the post-Vin, we will KershYu 2017 DODGERS juggernaut

every game that they do not win is a failure

51-14 at home

btw Joc Pederson sent to AAA

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OVspyFSjawZt7HMyTo2cn8LcfQU=/410x0/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56315611/dodgers-best-team-ever-sports-illustrated-cover-jonsoohoo.0.0.jpeg

STOP THAT SHIT!

Rich Hill 6 outs away from perfect game and Maddux.

that Utley dive catch holy shitballs.

Not past a diving Utley.

xpost

the la dodgers: a complete lock to win the NLDS?!!?

here comes the blister

yeah have we discussed those here?

nice makeup call

If the Pirates can work the count, maybe they can knock Hill out by the 15th.

(Woops.)

what do you do with a drunken sailor

Perfect games are like my relationships, happen once in a blue moon, always gives a lot of hope at first, makes everyone nervous, end up in disapointment.

because jose tabata leaned into one?

Such a cruel way for Rich Hill to lose a perfect game! First time in @MLB history a PG bid has ever ended in 9th inning on an error.

— SABR (@sabr) August 24, 2017

j-hay!

exactly like my relationships, then.

brutal

xp idk i'd be happy with a solid 9+

haha yeah true.

Rich Hill needs to learn how to win.

it's really dave roberts' fault for getting a reliever up

of course my Dodgers friends text me about this game but i'm blacked out. so i turning on my MLB app and watched the live feed. again, they in turn also black out the app. just happened to turn on MLB Network and the ball in going over the fence.

why i love this game and would have been watching if it was on. there is no better game though i do love the NFL.

j0rdan fed me info about this while we were at the Mets game, and I told him about Harvey Haddix.

Harvey's Revenge!

i just saw the utley snag, that was impressive

grandy into the allegheny

Ben Carsley, BP:

"Why not just leave Clayton Kershaw in Carbonite until the playoffs?"

They've lost 3 in a row now
Dodgers suck

wins record likely out of reach (wd have to go 26-6)

welp looks like the dodgers are bad now

dbacks>>>

^^apparently

No, you guys don't understand, they've "had their bad stretch" now. Got Arizona right where they want 'em.

1-10 in their last 11; the last four World Series winners went on 2-9 streaks.

they're bad now. if they won every game the rest of the way they'd win 115.

kershaw had a hilarious 12 pitch at bat

as a batter

so if Arizona sweeps the Padres this weekend (certainly imaginable) and Colorado sweeps in Chavez (ya never know), would whispers about the Dodgers blowing this be allowed? The lead would be 7.

Slew: Tell us about the Dodgers. Given their run differential fall from grace, have they been usurped as the best team in baseball?

Jeff Sullivan: I never really believed that the Dodgers were *that* much better than the rest of the competition. Just doesn’t make sense in this day and age. They weren’t that good and they aren’t this bad. I think they’re a top-three team, and I doubt there’s much true separation.
Between the Indians, Dodgers, and Astros, I couldn’t pick a favorite.

Top 3 seems a bit of a stretch now, they're looking like complete trash.

now might be the time to lay $100 on the dodgers winning the WS tbh (as in, best odds you're gonna get)

my new pastime is talking about what i would bet $100 on and then not doing it, it is awesome

note that i haven't watched a single dodgers game in the last 2 weeks (like a pro betster)

Soon as they got that late August SI cover w/"Best Team Ever?" plastered on the front I knew their run was over.

this isn't mayweather/mcgregor, even when the dodgers looked like gods they weren't guaranteed a WS win

Top 3 seems a bit of a stretch now, they're looking like complete trash.

but that doesn't make it a stretch, you see.

Top 1st
COL 1-0 Nolan Arenado singled to center, Charlie Blackmon scored, DJ LeMahieu to second

Top 3rd
COL 2-0 Nolan Arenado homered (377 ft.) to deep left

Top 8th
COL 6-0 Mark Reynolds homered (403 ft.) to deep left center, DJ LeMahieu, Nolan Arenado and Carlos González scored

Cameron sees some "real problems"

This is one of the strangest seasons in baseball history. We don’t really have data points that can tell us what a struggle like this might mean for the team going forward. The fact that they were nearly unbeatable until they were nearly incapable of winning should tell us something about how fickle trends can be, but even if we don’t know what losing 15 of 16 means on a grander scale, this skid has created some very legitimate concerns as the Dodgers head towards October.

Obviously, the offense has been a big problem, and the team can’t feel good about their recent production. A lot of the team’s early success was built on most everyone in the lineup dramatically outperforming their projections, and no longer can the team just assume that they’re going to get production from every spot in the order. But right now, the more worrying performances are probably coming on the mound.

For instance, I don’t know that Dave Roberts can really trust Alex Wood in the postseason, barring some significant late-season turnaround. Saturday night’s clunker was just the latest in his own six-week funk. Over his last eight starts, dating back to July 21st, Wood has struck out just 17% of the hitters he’s faced, and he’s running a 123 ERA-/131 FIP-/102 xFIP-. He’s allowed a .346 xwOBA during that stretch, putting him in the same tier as James Shields and Ubaldo Jimenez.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-dodgers-look-beyond-terrible-right-now/

that rotation is not really intimidating. not sure what's up with Darvish but for all the ace #2 talk about him, he's always been more of a Kerry Wood type for me, and his single "ace" season was in 2013. i don't see him getting much better. Alex Wood is coming back to earth, and i love Rich Hill's comeback but he's still a giant question mark for me, at least health-wise (and also turning into a pumpkin wise)

and there are a lot of holes in that lineup right now, not sure they can reliably count on Taylor, Forsythe, Bellinger, Puig, Pederson, etc...

I'd take the Nationals in the NL now, no doubt.

Don't apostasize, caek!

See above; what you've just seen very possibly meant nothing.

3 wins in a row, now 6 up on Washington

One of those things lodged in my brain, so I knew both names before finishing the sentence: Bellinger tied Frank Robinson and Wally Berger for the NL rookie HR record today.

judge still within striking distance of the ML record (iirc mcgwire had 49)

Jerry Crasnick
ESPN

As if losing 20 times in a 25-game span weren't bad enough, the Dodgers are now suffering some dings to their lineup mainstays. Corey Seager, who is already dealing with a sore right elbow, has fouled balls off his calf and ankle this week and sat out today's series finale in Philadelphia. And Justin Turner had to leave today's game after being struck in the hand by a Mark Leiter Jr. pitch in the first inning. This is not the way manager Dave Roberts envisioned gearing up for the playoffs.

Gotta admire Curtis Granderson. If he's not quite Hall of Very Good, he's in the Hall of Pretty Damn Good Almost Every Year.

Rich Hill, the legend

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2017/10/6/16435180/rich-hill-fastball-curveball-change-los-angeles-dodgers

Jonah Keri:

Much of the Dodgers' sky-high payroll, though, comes from players making minimal contributions in the playoffs -- or less. Andre Ethier saw just 34 at-bats all season, and made $17.5 million. Injuries turned Adrian Gonzalez into a non-factor this year, he wasn't healthy enough to make the playoff roster, and he made $22.4 million. Scott Kazmir didn't throw a pitch all season, and he made $17.7 million. Injuries limited Brandon McCarthy to 92 ⅔ innings pitched (and kept him off the playoff roster), yet he banked $11.5 million.

Think those are bad? The Dodgers cut Sergio Romo, and were left to cover the $1.8 million left on his deal as he played for the Rays. Matt Kemp collected $3.75 million in Dodgers checks this year, and he's a Brave. The Dodgers dumped Cuban import Hector Olivera on Atlanta too; two years later he'd been suspended for domestic violence and washed out of the league, landing with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters... and somehow the Dodgers owed him $4.7 million too. And while Carl Crawford was by all accounts a good citizen and well-liked teammate, his legs failed him, so the Dodgers paid him $21.9 million this season while he enjoyed retirement.

Make no mistake: It's a damn fine luxury to be able to spend $92 million in basically dead money, then roll to the best record in baseball and a spot in the Fall Classic. But check out the origin stories of many other Dodger players, and you can see how the team's plan of attack worked so well when it came to building a winner. The Dodgers wouldn't have gotten here because of Kershaw and some other lavishly-paid stars...but they also wouldn't have made it without youth, data, and depth.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/if-you-think-dodgers-are-in-world-series-due-to-payroll-you-arent-paying-attention/

Dave Roberts is half Japanese, is he the first manager of Asian descent to manage in the World Series?

apparently he's only the 2nd Asian American manager in MLB, period. (preceded by Don Wakamatsu in Seattle)

We’re here to bring the Dodgers back to Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/V5Zrqir9cw

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 11, 2018