MLB has announced the start times for the first two games of the NLDS. The Dodgers are at home awaiting the winner of the NL Wild card game. They’ll play either Colorado or Arizona in the NLDS. The start times for the first two games were announced and the Dodgers will have the late start times for both games at Dodger Stadium. Everyone was worried that the Dodgers would be forced to play the early games and we would have to figure out a way to skip work or school on Friday afternoon.
Fear not Dodger fans, the games will be in the evening. I say skip school or work anyways, because you should if you can. Game 1 will start at 7:30 PM PST and game 2 will start at 6:00 PM PST. The start times for the rest of the series have yet to be announced. All of the games will be televised on TBS.
Game 1 – Friday October 6 7:30 PM PST
Game 2 – Saturday October 7 6:00 PM PST
Game 3 – Monday October 9 TBA
Game 4 – Tuesday October 10 TBA
Game 5 – Thursday October 12 TBA
The Dodgers will give the ball to Clayton Kershaw for game 1. Rich Hill will take the mound in game 2, and the game 3 starter has yet to be announced. However it will probably be Yu Darvish. Manager Dave Roberts has also said that Kershaw will not start on short rest in this series, which means that he would be available to pitch a potential game 5.
Well lets get started already!
The weather is supposed to be hot. Later start means Keyshawn won’t have to work in the sun like he did against the Cardinals.
As much as I hate the Yankees, I want a Dodgers / Yankees WS.
Besides it being a classic matchup, the Yankees are the most beatable. We don’t want to see the Native Americans in the WS.
True
I bet your hating the Yankees even more, right now!
Assuming Wood pitches Game 4, it could make a lot of sense for Kershaw to pitch game 2 instead of Game 1, so he can pitch Game 5 on regular rest instead of extra day’s rest. The Indians are doing this with Kluber.
YF
I think you make a very valid point about Kershaw, and I was thinking the same thing.
Because we all know he has never seemed to pitch better with that extra day of rest, and he probably has pitched better, in those games he has had to come back early, as long as the manager, didn’t let him pitch further into the seventh, after he allowed a hitter to get on base!
And if the Rockies win this game tonight, Kershaw better get himself together, if the Rockies try to show him up again, by interrupting his routine.
Hard to say, getting that first game win with Kershaw is important, however Hill has been very dominate lately so I don’t really think it matters. Kershaw on an extra days rest won’t be a bad thing. Who knows why the Native Americans are doing what they are doing, there is some behind the scene things going on that we will never know. Shoot Kluber may have told them he needs an extra day off before his next start.
I hope this 4 day break gives our boys some time to work with the batting coaches, collectively the team is looking anemic when it comes to getting clutch hits with RISP. I’m not worried at all about our starting pitching, this series is going to be won or lost based exclusively on run production.
True
Kershaw has never pitched well with an extra day of rest!
I believe that last game Kershaw pitched against the Cubs last year, was a game that Kershaw had an extra day of rest.
He’s a year older too and he has also had another injury to work thru this year. Bodies don’t stay constant or static, things change, what was good or bad a year ago can be radically different a year later. Kershaw will be fine on one extra days rest, probably better in fact, you’ll see. Be more concerned with the bullpen than Kershaw. Be more concerned with the clutch hitting than with Kershaw. Be more concerned that they don’t burn any grilled Dodger Dogs than with Kershaw.
Kershaw is pitching game one. There is no debate, it is settled. Hill in #2 and Darvish 3. After that who knows. Besides, they might sweep. The team is having simulated games this week so Roberts can see if Locastro can make a contribution to the team during the playoffs. Personally, and this is my opinion only. I do not throw a kid who has 3 days in the majors into the playoffs. He has 1 major league at bat, and I don’t care if he is faster than the flash, he should not be on the roster over a player who has put in the time. I remember when Charlie Finley brought in an Olympic class sprinter to be a pinch runner…Herb Washington. The A’s resented the hell out of that guy. Of course since this kid has a baseball back ground the Dodgers will not dislike the kid, but how about the guy who’s roster spot for the playoffs is taken by him if it happens? Wanna bet he is going to be none to happy about it. And as for Kersh, well it is a new year and another chance to shine. You can bet the house the guy is amped and ready to go.
Michael
Sorry until Kershaw puts this team on his back, and pitches them to a World Series, anything about Kershaw in the post season, is debatable!
MJ, Like I said. There is NO DEBATE. Kershaw is the game 1 starter, or can’t you people read? It is already on the schedule, and history be damned. Every year is different. Koufax lost his first world series start, and only finished with a 4-3 world series record. But the teams that he was on went 4-2 in World Series play. Just because Kershaw has not done that yet does not mean he won’t. Ted Williams played in 1 world series in his career and was terrible. Kersh pitching game 1 is what the post was about, so of that there is no question.
Michael
First, we all know Kershaw is starting, in game one!
What we were debating, is that best for Kershaw, or the team!
Pitchers wins, don’t mean much, because a pitchers win, is far to dependent, on how much run support, a pitcher gets!
Take a look at both pitcher’s era, in the post season.
We all want Kershaw to do well, because he is the key, to finally getting this team, to a World Series!
We all know anything is possible, but this isn’t the first time we have been here!
And I know every team in this post season can win, that is the problem, in these short series!
Considering the fact that it will be on NORMAL rest, it is the best thing for the team. He is the best pitcher on the team, and he has earned the right to start that first game. You trust Hill to start game 1 with all the homers he allows? Sorry, there is no debate. The only time I can remember the ace not starting is if he had to pitch the last game to get them into the playoffs. But that has not happened in a while. Koufax did not start game 1 of the 65 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, so Big D started. Kersh’s post season ERA is bloated because of 2 bad games. His WHIP on the other hand over his playoff career is 1.16 and has not been above that in any season since 2009. Winning is the name of the game, so I care not what the saber dweebs think, a pitchers wins means something too. Koufax lost a 1-0 Series game his first decision. Koufax’s last win in the WS was a 2-0 job. Saber metrics makes no distinction, 1 was a win, and 1 was a loss. And you do not need to put an exclamation point behind every sentence. This is not rocket science and you act like this is my first experience watching the Dodgers in playoff baseball. It all boils down to one thing and one thing only. Who plays the best baseball that day. It makes no difference if your pitcher is Cy Young or Mortimer Snerd, it all comes down to who gets the job done that particular day. Play the game, win or lose. Just because the Dodgers have lost over the last 29 years in all their playoffs, has no impact on what they do the next few games. Only in fans minds does that matter. The best team that day will win. That’s what happened last night, that’s what will happen tonight and the same thing each day until the Champion is crowned. Management looks at all the stats, they look at all the variations, the scouts come in and give their reports, and then the games begin. Once that happens it is on the players to either play up to their skills or not. Management has to believe in the skills of the players on that particular playoff roster. Me, I trust Kershaw to be Kershaw until I see different, and if starting Hill game one of the playoffs was best for the team, Roberts and the FO would have done that, so why debate the undebateable? Rest assured of one thing, NO pitcher will be allowed to go very deep if they are in trouble from the get-go, the stakes are too high. The Dodgers lose a first round series to who ever, and the FO is going to get more heat than ever before.
When is the NLDS roster due?
Friday sometime before game time. I would say early afternoon. And there is a report out that there are only 1 or 2 spots undecided. A couple decisions were made because of injury’s. Avilan and Gonzo out. Ryu is probably out because Roberts said he is not good out of the pen and he will not be one of the starters. Cingrani and Watson are locks as are Jansen, Morrow, Fields and Baez.
One of my favorite quotes is attributable to the Duke: “Life is hard, but it’s even harder when you’re stupid.”
I don’t know if it’s from a movie or a personal quote….just a great line!
That was a quote from an interview he gave. Never said it in a film. But it is one of the best I ever heard from him.
Did you have to put “Baez” as the last word of your post? You just made me cringe. That’s a very bad way to go out on a post. Please refrain from that practice in all future posts. Thank you.
I shall attempt to refrain from using the name, but the fact is, the guy is going to be on the roster.
If the Rockies win tonight, Kershaw better make sure he is not going to let anything the Rockies do to him, get him off his game!
Because the last two times he has faced the Rockies, the Rockies have messed with his routine, and Kershaw sure didn’t appreciate, that!
But since what the Rockies did, seemed to work, I don’t see the Rockies, changing a thing!
Also I am wondering if Goldy is dealing with the same thing, that Corey has been dealing with.
Because Goldy didn’t hit at all, in September, and his numbers were more like Granderson’s numbers, in August.
Because remember they had Goldy sit out that one game, in that last series, that we played the Dbacks in, so maybe Goldy’s elbow is a lot worse, then the Dbacks have let on!
Kershaw has a career record against the Rockies of 16-5. Over the 3 year period of 14 to 16 he was 8-0 against the Rockies. He is 3-2 this year. But he is 2-0 against the D-Backs. Kershaw is 4-7 in the post season, but 5 of those loses occurred up until 2014. He is 3-2 over the last 2 years. And he has not had a solid # 2 behind him, or at least someone they trust, so he has been forced to pitch on short rest. When they lost to the Mets in 15, they had Greinke for game 5 and still lost. Based on his stats he would seem to be better suited to beat Az in game 1 than the Rockies, but history says that the Rocks have a very hard time beating Kershaw anywhere. That last game that the Rockies played against Kersh was in Colorado, and barring a miracle, CK does not have to pitch there again. In a 5 game series they would have to beat Kersh in LA twice. I do not think anything the Rockies do will have any effect on Kershaw. He will be focused and ready. And most likely will pitch like the ace he is. He is too professional to be rattled by anything the opposition does.
Michael
Kershaw was upset with the Rockies, because they purposely, walked in at the last minute, and made him start late, at Dodger stadium.
And in that last start Kershaw had at Coors, the Rockies said the game was delayed, because of the weather, but there must have been more to it, because Kershaw was upset after that game, because of that delay!
We were told the Rockies were celebrating, because the Brewers just lost!
But apparently Kershaw let that get to him, or why was it even brought up?
And the Rockies did hit him hard, in those two last games!
Let’s just hope Kershaw, and the team is at there best, in this post season!
They’ve had one of the best number 2 behind Kershaw. The problem was number 3 and 4.
Nailed it, not to mention the problems with the depth of the bullpen.
Looks like nothing wrong with Goldschmidt. It’s going to tough beating either of the two wild cards.
One thing that could come in handy, although just a hypothesis at this point, is that Ward should know most of the DBacks hitters swing paths and tendencies very well.
Watching replay of the Rams/Cowboys game, WOW those Rams’ unis are just awful. The league has to let them make a change, you are trying to build a fan base and that’s kind of shyte doesn’t help with marketing/merchandising at all. How the hell does that uni get any approval on any level in the organization?
Dodgers are going to have a tough time against snakes
Looks like the DBacks will win a very wild game.
But they used up Greinke and Robbie Ray, so they will have those two ready for Games 3-4 at Chase Field.
Lot of fight in those snakes. Two two out, two run scoring triples. And Goldschmidt kills the Dodgers. Should be fun!
tranquilizers will be helpful for the fans………………..
Kershaw should drill Goldsmyte with the first pitch, just to set the tone for the series. It worked wonders for the Cardinals a few years ago against the Dodgers, Dodgers never recovered and started packing up their lockers before the game ended.