So We Meet Again (Part 9a- Why this result?)

A huge part of the reason the Dodgers lost to the Phillies this NLCS was horrendous pitching (I blame the starters, not the bullpen). I realize that this is common knowledge by now, but I felt it would be prudent to delve a little deeper into their pitching troubles in the series.

First of all, the Dodgers surrendered 34 runs in their 4 NLCS losses. Averaging out to 8.25 runs per loss, such poor pitching was very uncharacteristic of the 2009 Dodgers. Even when considering that the Dodgers were playing the Phillies, who led the NL in runs scored in the regular season, this pitching meltdown was and is inexcusable.

Only twice in the 5-game series did a Dodger starter pitch more than 5 innings, but one of those included a 5.1 inning outing for Randy Wolf. The only quality start (6 innings and 3 or less ER allowed) came from Vicente Padilla in Game 2. That was the only game that the Dodgers won over the course of the entire series. When only 1 starting pitcher goes at least 6 innings, it puts an immense amount of pressure on the bullpen; even the Dodgers’ strong bullpen.

While Dodgers’ Nation is thankful for the great pitching display in Game 2, Padilla just got bombed in his second start of the series. He was chased from the game after just 3+ innings. If starting off well is important, then Padilla was screwed from the start. From the very beginning of the game, he looked doomed. After struggling with his accuracy, Padilla gave up a 2-out, 3-run home run to Jayson Werth (that’s right…the former Dodger). Werth just launched that baby out of the stadium. There was no doubt about the fact that Padilla’s pitch was going to leave the park.

While Wolf didn’t pitch horribly in Game 4 and admittedly, put the team in a good position to win, he only started one game in the series, and thus, couldn’t make much of an impact. From the beginning, when Torre set the series rotation, I had my doubts. I felt that Wolf should’ve started Game 2 with Kuroda left off the team’s roster. I would’ve rather had Jon Garland in the bullpen (in place of Kuroda’s roster spot), Chad Billingsley starting in Game 3 or 4, and Padilla starting the other game. I liked putting Kershaw in Game 1.

First and foremost, I was largely (not completely; I’ll explain in Part 9b) wrong when I told Joe Burt of PhillyPhanatic.com that the Dodgers’ starting rotation could put the team in a good enough position to win the series. I was obviously wrong about how Clayton Kershaw would react to starting an NLCS Game 1 (not well) at the tender age of 21. I also did not expect Padilla to go toe-to-toe with Pedro Martinez as he did so effectively in Game 2, but it turns out that I was right about starting Padilla twice in the series.

Part 9b coming soon. In other words, to be continued…

Tags: 21, Billingsley, bombed, bullpen, Garland, Kershaw, Kuroda, Padilla, Phillies, pressure, quality start, tender age, toe-to-toe, Torre, Wolf