The Los Angeles Dodgers have made it to the National League Championship Series with thin starting pitching. The question is, will three viable starters be enough to win six more games?
Dodgers Starting Pitching Remains Thin Mid-NLCS
Déjà Vu
The Dodgers and their fans have seen this movie before. The 2023 playoff rotation consisted of Clayton Kershaw (injured shoulder), Bobby Miller (untested rookie), and Lance Lynn, a serviceable veteran, who, when he missed his location, got hit hard. As a result. the Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers in the NL Division Series.
The Dodgers tried to remedy the lack of starting pitching at the beginning of the 2024 season by signing Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and James Paxton. They were hopeful to get reinforcements from Kershaw, Miller, and Walker Buehler off the injured list at some point.
The Best Laid Plans…
Unfortunately, every starting pitcher from Opening Day in the starting rotation has spent time on the injured list. This includes Glasnow (elbow) and Gavin Stone (shoulder) who are out for the year. Paxton was traded to the Boston Red Sox only to get injured himself.
If that weren’t enough, Bobby Miller had shoulder problems, and when he came off the IL, he wasn’t effective. Kershaw couldn’t stay healthy and is out for the year with an injured toe.
This meant the Dodgers bullpen had to throw the most innings of any team in baseball. The heavy lifting by relievers has continued in the postseason, as the starting rotation is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who only starts once a week, Jack Flaherty, acquired via trade from the Detroit Tigers, and Walker Buehler, who is coming off his second Tommy John surgery. The four and possibly fifth starters are to be determined.
Walker Buehler’s 18 swings-and-misses were the most through the first 4 innings of a #Postseason game by any pitcher since Kyle Lohse in 2003.
(H/T @EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/nMJIAIRR6T
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 17, 2024
Coming Up Clutch
This unorthodox and necessary strategy has worked thus far. With their backs against the wall, and facing two elimination games, Dodgers pitching went on a run, starting with a bullpen game in Game Three of the Division Series against the San Diego Padres and continuing with the New York Mets in the NLCS, Dodgers pitching threw 33 consecutive scoreless innings. This included three straight shutouts, tying them with the 1905 New York Giants and the 1966 Baltimore Orioles. Ironically, the Orioles accomplished this feat against the Dodgers in the World Series.
Live by the Sword, Die By the Sword
The scoreless streak had to end at some point. It ended at the beginning of another bullpen game: Game Two of the NLCS. The Mets jumped to a quick 6-0 lead with the help of home runs by Francisco Lindor and Mark Vientos. Bullpen games, to be successful, need all the relievers to be effective. If one guy gives up runs in a bunch, the whole game can be over in a hurry.
Run Support
The Dodgers may have been in a hole early, but the offense had multiple opportunities to rally. They even had the tying run at the plate at one point. However, they were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base. The bats went cold. The first five slots in the lineup went 0-for-19. To be Captain Obvious, to win games in the postseason, you must score runs. If Los Angeles wants to keep in October, they must not rely on starting pitching alone, because they can’t. They don’t have enough arms.
Dodgers and their fans are just hoping they have enough pitching to keep them afloat long enough to win 11 games. Wednesday’s Game Three win was encouraging both ways. The staff, behind Buehler’s start, pitched another shutout, and the Dodgers put eight runs on the board to take a 2-1 series lead.
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