Open Urias

 

It was fun having the Yankees as the best team in baseball while it lasted. Back to LA, I suppose.

The possibility of the Dodgers being the alpha in baseball was never absent this year. With Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner secured, and great seasons from Tony Gonsolin, Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney coming out of basically nowhere, an already-great team found a way to become even better. And now that the deadline has passed and Joey Gallo and Chris Martin are strengthening this team even more...I can kinda see why this team has 78 wins and is leading the conversation. 

And it's really a case of everything this team has been doing for years is still working and getting better. Julio Urias has been the one constant in the rotation this year with injuries to Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw, and he's been doing extremely well, with a 12-6 record and a team-leading 117 strikeouts. And he's the one guy everyone expected to be awesome out of these awesome pitchers. Anderson is 13-1, which is pretty awesome by itself, and he's having an incredible year off of his strong 2021. Gonsolin is 14-1, which is just as crazy as Anderson's, and has a 0.885 WHIP. And meanwhile, Andrew Heaney has a 0.64 ERA. Yes, in 6 starts, but still. 

Yes, the fairly unexciting Ryan Pepiot is the 5th man, but when your 5th man still has a 3.92 ERA, you're still doing pretty well. I honestly preferred Mitch White, but you do you, Dodgers.

The elements that weren't working on this team are beginning to click into place. Max Muncy is getting really hot, and has accumulated 13 home runs. Bellinger similarly has 15 home runs and is a bit more reliable than he was. Even Justin Turner, though limited, is getting stuff done in a DH role. And the bench is at least a bit more lively now that Trayce Thompson is a proven power bat. 

The goal, like usual, will be for the Dodgers to outweigh the hype. This team looks good and has been excellent, but this team has been good in the regular season before without winning it all. If they can outweigh even the guys who catch fire now, it'll be a real statement for this team, who's been in the picture for years. If they can get more than one ring...then people will shut up.

Coming Tonight: Third baseman who got a bit of an attendance upgrade.

Flash Before Urias

 

This is Julio Urias's sixth season, his age 24 season. He has a 17-3 record, 175 strikeouts, a 2.98 ERA, a 1.025 WHIP, and having not only the best season of his career so far, but one of the best Dodgers seasons.

This folks, is why you're patient with rookies when you call them up pre-22.

The Dodgers have been very lucky with their youth movement. Just when Bauer got suspended and Kershaw got hurt, Urias comes forward and becomes the ace they've always wanted him to be, right next to Walker Buehler, who's also having an awesome season. The absolute scariness of a Kershaw-Scherzer-Buehler-Urias combination for the playoffs, even without proposed factors like David Price and Trevor Bauer, proves that the Dodgers, even if they're not currently ahead of the NL West, are still one of the most important teams in the game. 

And look, these teams have seen insane combinations in the rotation before. Greinke-Kershaw. Ryu-Maeda-Buehler. Now this one. It's really just a testament to how well-run the organization, and how it's not as monolithic as the Yankees where nobody wants to play there. You hear a lot of 'no Yankees or Phillies' in free agency searches, but not a lot of 'no Dodgers'. They win every year, you've got a chance at a ring, the best are waiting. Of course people wanna play there. Of course Mookie Betts wants to retire a Dodger. 

Right now, the Dodgers have Scherzer on a roll, Trea Turner hitting .307 with 39 hits in 32 games, Albert Pujols as a very effective bench bat who will DEFINITELY make the playoff roster [I really hope I'm not wrong here], Kenley Jansen notching his 7th 30 save season [and his 1000th strikeout], and Muncy, Turner, Taylor and Betts ruling this team. Even for a team that's looking primarily at a wild card spot, those are tremendous odds, and some insanely huge pieces to work with.

I'm assuming the Dodgers will wind up in a division series, considering everything they have going for them. If not, then...man would that be anticlimactic. All this energy, all this upward momentum for nothing? What are we, the Yankees?

Coming Tonight: One of the best relief pieces in the league...and, of course, it's one the Yankees gave up.

32 Years Later...

 I was looking at this matchup earlier, just trying to outthink it. Thinking 'Tony Gonsolin is gonna be the hero, he's gonna pitch the Rays into oblivion'. 

Well, no. Julio Urias was the hero. Tony Gonsolin gave up the sole Rays run of the night [obviously, to Randy Arozarena]. Urias, Alex Wood, Victor Gonzalez and Dylan Floro completely shut down the Rays' lineup, Mookie Betts, Corey Seager and Austin Barnes were responsible for the run support, and Urias, like it was easy, struck out Willy Adames and Mike Brosseau to end the game and FINALLY, FINALLY deliver a title to LA for the first time in 32 years.

This was an extraordinarily welcome World Series win. This was the best team in the league, they had an amazing season, an amazing postseason, and even though the Rays made it close, the Dodgers were always going to win. Performances like Seager's, Clayton Kershaw's and Enrique Hernandez's don't go unrewarded. 

I'm happy for Dodgers fans all over, especially the, uh...obvious ones in this blogosphere. I'm happy that Kershaw finally got a ring. I'm happy for the whole team, including some guys like Jake McGee and Justin Turner who've been at it for a while and finally won one of these. And I'm happy for baseball that we didn't get a repeat winner from the last 10 or so years.

Very satisfying finale. Can't wait to see what the 2021 season has in store to rival it. Hopefully next season goes off without a hitch, and hopefully I can go to a few games as well.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2019: Dodgers (Part Two)

Yes, I still have a ton more Dodgers to talk about in 2019. This is how good they were this year. 17 players missed regulation in terms of customs this year, which means this team was already awesome...and 17 players weren't awesome enough to go during the season, and yet...it's still SEVENTEEN. Some teams have, like, 3.

Rich Hill has sort of gone on consecutive Uncustomed Heroes years because he's a solid pitcher who's fantastic when he's healthy, but he's never a pivotal performer or leading the team. He only started 13 games this year, but Hill still had a 2.45 ERA with a 4-1 record. So he clearly still had some of his stuff.
Why Him in 2019?: Had a lower ERA than Kershaw, Buehler and Maeda. And he's 40.
2020 Prediction: Signs with a middling team, has a few more last hurrah starts and then retires.

 Meanwhile, Kenta Maeda repeated his 2018 voyage of starting well in the rotation and being moved to the bullpen for the postseason. Maeda still had a 10-8 record with 169 strikeouts, but he's not the innings-eating, high-rotation star he was.
Why Him in 2019?: Allowed 1 hit in 7 innings of postseason ball.
2020 Prediction: Will hold onto a starting rotation spot, and potentially might be traded midseason.

 In Maeda's place, the Dodgers looked to two minor leaguers to fill spots, with mostly good results. Tony Gonsolin, one of the most unlikely dominant MLB pitchers this side of Randy Dobnak, lobbed his way to a 2.93 ERA, and had a 2.89 ERA in his 6 starts.
Why Him in 2019?: Unlikeliest big-game pitcher in LA in August.
2020 Prediction: Will start the year in the minors, but will have some big games in an audition for a permanent rotation spot.

 In Gonsolin's wake left Dustin May, a more-touted prospect who was expected to be stronger, but struggled early, and eventually left a game after a liner to the head. After 4 starts, he was moved to the bullpen, and still averaged 3.63 ERA.
Why Him in 2019?: The Dodgers' second-biggest prospect debut.
2020 Prediction: The Dodgers will make a concrete decision on where they want Dustin, and no matter what they decide, he'll deliver 100 strikeouts.

 Kenley Jansen had something of a down year as closer, which is odd for a perennially dominant guy like Jansen. His 33 saves were his lowest season total since 2013, and his 8 blown saves was his highest season total ever.
Why Him in 2019?: Still closed the Dodgers.
2020 Prediction: Either he goes back to the 40s, or he loses the closing gig.

 Pedro Baez has continued to be a strong bullpen arm for LA, delivering his lowest full-season WHIP in 2019 with a .947, and, sadly, continuing his rotten postseason luck.
Why Him in 2019?: Baez was the most integral reliever in LA.
2020 Prediction: This is Baez' last year before free agency, so he'll have to deliver in order to be on the Dodgers' radar beyond this year.

 After winning a ring last year, Joe Kelly came to his former WS opponents to try to win another one. This didn't exactly happen. Kelly's 4.56 ERA, and his numbers in general, were down from last year, and his postseason numbers weren't much better.
Why Him in 2019?: Solid member of a solid bullpen.
2020 Prediction: Might not last the whole season in LA.

 Julio Urias vexes me. Like, his early troubles made me think the Dodgers had rushed him early, but now that he's had a few seasons, I just assume this is what he does? I dunno, it's odd. This year he started a few more games, and had a 3.26 ERA in 8 starts. As a reliever, he had a 2.08 ERA in 29 appearances, getting his first 4 saves. I guess this means he's better off as a closer?
Why Him in 2019?: The Dodgers finally figured out what to do with him.
2020 Prediction: Will be the strongest reliever on the club next year.

And lest we forget Adam Kolarek, a late-season trade from Tampa who posted a 0.77 ERA in 26 Dodger appearances with 45 strikeouts. In the postseason he was even nastier, despite only pitching an inning over 3 games.
Why Him in 2019?: Kolarek was possibly the Dodgers' best deadline acquisition.
2020 Prediction: A slight decline in production over a full season, but numerous strikeouts anyway.

Coming Tomorrow Morning: Now we get your Giants customs, and I'll do the Indians tomorrow night so we can balance this month back out.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2016: Dodgers

I feel extremely bad for these Dodgers teams of late- every year they get closer and closer to the gold, and every year they never make it to the World Series, despite deserving it several of those times. This year, if it weren't for the Cubs, I would have LOVED to see a Dodgers-Indians World Series. I would have rooted for LA probably, too. It's just sad, because Andre Ethier's seen several incarnations of playoff rosters, and has never nabbed a ring.

Still, even if Ethier took a limited role this year, he's still a beloved veteran member of the team, and will probably be better in a healthier 2017.

Brandon McCarthy, among the numerous arms that the Dodgers went through before settling on a solid rotation for October, actually had some great starts, and gave some glimpses of his former dominance, ultimately losing it and landing back on the DL after a bit.

(This one's actually left-over from the postseason, but still.)
Andrew Toles came into the fold late in the season, as a prospect that started hitting like crazy exactly when the Dodgers needed him. Not sure of where he'll fit in for them in 2017, as Pederson and Ethier will likely be starting, though he could get a big spike in playing time if the Dodgers finally deal Yasiel Puig.

Julio Urias had a rocky debut, but slowly gained confidence and dominance as the season went on. I'm under the belief that Urias could grow to become someone pretty deadly if the Dodgers use him right. He's gonna be 20 next year, and along with Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda and probably Scott Kazmir, will be expected to hold up the end. Hopefully he can.

First of all, this is probably one of my favorite customs of the year, and more proof that pretty much every great sports photographer working right now is probably working at Chase Field. Secondly...Corey Seager had an amazing rookie season, and proved that he's not only here to stay, but possibly one of the most indispensable parts of the Dodgers' lineup, not even from a rookie standpoint. i'm hoping he'll have an even more important 2017 season, and continue his great progress.

Coming Tomorrow- It was an even year, and the Giants didn't win the World Series. But they weren't too bad.