MLB '09

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Motorboat Cruiser

With each passing day, I'm becoming less convinced that we are going to clinch the division, let alone win the first round of playoffs. The team is in meltdown mode and we can't drive in a run to save our lives. Manny, Ethier and Kemp aren't hitting, the bullpen isn't getting it done, and we have Blake and Belliard benched with injuries. They better figure this out quickly or we'll get swept in the first round.

I disagree (well, the clinching the division part is obviously easy to disagree with).

The offense got wobbly for a bit. That happens. I disagree that the bullpen isn't "getting it done". They weren't given the opportunity down the stretch. With the woeful offense (which I do believe will make a comeback in the playoffs), they weren't exactly given many leads to work with. They blew a couple, sure, but even when a team is doing well that's going to happen once in a while, it just stands out when things are otherwise going bad. I think all that happened that last week+ was a lack of focus due to being a lock for the division (yes, even as poorly as they were doing, a magic # of 1 with that many games left is a lock).

Meanwhile, though the common wisdom is that starting pitching is the biggest ? for the Dodgers going into October, I think their starting rotation is stronger than it's been all season, and one of the strongest in the post season. Team ERA over the last month...3.08, 2nd best in the NL and more than 30 points lower than their league-leading season average. 2.57 in the last 4 games of the season. They don't have any real flash in their starters in the way of Cy Young candidates, but Wolf is a horse, Kershaw can be unhittable, and they've got two winners in the late-season pickups.

As long as Mattingly can remind them how to hit the ball where the defense isn't, I see good things.