Series Thread: NLDS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets

[OutlawImmortal]

the Dodgers are terrible on the road with glaring holes in the rotation, so they better win the first two at home otherwise the series won't be coming back to L.A.

Mets work counts and know how to put pressure on pitchers, and have a far superior pen, so Dodgers will need to have 2-3 run leads in order to feel somewhat comfortable. that's a tall order since Dodgers have been horrid on offense since the all star break. they don't even *attempt* to do any of the little things on offense to manufacture runs - work counts, bunt for hits, sacrifice runners, or steal. as a result, opposing pitchers generally feel pretty comfortable against their line up. they swing for the fences, that's about it.

Mets the much better road team, but will most likely need to beat Kershaw once in L.A. to win the series. that's not asking too much though since Kershaw owns one of the worst postseason ERA's as a starter in MLB history. he's been nothing short of a disaster and a borderline headcase when it matters the most.

Collins gets a bad rap at times, but is still far better than Mattingly. i'm rooting for the Dodgers in this one, but i won't be the least bit surprised if they stink up the joint. at least if that happens, the club can finally fire Mattingly and his pathetic staff, including that worthless fraud McGwire.

I don't mean to get defensive but 4 less road wins than the Mets = horrible on the road?

Kershaw in Game 6 last year threw 4 innings of no-hit ball, what a horrible pitcher. Dodgers need to get rid of him!

 

[CatsTopPac]

They can go 4 out of 5, actually.



Phenomenal.

I guess if the Anderson looks like absolute shit against Harvey, then they might do that (especially if we are down 1-2). I think my point still stands that we would be relying almost exclusively on those two.

And I wasn't trying to throw a John Madden analysis out there. It wasn't to be taken literally. I don't think that we can go out there and only score a run or two and expect the staff to throw shutouts, especially if the bullpen is out there for more than an inning. Our offense is in the bottom 1/3 in scoring, and that is after a sharp fall since mid June. And hell, I guess our 3.91ERA bullpen could go out there and shut it down this series, but I'm not counting on it.

I don't think our biggest problem is offense, but I wouldn't exactly say it's an asset this year. I think the bullpen is worse. I think we can see both problems in a lack of wins this year for Kershaw and Greinke. They started 65 games and won a total of 35, with a combined 1.90 ERA. That's an average of 7 IP per start. That means either our offense didn't score enough to get them the win, or the bullpen gave it up. And those problems are probably not as big as the fact that we are so concerned with our rotation that we are talking about them pitching 3-4 times in a 5-game series.

 

[CatsTopPac]

the Dodgers are terrible on the road with glaring holes in the rotation, so they better win the first two at home otherwise the series won't be coming back to L.A.

Mets work counts and know how to put pressure on pitchers, and have a far superior pen, so Dodgers will need to have 2-3 run leads in order to feel somewhat comfortable. that's a tall order since Dodgers have been horrid on offense since the all star break. they don't even *attempt* to do any of the little things on offense to manufacture runs - work counts, bunt for hits, sacrifice runners, or steal. as a result, opposing pitchers generally feel pretty comfortable against their line up. they swing for the fences, that's about it.

Mets the much better road team, but will most likely need to beat Kershaw once in L.A. to win the series. that's not asking too much though since Kershaw owns one of the worst postseason ERA's as a starter in MLB history. he's been nothing short of a disaster and a borderline headcase when it matters the most.

Collins gets a bad rap at times, but is still far better than Mattingly. i'm rooting for the Dodgers in this one, but i won't be the least bit surprised if they stink up the joint. at least if that happens, the club can finally fire Mattingly and his pathetic staff, including that worthless fraud McGwire.

This is a bit overstated. I get what his ERA is. But he is 4 bad innings away from having a lifetime 2.11 postseason ERA. And just saying "when it matters most" is also dramatic. First of all, a 2.11 ERA in 45IP means that he was fucking solid other than those 4 innings. You can't just ignore that. Second of all, in his worst start (GM 6, 2013 NLCS: 4IP 7ER), we were shut out and 2 -hit, so it didn't matter what he did. And his last start his only mistake was giving up a HR with two on, but our offense could only get two, so we lost.

He was 25-26 years old the last couple years and fully responsible for carrying LA. Usually you don't expect a guy that old to almost single handedly win or lose like that. You have to have others around you. He put some of that on himself, for sure, but most of that was everyone just assuming he had to. He didn't shoulder it, and that's why we lost. We had very little else for support. That doesn't make him a head case.

Oh, and Maddux had 28 ER in his first 51 postseason IP, and Kershaw is at 29. And Kershaw was two years younger.

 

[CatsTopPac]

the Dodgers are terrible on the road with glaring holes in the rotation, so they better win the first two at home otherwise the series won't be coming back to L.A.

Mets work counts and know how to put pressure on pitchers, and have a far superior pen, so Dodgers will need to have 2-3 run leads in order to feel somewhat comfortable. that's a tall order since Dodgers have been horrid on offense since the all star break. they don't even *attempt* to do any of the little things on offense to manufacture runs - work counts, bunt for hits, sacrifice runners, or steal. as a result, opposing pitchers generally feel pretty comfortable against their line up. they swing for the fences, that's about it.

Mets the much better road team, but will most likely need to beat Kershaw once in L.A. to win the series. that's not asking too much though since Kershaw owns one of the worst postseason ERA's as a starter in MLB history. he's been nothing short of a disaster and a borderline headcase when it matters the most.

Collins gets a bad rap at times, but is still far better than Mattingly. i'm rooting for the Dodgers in this one, but i won't be the least bit surprised if they stink up the joint. at least if that happens, the club can finally fire Mattingly and his pathetic staff, including that worthless fraud McGwire.

Sorry, just read this part. I don't think Collins is at all better than Mattingly. I get that his payroll is much less, but you have to have +.500 seasons other than doing it in the worst div in baseball like they did this year. I hate McGuire, and I'm not even sold on Honeycutt because he can't do anything with the bullpen or pitchers not named ZG or CK ( and hell, I'll include Jansen), but I don't see another coach who can win 90+ games per year with three consecutive div titles walking through the door. I think if he replaces McGuire at least, and maybe Honeycutt if maybe Searage or Strom can happen. Honeycutt does a good job, but Dodger pitching outside of CK and ZG have been pretty bad for the last few years. If we can replace those two, I think we would be in great shape.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I think CatsTopPac has it called best. I think that the team that manages to score more runs than the other team in 3 of the 5 possible games will move on to the next round.

That's really the important key to winning the series.

I just don't get these new-fangled metrics AT ALL...I'll have to take his word for it.

 

[HammerDown]

Interesting.

 

[HammerDown]

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Start...the...movie! Start...the...movie!

 

[DJ]

Open letter to Clayton Kershaw.....

You're an amazing regular season pitcher, this is no national secret. But, we Dodger fans need you to set the tone of this series. You can put this team on your back and help set us up by going up, 1-0. C'mon!!!!! They're the freakin' Mets!!!! Just throw strikes and sit these bitches down.

Thank you, consider this an early Christmas present to your loyal fans. I'm 2-0 today in picking the postseason games (3-0 if the Cards win) and this would mean a lot to me and my vcash.

PS: I think your girlfriend would be really happy and give you a special surprise tonight.....

 

[bksballer89]

Open letter to Clayton Kershaw.....

You're an amazing regular season pitcher, this is no national secret. But, we Dodger fans need you to set the tone of this series. You can put this team on your back and help set us up by going up, 1-0. C'mon!!!!! They're the freakin' Mets!!!! Just throw strikes and sit these bitches down.

Thank you, consider this an early Christmas present to your loyal fans. I'm 2-0 today in picking the postseason games (3-0 if the Cards win) and this would mean a lot to me and my vcash.

PS: I think your girlfriend would be really happy and give you a special surprise tonight.....

Setting the tone is not his issue. It is pitching on the road in a must win scenario for his team. He will do fine tonight

 

[DJ]

@yoga≈surfing is praying to the Mets God that they do well tonight.....

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Setting the tone is not his issue. It is pitching on the road in a must win scenario for his team. He will do fine tonight

He didn't set the tone last year

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Enough talk! Play the dam game

 

[bksballer89]

Enough talk! Play the dam game

But I like to talk

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

Ready baby lets go boys on blue.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Man, I am rooting for Kershaw hard tonight to get that monkey off his back.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

But I like to talk

Not you bro..the tv announy doods. Do they REALLY need to introduce the assistant clubhouse manager?

 

[Bolts]

Go Mets Go

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Go Mets Go

Well, hello there handsome...when did you get so handsome?

 

[Bolts]

Well, hello there handsome...when did you get so handsome?