Dodgers eye World Series sweep with, yes, a bullpen game
-
Bradford Doolittle, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — For decades, the Los Angeles Dodgers were known for superstar starting pitchers.
These pitchers remain so indelible that surnames largely suffice: Koufax, Drysdale, Valenzuela, Hershiser, Kershaw, all of whom made World Series starts for championship Dodgers teams.
The Dodgers’ 4-2 win in Game 3 of the 2024 World Series on Monday put them on the cusp of another championship, with a historically insurmountable three games to none headlock on the New York Yankees. L.A. can clinch in Game 4 on Tuesday — traditionally a tremendous opportunity in the career of an ambitious starting pitcher.
The Dodgers’ Game 4 starter? In the aftermath of Game 3, the answer to that question remained: Relief pitcher TBD. But we do know it’s going to be a bullpen game to perhaps win the World Series.
“That would be fun, obviously, to go out and contribute something like that,” Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson said. “I’m not sure what we’re going to do, but we’ll go out there and get three, four or five outs and get the ball to the next guy.”
This postseason has seen the prominence of the 2024 version of bullpen deployment evolve into something new.
In: Relievers used at any point in the game — including the beginning, as the Dodgers plan to do in Game 4.
Out: Preconceived roles. The fewer of them you have, the better.
“The guys we have down there,” righty Ryan Brasier said, “we compete, and we’re a super-close-knit group. We have fun, but at the same time, when it’s time to lock in, everybody gets on the same end of the rope and pulls.”
This is not how the Dodgers drew it up last winter, when they signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a massive deal, augmented him with a slightly-less-massive deal for Tyler Glasnow and brought back Clayton Kershaw. Add in returning starters, including a number of young arms, injury returnees such as Game 3 winner Walker Buehler, toss in trade deadline pickup Jack Flaherty, and you’ve got a starting pitcher bonanza.
Instead, the rotation was beset with so many maladies the Dodgers have had to lean hard on a bullpen that itself seems to have no clear pecking order. The improvisational nature of L.A.’s pitching plan was known from the outset this October. The bullpen roles for the Dodgers were always fluid, but that dynamic was compounded by the shortage of starters. It’s been all up for grabs.
“There are five or six guys that have got a save maybe in this season,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said at the start of the playoffs. “I feel very comfortable. They’ve all pitched in leverage, whether it be the fifth, the sixth, the seventh or the ninth. Whatever pitcher I feel is best in that particular part of the game, part of the lineup, that’s who I’m going to use.”
It’s turned out to be a feature, not a bug. Try to imagine the Dodgers’ relief staff as a 19th-century, Old Hoss Radbourn-style of pitcher who pitched every game. That pitcher has a 3.16 ERA over 68 1/3 innings, 13 holds, four saves and no blown saves. Dodgers starters — including a few openers — have a 4.76 ERA in 11⅔ fewer innings.
Roberts and pitching coach Mark Prior have massaged the plan with remarkable acuity.
Consider Blake Treinen, whose stuff has been reminiscent of his best years, when he was one of the more unassailable relievers in the game. In the past, when managers have had a reliever throwing the way Treinen has been, they might stick him in the back of the bullpen and assign him the last three, four or five outs.
Not Treinen. He’s had a two-inning save, been pulled after giving up a couple of hits in the ninth, and has gotten outs in the sixth and seventh innings. Brasier has pitched in the first (twice), fourth, sixth and eighth. You can see any reliever at any time if the leverage is right and the matchup against a certain sector of the opposing lineup can be exploited.
The deeper we’ve gotten into October, the deeper Roberts has been willing to let his recovering starters work. Thus, Yamamoto and Buehler have given him not just efficiency but more length than was anticipated when the series began. This, in turn, reserves resources for things like, say, a bullpen elimination game.
“I’d put our bullpen up with any bullpen that I’ve ever been on and any bullpen I’ve ever seen,” screwballer Brent Honeywell said. Honeywell, who was one pitcher more or less ruled out to open Game 4, nevertheless might get a shot during what the Dodgers hope will be the last game of the season. “I want to win, and if that’s how we’ve got to do it, that’s how we’ve got to do it.”
The Dodgers are not the only team we’ve seen do this during the postseason. And playoff bullpen games have been around since at least 2019, in the form we know them now, but what we’ve seen this October has felt different. It’s not bullpenning as last resort, it’s bullpenning because you can’t score on our freaking relievers, no matter who they are so, maybe, just maybe, we’re glad we have to do it this way.
The potential pitfall is overexposing your relievers to the same group of hitters too many times over a long series. Roberts is all too aware of that challenge.
“Taking a long and short view of the series kind of weighs into my decision-making,” Roberts said. “It’s a constant kind of weaving in and out. But my pitching coaches do a great job of helping me to kind of sift through it.”
Research done on this topic has suggested this can be a problem, but here’s the thing: This is arguably a bigger problem for the traditional setup/setup/closer model of playoff bullpen management than what the Dodgers have been doing. Sure, there is a hierarchy in every bullpen, even this one, and those relievers are going to see the same hitters in a long series. (Though this series might not be a long one, after all.) But the Dodgers are mitigating that by coming at their opponents with so many different arms in so many different circumstances.
That’s how it scans now, though, because it’s been working. The Dodgers will attempt the ultimate proof-of-concept by rolling out a parade of relievers Tuesday. If it works one more time, the reward will be, well, a parade.
Meanwhile, teams with rock-solid rotations (Philadelphia, Kansas City) and star closers (Cleveland, Milwaukee) have fallen by the wayside. The Dodgers, the team that can buy as much certainty as can possibly exist on a baseball roster, are one win from the ultimate prize, in large part because of how they’ve embraced their bullpen.
Going into Game 4, you might think there’s a little lobbying among the relief group to be the last guy out there. After all, the last-out pitcher of every World Series clincher achieves a measure of instant immortality.
But there is no such lobbying. Not from these Dodgers.
“Nobody here has any kind of ego,” Brasier said. “It’s just when the phone rings, everybody’s ready.”
The first 12-team College Football Playoff is down to the final two contenders: Notre Dame and Ohio State.
The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish and eighth-seeded Buckeyes will meet Jan. 20 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T. Whichever team wins will end a championship drought. Notre Dame aims for its first title since 1988. Ohio State’s lull isn’t nearly as long, as the Buckeyes won the first CFP championship a decade ago, but given how consistently elite they are, it seems like a while.
Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and Ohio State’s Ryan Day are also aiming for their first championships as head coaches, and Freeman’s past will be in the spotlight. Freeman and the Irish lost to the Buckeyes and Day in each of the past two seasons. But after a masterful coaching job this season, Freeman now will face his alma mater — he was an All-Big Ten linebacker for Ohio State under coach Jim Tressel — with everything on the line. Day, meanwhile, can secure the loftiest goal for a team that fell short of earlier ones, but never stopped swinging.
Here’s your first look at the championship matchup and what to expect in the ATL. — Adam Rittenberg
When: Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN
What we learned in the semifinal: Notre Dame’s resilience and situational awareness/execution are undeniably its signature traits and could propel the team to a title. The Irish have overcome injuries all season and did so again against Penn State. They also erased two deficits and continued to hold the edge in the “middle eight” — the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half — while dominating third down on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame can rely on front men such as quarterback Riley Leonard, running back Jeremiyah Love and linebacker Jack Kiser, but also on backup QB Steve Angeli, wide receiver Jaden Greathouse and kicker Mitch Jeter. These Irish fight, and they’re very hard to knock out.
X factor: Greathouse entered Thursday with moderate numbers — 29 receptions, 359 yards, one touchdown — and had only three total catches for 14 yards in the first two CFP games. But he recorded career highs in both receptions (7) and receiving yards (105) and tied the score on a 54-yard touchdown with 4:38 to play. A Notre Dame offense looking for more from its wide receivers, especially downfield, could lean more on Greathouse, who exceeded his receptions total from the previous five games but might be finding his groove at the perfect time. He also came up huge in the clutch, recording all but six of his receiving yards in the second half.
How Notre Dame wins: The Irish won’t have the talent edge in Atlanta, partly because they’ve lost several stars to season-ending injuries, but they have the right traits to hang with any opponent. Notre Dame needs contributions in all three phases and must continue to sprinkle in downfield passes, an element offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has pushed. And they finally did start seeing results against Penn State. The Irish likely can’t afford to lose the turnover margin, although they can help themselves by replicating their third-down brilliance — 11 of 17 conversions on offense, 3 of 11 conversions allowed on defense — from the Penn State win. — Rittenberg
What we learned in the semifinal: The Buckeyes have a defense with championship mettle, headlined by senior defensive end Jack Sawyer, who delivered one of the biggest defensive plays in Ohio State history. On fourth-and-goal with just over two minutes remaining, Sawyer sacked Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, forcing a fumble that he scooped up and raced 83 yards for a game-clinching touchdown, propelling Ohio State to the national title game. The Buckeyes weren’t perfect in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, and they struggled offensively for much of the night against a talented Texas defense. But Ohio State showed late why its defense is arguably the best in college football, too.
X factor: The play two snaps before the Sawyer scoop-and-score set the table. On second-and-goal from the Ohio State 1-yard line, unheralded senior safety Lathan Ransom dashed past incoming blockers and dropped Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner for a 7-yard loss. After an incomplete pass, the Longhorns were forced into desperation mode on fourth-and-goal down a touchdown with just over two minutes remaining. All-American safety Caleb Downs, who had an interception on Texas’ ensuing drive, rightfully gets all the headlines for the Ohio State secondary. But the Buckeyes have other veteran standouts such as Ransom throughout their defense.
How Ohio State wins: Texas took away Ohio State’s top offensive playmaker, true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who had only one reception for 3 yards on three targets. As the first two playoff games underscored, the Buckeyes offense is at its best when Smith gets the ball early and often. Notre Dame is sure to emulate the Texas blueprint, positioning the defensive backs to challenge Smith. Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has to counter with a plan that finds ways to get the ball into Smith’s hands, no matter what the Fighting Irish do. — Jake Trotter
-
Doug Greenberg, ESPN
Ohio State opened as a 9.5-point favorite over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T, per ESPN BET odds.
If that line holds, it would be tied for the second-largest spread in a CFP national championship game and the fourth largest in the CFP/BCS era. Georgia was -13.5 against TCU in the 2022 national championship, while Alabama showed -9.5 against none other than Ohio State to decide the 2020 campaign. Both favorites covered the spread in blowout fashion, combining for a cover margin of 63.
Notre Dame is 12-3 against the spread this season, tied with Arizona State (12-2) and Marshall (12-1) for the most covers in the nation. The Irish are 7-0 ATS against ranked teams and 2-0 ATS as underdogs, with both covers going down as outright victories, including their win over Penn State (-1.5) in the CFP national semifinal.
However, Notre Dame was also on the losing end of the largest outright upset of the college football season when it fell as a 28.5-point favorite to Northern Illinois.
Ohio State is 9-6 against the spread and has been a favorite in every game it has played this season; it has covered the favorite spread in every CFP game thus far, including in its semifinal win against Texas when it covered -6 with overwhelming public support.
The Buckeyes also have been an extremely popular pick in the futures market all season. At BetMGM as of Friday morning, OSU had garnered a leading 28.2% of money and 16.8% of bets to win the national title, checking in as the sportsbook’s greatest liability.
Ohio State opened at +700 to win it all this season and is now -350 with just one game to play.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway