Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
Obviously Mookie and Freddie not hitting was a killer.

Obviously the horrendous starting pitching by the Dodgers -- worse than everyone feared possible -- was a killer.

But there was more to this failure than just that.

The overreliance on analytics is a killer in the postseason. What would analytics have had to say about a guy who could barely walk being put in to pinch hit against Dennis Eckersley in a crucial 9th inning spot, in the '88 World Series?

Postseason managing is about riding momentum, going with the hot hand, avoiding the cold hand, and yanking the pitchers who clearly don't have it, before they can do too much damage.

Every year we keep seeing Roberts doing a masterful job managing the regular season, only to make dumb decisions (or have those decisions dictated to him by Friedman) in the postseason.

Among the fails this game:

- Not starting Ryan Pepiot instead of Lance Lynn. The young Pepiot was by no means a lock (look at how wild Bobby Miller was), but he was a much better choice than Lynn, who had become a fat HR machine this year. While Lynn started off okay in his Dodgers stint, he was terrible for the past month. It is not at all surprising that he allowed 4 home runs, as he allowed 44 in the regular season.

- Not pulling Lynn after the 2nd HR. It was clear that he was melting down. He had escaped some trouble in the 2nd, and those 2 HR in the 3rd were a clear sign. This wasn't like having faith in your ace. This was Lance fucking Lynn, and we've seen this tons of times before with him. Get him out. Indeed, those two subsequent HR were the difference.

- Pinch hitting with Austin Barnes. Why would you ever use Barnes as a PH, when he's the worst hitter on the team? Over 178 AB, he hit .180, had a .496 OPS, and just 2 HR. He's a rally killer, and that's exactly what he did.


The Dodgers weren't going to win this series scoring 2 runs per game, but they basically gave away this game, rather than putting up a real fight.

There’s a reason Texas is still alive. They have Bruce Botchy at the helm.