The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in the NL, but with their recent October history, they should not be favorites to win the World Series.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have won the National League West for it seems like the 10th year in a row, but again they enter October with the question of if they can get over the hump.
This season, they have a good rotation entering October with arms like Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler but their back end worries me along with the bullpen.
If I were a Dodgers fan, I would not be confident in sending out a Rich Hill or a Hyun-Jin Ryu in the NLDS against a pretty powerful lineup in the Washington Nationals.
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Hill, in his last start at San Diego, grimaced throughout his outing with a knee brace covered by his pants leg.
I understand Ryu has had a good year but at the same time, he hasn’t proved himself in October yet. In 2018, he pitched in four postseason games and gave up 11 runs, including 7 of them in the NLCS vs the Milwaukee Brewers.
If the Dodgers were to win the World Series, they would need a good enough rotation to get through Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin in the first round and then get past the gauntlet that is the Astros lineup and Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, and Zack Greinke on the mound.
That is a very tough task that gets tougher when they don’t have a great bullpen.
Kenley Jansen has not been at his best this year, pitching to a 3.71 ERA and 8 blown saves.
His manager Dave Roberts expressed his confidence in his closer but also said that some other arms might be getting the call if he struggles once October hits.
"“I’ve said this from the very beginning of my tenure: my job is to do the best thing for the Dodgers, and not one individual player,” Roberts said earlier this month. “My loyalty has to be to the Dodgers, so I’m leaving it open-ended. I don’t think it’s going to get to that point, because of my confidence in Kenley. But I will say, when you’re talking about winning a championship, you go with the best guys who are getting the job done.”"
It is going to be interesting to see how Roberts controls the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff considering that it will not be an easy task to win that World Series title.