The Dodgers are really gonna have a guy vy for a 50-50 season for the first time in MLB history, all while their entire rotation is held together with scotch tape and decaying velcro.
I have no idea how they're doing it at this point. They've landed on a rotation of Jack Flaherty, still-ailing Walker Buehler, Bobby Miller, Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski, with the idea that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be back within the week to relieve Wrobleski. All while Gavin Stone, Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw are down and Ryder Ryan, Emmett Sheehan, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin are firmly in the 'do not use' pile. They're going to the postseason with 'I mean, I guess this'll have to work.' This is not what you want! The one sure thing in this rotation is a guy they got from Detroit midyear who has a tendency to either crap out or get hurt, and everyone's just relieved and surprised that he hasn't yet. This is what the weight of the team is hinging on, Jack Flaherty's ability to not be Jack Flaherty. And remember, there have been many playoff teams in the past few years who've run into calamities basing their season on that very factor.
I'm just dumbfounded by the fact that a faulty rotation hasn't stopped the Dodgers. Cause we've seen this prevent great teams from competing before. The Red Sox took ages to form a decent rotation this decade, and suffered for a few years. The Astros were not a great team this year til the rotation took shape, and now that Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez and Spencer Arrighetti are locked in, I uh...hate them again. The Dodgers never really had a moment where the rotation came together though, they just went with it and hoped the lineup would bail them out. And luckily, a lineup consisting of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Tesocar Hernandez, Max Muncy and Will Smith tends to do that quite a lot!
And that's gonna get the Dodgers relatively far, a lot like the Astros. Your problems don't seem to big if you have an energized lineup that can keep producing consistently. Max Muncy picked up right where he left off, hitting .321 with 7 RBIs and 2 homers in 10 games in August. He's been a bit colder this month, but he always finds a way to produce in September and October. Mookie Betts, despite no longer being the MVP frontrunner, is hitting .311 since his return, with 23 RBIs and 6 homers. Freddie Freeman has another 30-homer year under his belt, and if he's not too upended by an injury Teoscar Hernandez might join him. Even against the also-great Guardians, the Dodgers still look confident and powerful.
Now...I don't know if this is the Dodgers team to get back to the World Series. Not with this pitching staff. But it's all about happenstance now, so they may do something crazy.
Coming Tomorrow- The Rays actually signed him to a nice deal last year. So it shouldn't shock you that he's already having a great second half for an entirely different team.
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