBI.

The Dodgers are deep. Will Smith is sharing the catcher's duties with Barnes and came off the IL last night and homered in an 11-2 slugfest. Kike Hernandez, who shows up all over the diamond, has gone yard three times and knocked in 11 runs. Joc Pederson, used mostly in a platoon role, has hit four homers and driven in eight runs. Edwin Rios, Keibert Ruiz, and Matt Beaty solidify what is arguably the strongest bench in baseball.

Starting pitching is above average with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Dustin May, and Ross Stripling all delivering steady performances. Over the weekend, Kershaw and Buehler delivered back-to-back 11 strikeout outings in shutting down the Rockies. Tony Gonsolin has started three games, pitched 14.2 innings, and has a 0.00 ERA - and he's still having a hard time breaking into the rotation.

But the biggest reason the Dodgers are primed to get back to the Series is the bullpen, where Los Angeles has assembled an imposing corps of hurlers who can swoop in and shut down a rally.

Joe Kelly (0.00 ERA), Adam Kolarek (0.00 ERA), Dylan Floro (0.69 ERA), Blake Treinen (0.75 ERA), Kenley Jansen (0.77 ERA), Caleb Ferguson (0.79 ERA), Jake McGee (0.90 ERA), Victor Gonzalez (1.80 ERA), Scott Alexander (2.00 ERA), Brusdar Graterol (3.38 ERA), Pedro Baez (3.97 ERA), and Dennis Santana (5.40 ERA) give the Dodgers the edge in an arms race.

Jansen is the closer, appearing in 13 games and going seven-for-seven in save opportunities. But Kelly, Treinen, McGee, and Graterol all have closer stuff. 

The Dodgers rolled out rookie reliever Gonzalez last night and all he did was pitch two innings, fan two, and limit the Rocks to one hit. 

October is on the horizon and the Dodgers have their eyes on the prize.

Pandemic baseball: Dodgers 60-game sprint

It's mid-August and Major League Baseball is one-third of the way through its compressed 60-game schedule.

Here are a few observations about the NL West-leading L.A. Dodgers and their main competition:

• Mookie Betts is everything he was hyped to be. He hits for average, he hits for power, he patrols right field like a guard dog and he runs the bases like Maury Wills. On top of that, he seems to be one of those clubhouse guys that lifts his teammates. Long live Mookie.
• Clayton Kershaw got his heater back. After several years of coping with a diminishing fastball, Kersh is hitting the gun at 94-95 again and now that he has a devastating slider to go with his nasty curve, he is showing flashes of his old self. Kershaw went seven innings and gave up only one hit the other night. It was a flashback to his dominating days. This is a pitcher.
• Cody Bellinger will be ok. Though his average is still well below the Mendoza line, Bellinger's bat woke up against the Angels this weekend. He had two dingers in one game and he's making hard contact. When Bellinger is right and Mookie is leading off, this team his serious firepower. Now let's talk about depth. Corey Seager is raking, Justin Turner just keeps on hitting, and Chris Taylor is off to a good start. AJ Pollock is looking like his glory days in Arizona. Max Muncy and Joc Pederson are struggling and Enrique Hernandez continues to be one of the most valuable utility players on the squad. Austin Barnes is hitting a respectable .250 while catcher of the future Will Smith sits with some neck discomfort.  
• The young bucks might be ready. When the Dodgers let Hyun Jin-Ryu and Kenta Maeda sign elsewhere it put the onus on L.A.'s next generation of starters, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin. Buehler (0-0) has had a slow start, showing a 5.21 ERA through four starts. Urias is 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA. May is 1-1 with a 2.75 ERA and Gonsolin has yet to give up a run through 8.2 innings. Meanwhile, Kershaw is 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA and Ross Stripling is 3-1 with a 3.97 ERA. Starting pitching is solid.
• The bullpen could be the key to getting back to the World Series. Additions Jake McGee (0.00 ERA), Blake Treinen (0.96 ERA), and Brusdar Graterol (4.00 ERA) have solidified a pen that already had Kenley Jansen (0.96 ERA), Joe Kelly (0.00 ERA), Dylan Floro (0.00 ERA), Caleb Ferguson (1.13 ERA), Pedro Baez (2.89 ERA) and Scott Alexander (0.00 ERA) on staff. McGee, Treinen, Graterol, and Kelly all have closer stuff. Jansen appears to be back to full strength. He struck out Mike Trout on three pitches to secure last night's extra-inning win.
• Colorado and San Diego have both stepped it up and will contend for the NL West if the Dodgers falter. Charlie Blackmon (.438), Trevor Story (.321), Garrett Hampton (.313), and Daniel Murphy (.333) are lighting it up while Nolan Arenado is off to a slow start (.247). Colorado pitchers Antonio Senzatela (3-0), Jeff Hoffman (2-0), Kyle Freeland (2-0), and German Marquez (2-3) have pushed the Rockies to a strong start. Jon Gray (0-2), has yet to find his stride and has a 6.41 ERA.
• The Padres are 11-11 but have demonstrated that their player development is on track. Fernando Tatis Jr.(.310, 9 dingers, 21 RBI) is a budding superstar and Jake Cronenworth (.311), Wil Myers (.288), and Eric Hosmer (.286) are off to good starts. Manny Machado has yet to warm up (.217) but does have five homers and 13 RBI. San Diego starters Dinelson Lamet (2-1, 1.59 ERA) and Chris Paddack (2-2, 4.91 ERA) have showed splashes of brilliance and Zach Davies (2-2, 278 ERA) and Garrett Richards (1-1, .374 ERA) show promise.

Dodgers' pitching staff is a shutdown force

If the Dodgers get back to the World Series for a third straight year, much of the attention will focus on Cody Bellinger, who is having an MVP season.

But it is the moundwork that could make this team a three-time National League champion.

Hyun Jin-Ryu is having a masterful season, posting an 8-1 record and 1.48 ERA. Walker Buehler, the ace in waiting, is 6-1 with a 3.69 ERA and Kenta Maeda is 7-2 with a 3.61 ERA. Rich Hill came off the injury list and looks strong at 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA.

Then there's Clayton Kershaw, he of the diminished fastball who is 5-0 with a 3.20 ERA. He's doing it with smoke and mirrors these days, and a
devastating slider and curve, and the Dodgers just don't lose when he takes the hill.

And if those five were not enough, Julio Urias (3-2) and Ross Stripling (2-2) are working out of the pen and can start if Roberts needs them.

The only real weakness so far is the middle relief where Roberts hopes Urias and Caleb Ferguson can settle things down for closer Kenley Jansen, who has found his groove again.

The Dodgers are up 9.5 games on the Rockies and have the best record in the National League and second best in all of baseball.

They have won six in a row and 10 out of 11. It doesn't get much better than this.

When they cool off, which they inevitably will, that pitching staff will keep the slumps from getting out of hand.

As for that World Series, let's hope the third time is the charm.

Roach races and the Elvis - minor league baseball in America

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos of the Southern League are the AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, which is where this story starts.

In 1965, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series over the Twins, four games to three, as Sandy Koufax pitched three games to lead Walter Alston's club to the title.

I was nine years old that summer and loved going to Dodger games with my mom and aunt, sitting in the 75-cent left field bleachers.

Koufax didn't pitch Game One because it was Yom Kippur, but lost Game Two to put the Dodgers in a hole.

The Dodgers rallied for a win in Game Three behind Claude Osteen and Game Four behind Don Drysdale.

Koufax pitched a gem for a win in Game Five, but the Twins evened the series in Game Six with a win over Osteen.

That set up a Game Seven showdown between Koufax and Jim Kaat in Bloomington's Metropolitan Stadium where Koufax, pitching on two days rest, pitched a complete game shutout three-hitter for a 2-0 championship victory with Sweet Lou Johnson hitting a solo homer and Ron Fairly driving in Wes Parker with an insurance run.

So now some 54 years later I am sitting behind home plate watching the Blue Wahoos lose to the Mississippi Braves on a night when the highlights were the Roach Race and a report on the Elvis at the snack bar.

A local exterminator sponsors the Roach Race, which involves a horde of kids chasing a guy in a roach costume from the right field foul line to the left field foul line. One kid almost caught the roach.

Then there's the Elvis. The Elvis is a deep-fried banana with peanut butter. The guy behind me talked about getting one and when he came back he was a little disappointed.

He said, "it wasn't what I had hoped it would be."

Ya gotta love baseball.