Dodgers: Analyst Questions LA's Process in the Postseason vs the Regular Season
Dodgers insider David Vassegh was on AM570's Petros & Money show this week, talking about L.A.'s stunning collapse in the NLDS that led to their early offseason.
One topic of conversation was the fact that the Dodgers have been the best team in baseball the last several years but have just one World Series title to show for it, along with two NLDS exits in the last four years.
Vassegh talked about the franchise's approach and process.
"I think it's fair to question the process in the postseason. They certainly have conquered the process in the regular season but I do believe it's fair to question the process in the postseason.
"I think we need to question why Tyler Anderson was predetermined to only go five innings despite the game not being played out yet. I feel like, just insert Tyler Anderson's name where Rich Hill's name went in 2017 and 2018. And 2016."
Now, you can quibble with manager Dave Roberts' decision to pull Anderson, but it's probably not accurate to say he was "predetermined to only go five innings." The top of the lineup coming up for the third time surely played a role in the decision, but it seems extraordinarily unlikely that they went into the game saying, "Five innings, no matter what."
Should the Dodgers reevaluate their overall approach to how deep they let starters go in the postseason? Of course! When you lose in the playoffs, you should be reevaluating everything. But reevaluations don't always lead to changes, and outside observers (like "insider" Vassegh) are prone to thinking "they didn't make the changes I think they should have made" is the same thing as "they didn't consider making the changes I think they should have made."
As Friedman said in his press conference, they need to figure out if there is a formula to winning in the postseason different from the regular-season formula. The problem is, there might not be.
