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NLDS Game 4: The Dodgers are The Biggest Postseason Losers of All Time

Roberts Stands

The Dodgers have done it again folks. They’ve snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The 2022 Dodgers that won 111 games, and ranked as one of the best in history are officially eliminated from the postseason after losing to the San Diego Padres in the National League Division series in just four games. The Padres beat those same Dodgers 5-3 on Saturday night in front of a frothing at the mouth sea of Padres fans at Petco Park. Those upstart Padres who won 89 games in the regular season are moving on to the NLCS for the first time since 1998. The incompetent Dodgers are moving onto the golf course.

One man that you can’t blame for this disaster is Tyler Anderson, who gave the Dodgers five scoreless frames of dominant pitching and deserved so much better than this. I just want to take a minute to acknowledge how great he was. Tyler flummoxed the Padres all night long with an impressive repertoire of command and poise. God bless you Tyler for your heart and chutzpah. What a competitor. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the team.

The Dodgers had staked Tyler to a 3-0 lead and it looked like were well on their way to spoiling the San Diego party and forcing a game 5 at Dodger Stadium the following night. But the Padres scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning in as flash of horror and incompetence. Dave Roberts stood in the dugout motionless and let it happen.

It was analytics favorite Tommy Khanle who allowed three runs within a blink of an eye. Instead of bringing in their toughest relievers such as Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, or Blake Treinen, Roberts brought in Yency Almonte, who pitched well in Game 3, but did not have it in Game 4 Saturday night. The rest of the guys sat in the bullpen with their hoodies over their heads.

When all was said and done, it was the Dodger’s idiotic modern analytics strategies that failed them again. They pulled Tyler Anderson after only five innings when he arguably could have pitched another one or two innings. They refused to bring in their top relievers saving them for opportunities that would never come. Worst of all, they watched and sat there as Khanle failed to retire a single batter in the seventh inning during an elimination game.

“I could’ve gone five more innings,” Anderson said. “I would’ve thrown 150 pitches if they would’ve let me. But you never second guess that situation.”

San Diego’s starting pitcher Joe Musgrove gave the Padres six strong innings, but the Dodgers got to him early, scoring two runs in the third on a Freddie Freeman two-run double. They tacked on another run in the top of the seventh on a Will Smith Sac fly. The top heavy lineup once again failed to produce. Freeman notched three hits, and Trea Turner had two. The rest of the lineup did very little.

While the Dodgers struggled to piece together their bullpen, the Padre’s bullpen was almost unhittable. Every one of their relievers were lights out and the club had defined roles for all of them. They knew exactly who to go in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Meanwhile the Dodgers screwed around with hokey matchups.

Looking back on Dave Roberts’ ridiculous guarantee of a World Series championship back in spring training makes me laugh. The truth is that the Dave Roberts/Andrew Friedman Dodgers are one of the most unsuccessful teams in postseason baseball history. They’ve assembled some of the greatest regular season teams of all time, but are unable to win in October. The Dodgers will continue to lose until they leave the organization.

To win 111 games and win only one postseason game and not even reach the NLCS is absolutely pathetic, and should be jeered. This current administration is marred with playoff losing. It’s also been one of the most successful in Dodgers history. That’s what makes this so difficult. The Padres in their first season under new manager Bob Melvin were able to advance to the NLCS with only 89 wins, and a wild card. None of those guys other than Juan Soto have even sniffed a World Series. How were they able to win in October and the Dodgers under this regime can’t?

It’s because Roberts and Friedman are losers. They have cultivated a culture of postseason failure. If they are allowed to stay, it will happen again next year. It will happen every year until they are both run of town. I’ve said this before and it’s true. The Dodgers are the Buffalo Bills of baseball, (no disrespect to the Bills). They can’t win a championship in a non-covid year. The organization needs a fresh start. That means Roberts and Friedman need to go. If that does not happen the Dodgers will continue to lose every year in the playoffs or World Series until the end of time. Thank you to everyone who read or commented at LADR in 2022. I appreciate every one of you.

Scott Andes

Scott Andes: Longtime writer and Dodger fanatic

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Scott Andes
Scott Andes: Longtime writer and Dodger fanatic
https://ladodgerreport.com

30 thoughts on “NLDS Game 4: The Dodgers are The Biggest Postseason Losers of All Time

  1. Final thought. All season long, despite 111 wins (don’t mean squat), I warned that RISP/LOB would be their Achilles Heel. That coupled with inadequate starting pitching, and sloppy defense was their ultimate demise, to a very predictable but disappointing season. Belli-flop’s season long slump continued through the post season, and was a major factor in the fall of the Dodgers. His failures left a huge hole in the offensive lineup, which Trace Thompson could not fill. Unfortunately, JT seemed lost, Will Smith, distracted by untimely birth (but congrats to the new Mom and Dad!), Betts’ inability to spark the offense, CT3’s untimely neck injury, and all the injured arms on the pitching staff.

    Everything hit like a tsunami during the post season. NLDS, 5-34 RISP, 32 LOB, 41 KO’s. The top of the lineup (1-6) inundated with untimely hitting, the lower part (7-9) sputtered, but managed to set the table several times, but the big bats failed miserably. Gonsolin, Treinen, and Heaney were not ready to return to the pitching staff, and the Bullpen finally imploded in Game 4 ( no thanks to the lousy strike zone the Dodgers faced both offensively and defensively (and ONLY the Dodgers).

    Sloppy defensive play, and over-shifting, gave the Padres many extra outs, which SD took advantage of, playing small ball. SD got cheap hits and put the ball in play, causing the Dodgers to trip on their own feet.

    So, I anticipate many roster changes will occur over the off-season. Rule changes eliminating the shift will not only help the offense, but will also prevent DR from over-shifting. I cannot wait for automated strike zone… I have had it with these HP Umpires.

    This season was not so painful, because I expected it.

    “I’m going to Disneyland!” Ya’ll have a great Holiday Season.

    Bluefan4Life…. OUT. Maybe next year. Damn, I sound like a broken record.

  2. Great season.
    Shitty post-season.

    Next year will be great.
    Wouldn’t mind seeing a new manager.

    I respect Scott going back to the #FireFriedman trope!
    Putting the no man is an island idiom to a test.

    1. If you have an executive that loses every year in the postseason, wouldn’t you want to bring someone else in? Him and Roberts have had their chances for 8 years. Why not get some new voices in and let someone else try?

      1. Because he’s widely considered (by people much smarter than you and I) to be the best?
        Because the Dodgers run over the past decade is unprecedented?
        Because he’s overseen a top 10 farm system year upon year despite having no top picks?
        Because he’s assembled the league’s best player development system?

        1. The best at building regular season rosters. The worst at assembling postseason rosters. Losing in the playoffs every year for 8 of 9 years is the worst highest leverage suck in professional sports. It may not bother you, which is fine, but it does many others. It is also embarrassing to the organization in general. Other teams are winning titles with less resources.

          1. It is a fact. They have both been there for our recent failures. Common denominators. I never said they were to blame for the failures. Just that they have both been there. You are a bloviating baffoon.

          2. So has the training staff! So has the bench coach. So has the peanut vendor.

            So, has Turner.

            What kind of moronic line of thought is this?

          3. People I haven’t met, are really hard to qualify as stupid.

            Ideas that are silly, are really easy to.

    1. The only fault I see is Friedman failing to make a move for a couple of respectable starting pitchers who can provide some length, but a pitching staff full of holes. Too many hopeful recoveries from surgeries or injuries. Overly optimistic rehab of his dumpster dive finds. Relief corps had been magnificent, but finally ran out of gas. Kimbrel’s shortcomings added to the demise. DR relies on too much analytics, because Friedman uses analytics to develop his roster.

      DR was given a strong lineup offensively, Face it, DR put out the best lineup he could, but his multi-million dollar lineup could not deliver the goods. Offense was basically a non-existent 2/3 of the lineup:
      Betts, .143
      Belli-flop, .143
      Smith, .188
      Trayce, .154
      JT, .154
      CT3, injured and not 100% ready for October.

      Sloppy play added to the downfall.

      If you or I were making big bucks, but not performing at work, you would be fired. Unfortunately, today’s MLB ballplayers are able to hide behind their ridiculously high, guaranteed contracts.

      95% of the blame goes to the players. DR cannot swing the bat for them, pitch for them, or catch the ball for them. DR can only manage with the players he is given.

      Bottom line, Dodgers’s millionaire lineup failed to perform in the playoffs. I am tired of everyone putting the blame on DR.

      1. It’s luck! It’s randomness.

        It’s the MLB playoffs.

        That said, i do think a new manager couldn’t hurt.

        But I understand the other side of that argument, that managers really add or subtract no value from a team’s performance.

        1. I don’t agree with you that the playoffs and World Series are all just random luck. Aren’t you a hard-core data analytics guy? But you believe in luck? Weird and contradictory. But thats all you.

          1. everyone believes in luck! It’s everywhere.

            Who doesn’t? It’s fundamental to developing card-counting strategies, which is an often used example of analytics.

            The analytical guys (I’m not nearly well-versed enough to qualify) just stress how outsized the import of it.

  3. Very final observation, and I hope the Dodgers are watching the Phillies spank the Padres.

    Just two innings in, Phils already jumped out to a 4-0 lead. How, might you ask? Seeing the ball, hitting it, and putting the ball in play. Snell already 43 pitches after 2 innings. The Dodgers, all season long, and especially in the NLDS, were too selective, trying to anticipate what pitch was coming. Ending up flat footed at the plate, caught looking, and shaking their heads while returning the the dugout. Then, when they did happen to see a pitch, they swung for the fences, striking out, popping up, or just a hitting routine fly ball out.

    Small ball does work, but Dodgers’ hitters refuse to play the game of baseball. Dodger coaches need to change their hitter’s approach at the plate,

    I also wish that they would take them damn notebooks out of the dugout. Players have their heads buried in the notebook instead of getting into the game by observing their opponents weaknesses.

    I’m just sayin’ If it wasn’t the Pads who knocked them out, the Phillies would have killed them.

    1. I find it hard to believe that the toughness and fortitude that helped the Padres score all those runs in the previous round so quickly abandoned them (SO FAR.)

      If I didn’t know better, I’d say it’s tremendously unlucky. But it’s not. It’s that they aren’t tough enough.

      Sarcasm.

      1. … It’s called Small Ball, putting the ball in play…
        … Terrible pitching too.🤣😂

        Padres and Phillies just “put the ball in play”.

        Dodgers, PlEASE take notes….Stop lookin stupid at the plate.

      2. I’m sure they were just lucky right Bluto? Just like those lucky 1927 Yankees. Those lucky big red machines of the 1970’s sure were lucky too. Perhaps there was just enough luck for Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and those lucky yanks of 1998-2000. Not as lucky as the Red Sox of 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018. I think I saw some of the Giants hitters carrying a rabbit’s foot to the plate during their 3 championships. Perhaps the 2019 Washington Nationals had a four leaf clover in their pants during their World Series run?

        Enjoy the postseason losing Bluto! Don’t be such a Friedman shill.

        1. Just lucky? Of course not. To make the playoffs you need to be good.

          To win in the playoffs? No real requirement beyond qualifying. Which is why qualifying is so important.

          Who enjoys playoff losing? Not I. I just enjoy profound, robust and recurring regular season d winning more than you do, evidently.

          1. Scott,

            Changing my argument and then adding stupid statements are no way to encourage debate on this forum.

          2. You said I believe that post-season success is all luck.
            Then you said, I enjoy the losing. Which was probably sarcastic, but implies losing in the post-season isn’t a disappointment.

  4. Hey Scott,

    I know you work, but if you have time there’s a discussion about this very point by people who know waaaaaaaayyyyyyy than us about this specific subject. The Dodgers recent dominance and their lack of WS titles:

    The Athletic’s baseball podcast talks about the Dodgers recent dominance and lack of WS titles:

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-athletic-baseball-show-a-show-about-mlb/id1558220009?i=1000583469488

    The entire podcast is great, Dodger discussion starts around 20:00

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