ATLANTA — As Dave Roberts delivered his victory address, dressed in a gray cap and a gray T-shirt that commemorate a triumph the Dodgers consider merely a speed bump on the road to the main event, the manager was not shy.
“There is no more talented team than the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Roberts told his players amid clubhouse floods of champagne and beer. “This is the best organization in sports, top to bottom. We’re smarter. We’re better. And we’re tougher.”
The Dodgers had eliminated the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series. For the three-peat, that’s one postseason party down and two to go.
“This one is going to be special,” infielder Miguel Rojas said. “We have the motivation of winning three times in a row. That’s all we can think about right now. It’s never going to be easy in baseball. You have to go through tough things. But this team showed it before, and it showed it in this series.”
Indeed it did. Rojas joked — or maybe he was not joking — that everyone expects the Dodgers to win every game by 10 runs. In this four-game series, they outscored the Braves by a total of six runs, and no game was decided by more than three runs.
Now come the Milwaukee Brewers, the team that put up baseball’s best record this season, in a rematch of last year’s NLCS. The Brewers also put up baseball’s best record last season, and the Dodgers swept them in the NLCS.
Nothing is guaranteed in October, not even the Dodgers in the World Series. For the Dodgers, here are four positive signs and four warning signs:
Green flag
The Dodgers have the oldest group of position players in the league, so they cherished the bye that gave them five days off before the division series. By eliminating the Braves without needing the full five games, the Dodgers afforded themselves three days off, rather than one, before the league championship series.
“It is huge, to get us a little rest,” said shortstop Mookie Betts, who turned 34 on Wednesday. “We’re all old. So we need a little rest going into these postseason games. They’re a lot. They’re a lot more than what people think.”
Even better: Since the Dodgers did not need Tarik Skubal to start a Game 5 in the division series, they can start him in Game 1 of the NLCS, followed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2. The Dodgers need four victories in the NLCS, and that rotation clears the way for Skubal and Yamamoto to combine for four starts in the series.
Red flag
Hitting home runs is nice, but you’re unlikely to win a postseason series on home runs alone. In the first three games of the NLDS, the Dodgers scored all their runs on home runs.
In the series, they went one for 16 with runners in scoring position.
“It speaks to the multitude of ways we can win a game,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said, “but, from a quality of life perspective, it would sure help if we could cash some of those opportunities in. So that’s obviously something that stands out.”
Mitigating factor: The Braves went one for 23 with runners in scoring position.
Green flag
The Dodgers and Braves each hit 204 home runs this season. In the NLDS, the Dodgers outhomered the Braves, 8-2. Max Muncy hit three to do it all by himself.
The Braves scored eight runs in the four games, including one in each of the two games in their home ballpark, and collected a total of 18 hits. Michael Harris II had six hits in the series; none of his teammates had more than three.
The Braves batted .145 in the series.
“Let’s be real, right? Our postseason is going to rely on our pitching,” Muncy said. “It always is. It always will. You’re not going to go out there and get 15 hits a night in the postseason. You’re just not.
“So, if you can limit the amount of runs the other team is getting, you’re going to do a pretty good job. Our pitching staff was unbelievable this series. For us to continue on, it’s going to rely on the pitching staff.”
Red flag
Just as the Dodgers got to set their NLCS rotation by ending the NLDS early, so did the Brewers. So, just as the Dodgers get the chance to start Skubal, the Brewers get the chance to start flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski, the presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner.
Misiorowski beat the Dodgers in his lone start against them this season, a 4-1 victory in which the Dodgers collected five hits — three by players who did not appear in the NLDS: backup outfielder Alex Call and backup catcher Hunter Feduccia.
Mitigating factors: Kyle Tucker and Will Smith did not play that day.
Green flag
Roberts has won more postseason games than any manager except Joe Torre — the man who managed the New York Yankees teams that were the last to three-peat (1998-2000).
This season was not smooth, but the NLDS displayed Roberts’ ability to integrate young players (Josue De Paula), long-injured players (Edwin Díaz, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow) and October players (Kiké Hernández) into key spots for a postseason series, as well as to get Shohei Ohtani to buy into batting as low as fifth after not batting lower than second in three seasons with the Dodgers.
It is not just about the “high-end talent,” as Friedman likes to say, or the money, as opposing fans like to say.
“Equally as important was the depth of talent we have,” Friedman said, “and the number of guys that had an impact on this short series, I think, speaks not only to the depth of talent but also to their level of preparedness and Doc’s willingness to use them in key spots, and the trust he instills in them.”
Red flag
The Dodgers got production from the bottom of their order in the NLDS: Tucker and Andy Pages came alive, the three home runs from traditional October hero Muncy, a home run from traditional October hero Hernández, even a clutch walk from rookie De Paula.
That still leaves a problem that cropped up time and again over the regular season and again in the NLDS: inconsistency atop the lineup.
Betts, Freddie Freeman, Ohtani, Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith combined for 13 hits in the series and a .176 batting average.
Green flag
In the month of July, Tucker never had a four-game hitting streak.
In the month of September, he had one.
In the four games of the playoffs, he has one!
Baseball!
That could be much more than a statistical oddity. This season, we heard more about his contract (four years, $240 million) than his home runs (17, a career low in a full season) his strikeouts (105, a career high) and his on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.715, just below Atlanta utility man Mauricio Dubón).
If Tucker sparkles in October, no one will remember the regular seasons, and Dodgers fans will remember him fondly forevermore. Ask Mickey Hatcher.
Red flag
The Dodgers still don’t know what to reasonably expect from Ohtani, gritting out the postseason despite discomfort in his left knee and right arm.
In 13 at-bats in the NLDS, Ohtani had two singles and struck out four times. He scored his only run of the series Wednesday, when he walked, stole second, took third on one error and scored on another error.
Ohtani still has not hit a home run since Aug. 18. The Dodgers prefer to say Wednesday’s game shows he can impact the game with his speed, and with his power threat.
“He’s the best player in the world,” Friedman said. “And at some point, it’s going to click for him, and the other team’s going to be in big trouble.”
The post In NLCS, four reasons to believe in Dodgers, and four reasons for concern appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
