So the division round of the Major League Baseball playoffs has given us one sweep. The New York Yankees over the Minnesota Twins while the three other divisional series are all headed to a winner take all Game 5.
Both of the National League Game 5’s are today. The Atlanta Braves host the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game while the night cap has the Washington Nationals at the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Cardinals have Jack Flaherty as their starter while the Braves list Mike Foltynewicz as their starter. The Nationals have Steven Strasburg listed as their starter while the Dodgers are countering with Walker Buehler. Now I expect all four of these pitchers to start for their respective teams right now they are all listed as the probably starter.
Flaherty made the start for the Cardinals in Game 2 and had a solid outing. He went 7 innings giving up 8 hits and 3 runs while striking out 8 and walking 1. Flaherty took the lose as the Cardinals didn’t score in Game 2.
Foltynewicz was on the winning side in Game 2 for Atlanta. He went 7 innings allowing 3 hits and 0 runs while striking out 7.
Strasburg was the Nationals starter in Game 2 and picked up the win. He went 6 innings giving up 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 10.
The Dodgers are bringing back Buehler who was their Game 1 starter. He pitched 6 innings giving up just 1 hit and not allowing a run; he struck out 8 and walked 3.
Each one of these teams is bringing back a starting pitcher who had a good outing for them in their first start. It might be the pitcher who can repeat that first outing that gives his team the best chance to advance. The question of course is; which pitcher will that be?
How big of a failure would the Dodgers season be if they lost tonight’s Game 5 to the Nationals?
The Dodgers won 106 games in the regular season and have been to the World Series the past two seasons. Now unfortunately the Dodgers didn’t manage to win ether of them World Series, but they where the first team to get into back to back World Series since the Kansas City Royals did it in 2014 and 2015.
Now we know that Walker Buehler is getting the start for the Dodgers tonight, but what is the availability of Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu if needed. Kershaw last pitched on October 4th while Ryu lasted pitched on October 6th. Being that it’s Game 5 you have to figure that all hands are on deck for both teams tonight, but especially the Dodgers.
The Dodgers have solid numbers in the series against the Nationals except for in the bullpen. Pedro Baez, Joe Kelly, Ross Stripling and Julio Urias have all had issues coming out of the Dodgers bullpen. Baez and Kelly have double digit ERA’s while Stripling isn’t far away from a double digit ERA. Kenta Maeda has been the Dodgers most consistent reliever this series. Adam Kolarek has appeared in three out of the four games in this series, but he’s only pitched 1 total inning. With the way this series has went Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen has only made one appearance and has only pitched 1 inning.
How will the Dodgers use the bullpen tonight. Will a starter be the first pitcher we see out of the bullpen or will they trust one of the relievers who have struggled in this series. Jansen should be available for multiple innings if needed. I guess will have to see how the game goes and what the Dodgers do with there bullpen.
We have to wait one more day for the American League series to play there Game 5. The teams are headed back to Houston since the Astros had the best record in baseball for the regular season they get to host Game 5.
You could ask the same thing about the Astros that we just did about the Dodgers. How would you quantify the Astros season if they get knocked out tomorrow night by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Both the Rays and the Nationals are the upstart wild card teams in this situation and I’m sure they’ll have a lot of people rooting for them. Do you think that either of these teams can get a Game 5 victory on the road? It should make for some must watch baseball.
With the division series winding down you have to wonder if we’ve seen some of these players in that uniform for the last time. There are quite a few players in the division series that will hit the free agent market this off season.
The Nationals made a big money offer to 3rd baseman Anthony Rendon, but there’s been no word on how close the two sides might be to agreeing on a deal. Will Rendon be in Washington next season?
Gerrit Cole picked the best time to have a career year. The Astros have a decent amount of money already tied up in two of there starting pitchers; so you have to wonder if they have room for the salary Cole is going to command.
Hyun-Jin Ryu accepted the Dodgers qualifying offer last season and then preceded to have the best season of his career. The Dodgers are loaded with starting pitchers; so you have to wonder if they’ll allow Ryu to leave as a free agent this off season.
The Braves have two players that we might see elsewhere next season. Josh Donaldson signed on for just one season in Atlanta and the Braves have said they’re open to bringing him back next season. The Braves have a strong farm system and everyone thought that Austin Riley would be taking over at 3rd base next season. I guess will have to see what they do. Dallas Keuchel ended up with Atlanta after not signing with a team until June. Keuchel was solid for the Braves going 8-8 with a 3.75 ERA. I think there’s a better chance of Donaldson returning to Atlanta than Keuchel.
That is just a small sample size of players currently in the playoffs that might be with another team next season. As free agency gets closer will take harder look at who might end up where. Right now it’s just way too early to tell.
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