Monday, October 30, 2023
Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2023
Almost about two weeks ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers were eliminated by the surprising Arizona Diamondbacks from the NLDS. Since then, many Dodger fans and Dodger media have been pointing fingers at everything. This isn’t right.
While it was highly disappointing, the 2023 Dodgers were overachieving. Before spring training, no one expected the Dodgers to win the National League Western Division. For the fourth consecutive 162-game season, the Dodgers won at least 100 games. This accomplishment should be praised.
Going into the postseason, the Dodgers had no quality starting pitching, and Andrew Friedman tried to fix this at the trading deadline. However, Eduardo Rodriguez of the Detroit Tigers evoked his no-trade clause, citing his desire to stay closer to Florida where his family lives. No one should fault that, and Friedman ran out of time to acquire another starter.
Neither Justin Verlander nor Max Scherzer wanted to come to Los Angeles. Friedman could have obtained Lucas Gilitio who stunk while with the Los Angeles Angels.
Going into the postseason without good starting pitching spelled disaster for the Dodgers. Friedman thought he had a satisfactory starting rotation going into spring training and couldn’t have predicted the debacle. Coming off a decent 2022 season with both the Angels and the Philadelphia Phillies, Noah Syndergaard proved he shouldn’t pitch again in the major leagues since he had no velocity and command of the strike zone.
Coming off his first Tommy John surgery, Dustin May should have held up for the entire season. In both April and the first half of May, May was great, but during the start against the Washington Nationals, May again blew out his elbow and probably won’t return until after the All-Star break in 2024.
Tony Gonsolin, an All-Star in 2022, wasn’t healthy at any point during the 2023 season, but he tried to perform knowing the Dodgers needed him and he had financial incentives. No one should ever criticize a player for trying to make money since his playing career is short. Gonsolin doesn’t know whether he will return from Tommy John surgery. He waited until August to have the surgery when the Dodgers had a decent amount of starting pitching. Gonsolin won’t pitch during the 2024 season.
The Dodgers were relying on Julio Urías to pitch during the 2023 postseason. Although he was having his worst season as a full-time major league starter, marred by a hamstring injury that made him miss six weeks, he always had performed outstandingly under the brightest lights on him. His selfish and unwise off-field behavior may have cost his old team from having an opportunity to advance to the NLDS. His season ended on the Sunday before Labor Day. The likelihood of him appearing in the major leagues in the 2024 season is nonexistent.
Clayton Kershaw was the only starter from Opening weekend who survived until the end of the season. On June 27th, during a start against the Colorado Rockies, Kershaw injured his left shoulder and missed the next six weeks. When he returned to the mound, he was a shadow of himself. He didn’t have his customary outstanding command. His velocity was at 87 mph.
Kershaw had no business starting Game 1 of the NLDS, but the Dodgers didn’t have much choice. The Diamondbacks were aggressive against Kershaw and scored six runs in a third of an inning. Hopefully, Kershaw will return and erase that memory.
The Dodgers didn’t want to start their newest rookie phenom Bobby Miller in Game 1 of the NLDS. It was understandable. Miller had pitched the most innings in his professional career, and during the regular season, he had trouble controlling his emotions. In the postseason, every player has enough adrenalin flowing.
During September, Miller showed signs of tiring. He didn’t have enough experience to deal with the eight-day rest between the last game of the regular season and Game 2 of the NLDS. He didn’t have the ability to locate the ball in the strike zone.
Lance Lynn shouldn’t have started in Arizona where the ball flies, but Lynn had playoff experience. The Dodgers didn’t know how either Emmet Sheehan or Ryan Pepiot would react to the pressure of the postseason. On Saturday, Sheehan had pitched and was unavailable. If the NLDS went to four games, the Dodgers would have needed Pepiot to start.
Both Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman were not hitting going into the postseason. On Sunday before Labor Day, Freeman fouled a ball off his knee and never hit well since then. On Thursday after Labor Day, Betts fouled a ball off his foot and suffered a bone bruise. He didn’t produce offensively since then. The Dodgers needed Max Muncy, J.D. Martinez, Jason Heyward, and David Peralta, who had elbow surgery on Tuesday, to step up and help the offense, but they didn’t.
Dodger fans are disappointed. Friedman is searching for answers. The ownership has spent enough to bring another world championship to Los Angeles. Dodger fans must wait “till next year.”
