[snackdaddy]

Man, this was a great day. First, I went golfing with my grandson this morning. Kid's 15 and his handicap is 15. Up to 250 yards on his drives. He's going to be good when his body fills out. Lets not discuss my game. Lets just say I had fun.

Then I come home, eat a burrito for lunch and watch the Rams win an important game. Tough game but they showed some moxy.

Finally, the Dodgers win to take a 2-0 lead over the Cubs. A walkoff 3 run homer for Turner. Nice outing by Rich Hill on the mound. That bodes well with Darvish on the mound next.

All in all it was a great day today.

[moklerman]

Here's to Kershaw putting up this guy's numbers..

koufax.jpg

As great as Kershaw is, he's pretty pedestrian in the post season. The biggest reason why IMO is he puts too much pressure on himself. Which, in the past, was warranted considering the team's lack of offensive production and shaky/terrible bullpen.

But he doesn't have to go 8+ innings for the Dodgers to have a chance anymore. What he does need to do is relax a little and pitch as well as he can pitch. We'll need his "A" game to go all the way so this continued pattern of tightening up has to stop.

Can't double your ERA in the post season from the regular season and be an all-time great.

I didn't really know about Roberts as a manager but his willingness to get a starter out of the game before the wheels fall off has been a stark contrast to Mattingly. Granted, much different bullpens to work with but the manager has to take some credit/blame for the bullpen he's got.

[moklerman]

Finally, the Dodgers win to take a 2-0 lead over the Cubs. A walkoff 3 run homer for Turner.

I'm sure everyone knows by now but I didn't at the time. It was 29 years to the day that Gibson hit his home run when Turner hit his.

[snackdaddy]

I'm sure everyone knows by now but I didn't at the time. It was 29 years to the day that Gibson hit his home run when Turner hit his.

I did not know that. Makes them a look more like the team of destiny.

[moklerman]

Gotta continue to give Roberts credit for his willingness to pull pitchers. Wasn't real happy about bringing in Stripling, especially instead of Maeda who was warm, but after 2 hits he yanked him and brought in the hammer, Jansen. 5 run lead and he's still willing to slam the door with Jansen instead of fooling around.

And can anyone tell me why Ethier isn't starting in LF regularly at this point? Granderson and Hernandez are bench players at best and Ethier's been producing every (rare) opportunity he's had recently.

[snackdaddy]

Sure is nice to have a guy like Jansen looming in the bullpen. Opposing teams know what they're up against if the Dodgers take a lead going into the 9th. Most dominant closer I've seen in a while.

Dodgers are playing like they did during that two month stretch from mid June to mid August. Good pitching and good hitting. They have the Cubs on the ropes. I don't wanna take any chances. I know they're in the driver seat no matter what happens tonight. If they can close it out tonight I'll take it. Can't take anything for granted. Cubs are still defending champs until someone knocks them off.

[PARAM]

Gotta continue to give Roberts credit for his willingness to pull pitchers. Wasn't real happy about bringing in Stripling, especially instead of Maeda who was warm, but after 2 hits he yanked him and brought in the hammer, Jansen. 5 run lead and he's still willing to slam the door with Jansen instead of fooling around.

That's become the norm the last couple of seasons. It's slowly morphed. Good starting pitching getting you into the 7th, then bringing in the set-up man and then the closer. The idea was "get me into the 7th" or "give me 6 strong". The Royals changed that formula to 3 or 4 guys in the bullpen before the closer. Francona and Maddon changed that to "I'll bring in my closer in the 7th if I have to".

It's nice to have horses like Bumgartner, Kershaw, etc. but those guys have produced the philosophy, sinces horses are hard to come by in this day and age when up and coming pitchers are taught to pitch 6 strong and then take a seat, it behooves a manager to have 4 or 5 guys in the bullpen capable of tossing donuts over the last 4 innings. And when you do have those guys, it's easy to yank a guy after two batters or 6 pitches.

I don't know the Dodgers roster so I could be speaking out of turn there but if I've heard it once this year, I've heard it 100 times......"this game has changed. It used to be one or two guys in the bullpen threw in the high 90's to 100. Now practically everybody that comes out of the pen is capable of mid to high 90's and more than a handful that get to 100+." The Yankees have 3 guys (when they're right) who can hit 100 (Chapman, Betances, Kahnle) and another who cruises in the high 90's (Green). They also have Robertson who can spin it with the best of them. Throw in Warren and they have a bullpen that can give you 6 IP in a crucial game. Or two consecutive games where they can get 4 IP out of the pen.

Times have changed. And managers shouldn't hesitate to yank a guy quickly. The result of that is sometimes, they yank the starter a bit early and it creates a problem if one (or two) of those 4 or 5 out of the bullpen aren't "on" that night.

[Elvis]

Roberts is a genius. He takes out Kershaw and Hill after 5 but lets Yu bat with the basses loaded in the 6th and he draws a walk?

The guy is on a different level, or on a roll, or something...

[moklerman]

Roberts is a genius. He takes out Kershaw and Hill after 5 but lets Yu bat with the basses loaded in the 6th and he draws a walk?

The guy is on a different level, or on a roll, or something...

Didn't he win MOY last year? Back to back this year?

[moklerman]

That's become the norm the last couple of seasons. It's slowly morphed. Good starting pitching getting you into the 7th, then bringing in the set-up man and then the closer. The idea was "get me into the 7th" or "give me 6 strong". The Royals changed that formula to 3 or 4 guys in the bullpen before the closer. Francona and Maddon changed that to "I'll bring in my closer in the 7th if I have to".

It's nice to have horses like Bumgartner, Kershaw, etc. but those guys have produced the philosophy, sinces horses are hard to come by in this day and age when up and coming pitchers are taught to pitch 6 strong and then take a seat, it behooves a manager to have 4 or 5 guys in the bullpen capable of tossing donuts over the last 4 innings. And when you do have those guys, it's easy to yank a guy after two batters or 6 pitches.

I don't know the Dodgers roster so I could be speaking out of turn there but if I've heard it once this year, I've heard it 100 times......"this game has changed. It used to be one or two guys in the bullpen threw in the high 90's to 100. Now practically everybody that comes out of the pen is capable of mid to high 90's and more than a handful that get to 100+." The Yankees have 3 guys (when they're right) who can hit 100 (Chapman, Betances, Kahnle) and another who cruises in the high 90's (Green). They also have Robertson who can spin it with the best of them. Throw in Warren and they have a bullpen that can give you 6 IP in a crucial game. Or two consecutive games where they can get 4 IP out of the pen.

Times have changed. And managers shouldn't hesitate to yank a guy quickly. The result of that is sometimes, they yank the starter a bit early and it creates a problem if one (or two) of those 4 or 5 out of the bullpen aren't "on" that night.

I agree that times have changed and I might be giving Roberts the wrong credit. I mean, it's all well and good to be willing to pull your starter after five if you've got the bullpen to do it. But, Mattingly for example, didn't have that luxury. If he'd pulled Kershaw in the 5th or 6th he'd essentially be giving the game away.

So, how much responsibility does the manager get for a good/bad bullpen? Personally, I think Mattingly was hamstrung by his GM but I don't really know. Whatever Roberts is doing, is working out and working out well so I think he deserves all the credit he's getting.