Why the Los Angeles Dodgers are STILL World Series Favorites
Despite adding Zack Greinke at the deadline, the Houston Astros have a potential formidable NL opponent in the Los Angeles Dodgers.
I have my allegiances, and so do you, and those allegiances were on full display Wednesday, as fans sat idly by with their phones out waiting for deadline news benefiting their favorite team. My team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, were pretty quiet.
They acquired 30-year-old infielder Jedd Gyorko from the St. Louis Cardinals and southpaw Adam Kolarek from the Tampa Bay Rays. Other than that, their deadline day came and went fairly quickly.
Then they did a thing.
Hours after the deadline, the Dodgers announced that they’re calling up RHP Dustin May, their #2 prospect, to start Friday against San Diego. Not only is making your major league debut an amazing feat, but it looked unlikely that he would be here at all.
Reports had teams asking for May, as well as Gavin Lux and Keibert Ruiz, in any major deals. The Dodgers, though, are notorious for not trading their top prospects i.e; Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Alex Verdugo, Will Smith, and now Dustin May. The Dodgers refused to trade May to get an ace or a lights-out reliever, and now instead of getting them the answer, he could be the answer.
This goes to show just how deep the Dodgers really are, and how all the prospects they’ve refused to trade over the past few years are finally ready for the bigs.
May, however, was not the biggest news of deadline day, not even close. Moments after the clock struck 4 pm eastern, it was announced that the Arizona Diamondbacks traded Zack Greinke and cash to the Houston Astros for a handful of prospects.
I guess you could say the Houston Astros did a thing too.
Why the Los Angeles Dodgers are World Series Favorites
The Houston Astros did a thing too
This is the biggest trade news to come out of Houston since they acquired Justin Verlander two years ago. Now, Greinke joins Verlander, along with Gerrit Cole, in what is probably the strongest rotation in baseball.
I’m not over the Dodgers’ 2017 World Series loss (probably never will be) but any baseball fan, regardless of allegiance, can see that this makes the Astros lethal. The road to the World Series, for the AL at least, will probably go through New York or Houston. Zack Greinke is going to help these Astros down the stretch and it is going to be really hard for any team, even the Yankees, to slow them down.
So, say the Astros get to the World Series. Who do they face?
Now, this isn’t my alliances talking, it’s sheer, objective observation; it could very well be the Dodgers. They have been the best team in the National League, sometimes even all of baseball, all season long.
They were the first to reach 70 wins just a few days ago, and they have shown that any lead can be erased with the right lineup. Their bullpen needs a little bit of help, but Tony Gonsolin put on a clinic in Colorado Tuesday night in a win over the Rockies. Gonsolin is a very realistic bullpen option in October, so is May, so is Ross Stripling and Julio Urias.
What makes this all so insane is that all those names I mentioned were drafted by the Dodgers over the past decade.
The Dodgers didn’t do a lot at the deadline but, honestly, they didn’t need to. They can contend, they can win, and they can put on a show in the process with the guys they have.
So, now that we have established that a 2017 World Series rematch is all kinds of possible, let’s think about how it could go down.
Why the Los Angeles Dodgers are World Series Favorites
How it all goes down
Game one is likely to see Dodgers ace (no, not that one) Hyun-Jin Ryu facing off against Justin Verlander. Verlander is pretty darn great, but the Dodgers have seen him before. The Astros have yet to see Ryu, this version of him at least, and has he been lights out this season. Ryu was not on the roster for the 2017 World Series.
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Verlander is elite in the postseason, and it’s more than likely that the Dodgers, as well as whoever plays Houston in a potential ALCS, will see him twice. That said, facing an ace is a lot easier when you have one of your own.
Game two will probably see Kershaw against Cole. Kershaw’s ERA this season is just a tick lower than Cole’s, while Cole’s 143 innings pitched this season overshadow Kershaw’s 117. None of that is going to matter come October. These are two elite pitchers, each with their own successes. The fact is, for whoever the Astros send to the mound in a potential World Series, the Dodgers will have an answer.
Speaking of answers, the Astros found one Wednesday when they traded for Zack Greinke. Dodgers fans know Greinke well, as he took the mound in an LA uniform for three years from 2013-2015.
He had a career year in his final season with LA, boasting a 1.66 ERA over 222.2 innings. That offseason, he signed a deal for $206.5 million to pitch for Arizona. He had a relatively rough first season with the D-Backs but settled back into classic Greinke-mode and led Arizona to the NLDS in 2017, where they were swept by the Dodgers. Just a couple of weeks later, the Dodgers would lose the World Series to Greinke’s new team.
He’s likely to get the ball in game 3 against Rich Hill or Walker Buehler.
Now, I don’t want to doubt Greinke. I think he’s an amazing pitcher and the Astros set themselves up really well by trading for him but the Dodgers know this guy. They’ve seen him, they’ve played behind him, they’ve hit homers off of him.
He’s seen LA twice this season and has not had a very good go of it. In 9.2 innings pitched over those two games, he’s given up 11 runs on 14 hits. His ERA against the Dodgers this year is over 10.
This is less of a knock against Greinke and more a nod to how good the Dodgers have been. They don’t care who’s on the mound, they just RAKE.
I’ve said it before, but it begs repeating; Zack Greinke is a great get for Houston. If they get to the World Series, he will probably have played a pretty big role in that, but as the Dodgers know all too well, getting to the World Series and winning it are two entirely different things.
Next. Los Angeles Dodgers acquire Jedd Gyorko. dark
If the Dodgers fall short, and the Astros face the Braves, or the Cubs, or the Brewers, best of luck, but I don’t think they will, I think they’ll face the Dodgers, and the Dodgers know how to beat Greinke.
Forget winter, dear fans, because October is coming.