(News4usonline) – The Los Angeles Dodgers are the most successful team in the regular season. But when it gets to the postseason, that is where everything changes. From the 2019 to 2023 season, the Dodgers had over 100 wins during the regular season multiple times.
The bottom line is that after all the success the team has accumulated over the last several years, the Dodgers are still having trouble making it to the World Series.
From the 2019 to 2023 season, the Dodgers only won one World Series out of the five. The Dodgers have been eliminated from the playoffs by teams that have had more losses than Los Angeles during the regular season in four out of the past five years.
It was the Washington Nationals in 2019, the Atlanta Braves in 2021, San Diego Padres in 2022, and now the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 season. Three of those teams the Dodgers played where an upset occurred in the NLDS. Maybe the Dodgers would have won at least three World Series between 2019 to 2023.
In 2020, the Dodgers won 43 wins during the COVID-19-shortened regular season. The 2020 season for the Dodgers was a great one for the ballclub even though Los Angeles didn’t hit the century mark. A World Series title followed the season. Since then, the Dodgers have fallen short of their goals and expectations.
In 2022, the Dodgers were expected to make it to the World Series. The Dodgers were the most dominant team in MLB during the regular season, recording 111 wins. Once again, the Dodgers fell short of those expectations. They have a legitimate excuse this time around.
This would have been the perfect season for the Dodgers. The Dodgers had reached the playoffs in 11 straight years. That is the third-longest streak in major league history behind the Atlanta Braves. Back in 2017, according to The Guardian, the Dodgers had an 80% chance of winning the World Series.
The Baltimore Orioles with the best American League with Atlanta Braves with the best National League record. In Game 2 of the National League Division Series during this postseason, pitcher Clayton Kershaw started to struggle and the Dodgers had no choice but to pull their ace. After six hits and six runs, Kershaw was gone.
The absence of the core of their pitching staff prevented the Dodgers from going further than they did this year. To be fair, the Dodgers were without starters Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May. Also, a fourth starter, Julio Urias, became missing in action due to his legal problems.
Against Arizona, the lack of strong pitching hurt the Dodgers. What also hurt the Dodgers was the lack of power hitting. The Dodgers got one home run during their postseason series against the Diamondbacks. Los Angeles blasted 249 home runs during the regular season.
The series against the Diamondbacks went in short order. In Game 1, Kershaw allowed six games and recorded just one out. In Game 2, pitcher Bobby Miller gave up three runs over three innings. In Game 3, Lance Lynn was the starting pitcher for the Dodgers. Lance gave up 44 home runs in the regular season.
On using Lynn, Dodgers manager David Roberts had this to say:
“I thought Lance was mixing well and then he gives up the homer and pomo and then he gets the grounder and then the Marte homer.” A lot of Dodgers fans are very upset with Roberts. Fans are blaming Roberts for the team’s early exit against the Diamondbacks,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers’ failure to get to the World Series could be that Roberts is not meeting expectations. It could also be that too many star players suffering from injuries are to blame. It is likely that Roberts will not be fired after losing to the Diamondbacks.
He will continue to be the manager of the Dodgers in the 2024 season.
“The last two years we’ve gotten outplayed in the postseason and you know it doesn’t matter if it was a seven-game series,” Roberts said. “You know we lost the first three games and I got to do better at figuring out a way to get our guys prepared for the postseason.”
Depending on how things go during the 2024 regular season and postseason, Roberts might or might not be around. Roberts should be fired if the Dodgers don’t make it to the World Series, win or lose.
I think it would be a lot better if the Dodgers make it to the World Series at least three times in a row starting the 2024 season. After suffering the past few seasons, Dodgers fans deserve nothing less.
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