Los Angeles Dodgers: 2018 Review, Kershaw Window Closing?
The 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League Pennant for the second consecutive season, but the window to win a World Series with Clayton Kershaw as team ace appears to be closing.
Lebron James has not immediately brought Showtime back to LA, and this would have been a nice time for the locals to be basking in the glow of a Los Angeles Dodgers World Series Championship.
Unfortunately for LA fans, the Dodgers fell just short of their goal in 2018. The team is deep and able to make up for injuries, but the Dodgers have not been able to win the biggest games of all.
Lebron James still has plenty of season to turn around the slow start to the Lakers year, but Clayton Kershaw might be running out of time to win a Championship as an ace pitcher in Dodgers blue.
The problem lays more with Kershaw than the Dodgers as a team. Yes, the Dodgers barely made the 2018 MLB Playoffs. But they made a run when it counted most like a championship team should. And, LA resigned Kershaw, as they should have.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies led the NL West Division during various times during the 2018 season. But, the Diamondbacks and Rockies do not have a history of winning year-in and year-out.
The Diamondbacks will lose Patrick Corbin to Free Agency after a tremendous 2018 season, and the Rockies will likely watch former batting champ D.J. LeMahieu walk as a free agent.
Key Dodgers free agents include the likes of batters Manny Machado, Yasmani Grandal, and pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu. However, Machado was just a rental due to the season-ending injury of Cory Seager.
Grandal, who had a terrible postseason and Ryu received qualifying offers from LA and will not sign elsewhere without gaining the Dodgers some kind of compensation.
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts used a revolving door of lineups and in-game substitutions during the 2018 MLB Playoffs to optimize his team during games. Reports are that Roberts will soon be rewarded for his efforts.
With Kershaw deal done, the Dodgers have started extension talks with manager Dave Roberts. The team holds option for 2019 but now there’s hope something longer could get done within a few days, possibly this weekend.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 3, 2018
Roberts did a good job of keeping his players in positions to succeed, and they did all the way to the World Series.
The Los Angeles Dodgers Management created a team deep enough for Roberts to have the liberty of making many changes every day and every inning for the matchups.
Furthermore, the Dodgers are built for future success even though future MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw has likely seen his best days.
The Los Angeles Dodgers 2018 Offense Barely Deep Enough To Make MLB Playoffs
Outstanding Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop and middle-of-the-order batter Corey Seager underwent season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery on May 6 in addition to the surgery he had on his torn hip labrum.
If Manny Machado played as well as Manny Ramirez did for the team as a rental in 2008, the Dodgers might have more interest in signing him for 2019 and beyond. Seager might never play to his former expectations, and, if he did, LA could move Machado back to third base where he is probably a better defender anyway.
However, Machado struggled in the 2018 MLB Playoffs. So, even though the Dodgers have a history of working with quirky personalities such as Ramirez and their own Yasiel Puig, committing hundreds of millions of dollars to Machado is not in their future.
Machado hurt his own brand by drawing negative attention during the 2018 NLCS when he talked about not hustling and consistently broke baseball etiquette on the field.
On the other hand, Cody Bellinger made some extra fans by coming up with game-changing plays and hits in the 2018 MLB Playoffs despite having a down season compared to his magnificent 2017 rookie campaign.
Two big surprises helped the Dodgers offense during the first half of the season.
Matt Kemp had a statistical resurgence that led to a .522 SLG during the first half of the season.
For the most part, the Los Angeles Dodgers went as Matt Kemp went. His OPS was 1.017 in Dodgers wins and .560 in their losses.
LA also got a pick-me-up from signing Max Muncy after the Oakland A’s gave up on and cut him.
Muncy provided a major power boost to the Dodgers. He led LA in home runs with 35 and led the league in homers per at-bat. Although Muncy provided four RBIs during the 2018 NLDS, strong pitching from the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS and Boston Red Sox in the World Series. neutralized him.
Muncy might not be an everyday player in the MLB unless he can make more contact moving forward, but he had a big impact on the 2018 Dodgers season.
Justin Turner puts up great numbers in the middle of the Los Angeles Dodgers order when healthy. However, he has never played more than 151 games in a season and played just 103 in 2018.
Turner looks like the type of player Ryan Braun turned into later in his career. The Dodgers could find consistent and reliable success by watching his games played in the future like the Brewers do for Braun.
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts did a fine job using the players he had healthy to the best of their ability. Manny injuries caused LA to test its depth. As of late August, the Dodgers saw themselves out of the 2018 MLB Playoffs picture, but they held on and made a run all the way into another World Series.
Much of the Dodgers 2018 success comes from its deep pitching staff.
The Los Angeles Dodgers Might Have Seen Better Days From Kershaw, But Buehler Has Arrived
Clayton Kershaw recently signed a new deal to remain with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Keeping the ace left-hander on staff is the correct move, but some of Kershaw’s trends are troubling.
Kershaw has lost parts of recent seasons due to back stiffness. The wear-and-tear on Kershaw’s back reflected in his DL stints also appears evident in his average fastball velocity.
He averaged about 94 MPH most of his career, but it has fallen for four straight seasons. Many are picking through the numbers and wondering how many more dominant innings Kershaw has left.
The Dodgers had enough pitching to get them through the 2018 season, but management has to be wondering whether they have enough going forward.
Rich Hill is aging and Alex Wood has only one year of arbitration remaining.
Walker Buehler looks like a potential ace, but Julio Urias might never fill the potential he once had. He recently worried about getting back on the mound, let alone dominating.
“I can’t lie. There was a time when I thought there was a possibility I would never come back to a Major League mound,” said Urias. “Thank God, he helped me get here.”
The Dodgers will probably lose Ryu as a free agent, and, although they have Kenta Maeda to replace him in the rotation, Ryu is a lefty and Maeda is a righty.
In the bullpen, the Los Angeles Dodgers received a scare when Kenley Jansen missed time with an irregular heartbeat.
When Jansen missed time during the 2018 season with the heart issue, Scott Alexander and Kenta Maeda stepped in and collected saves. Furthermore, the Los Angeles Dodgers added veteran reliever Ryan Madson near the trade deadline to help out in the bullpen.
Good management and managing helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the NL Pennant in 2018, but the NL West almost kept them from making the 2018 MLB Playoffs.
The Dodgers have bright spots looking forward to 2019 such as Walker Buehler and a returning Corey Seager coming back.
However, other aging bodies, including Clayton Kershaw himself, make it questionable whether LA can win a World Series with Kershaw anchoring the rotation.
Next. Kershaw gets new deal. dark
Teams such as the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves are young and will only be better and more hungry next year if the Dodgers meet them in the MLB Playoffs again next year.