All yr lengthy, the Dodgers have been reluctant to make use of their high relievers in “minus” video games, as supervisor Dave Roberts likes to name contests the place his workforce is going through an early deficit.
In Recreation 5 of the Nationwide League Championship Sequence, the price of that technique grew to become clear.
A slim early-game deficit in opposition to the New York Mets ballooned to an insurmountable seven-run gap when the Dodgers left Jack Flaherty in for a five-run third inning. Regardless that the offense responded by scoring 5 occasions after that, the New York lead had grown too huge for the Dodgers to finish a come-from-behind win.
To Roberts, that was merely the price of doing enterprise — particularly for a workforce that doesn’t consider it will probably afford to waste outings from its highest-leverage relievers.
Now, because the NLCS shifts again to Los Angeles, the Dodgers are banking on that cautious bullpen administration to yield pennant-clinching advantages.
Needing only one extra win to achieve the World Sequence, the Dodgers will run a bullpen sport in Sunday’s Recreation 6, Roberts confirmed throughout Saturday’s off-day. The hope is that the bullpen bullets they saved in Recreation 5 — and an identical loss in Recreation 2 — will repay again at Dodger Stadium this week.
“I feel that to prevent runs, we’re in a very good spot,” Roberts stated. “I don’t think we’ve exposed our high-leverage guys at all.
Indeed, even though the Dodgers’ starting pitchers this series (including Landon Knack in Game 2, who followed an opener) have combined for just 21 ⅓ innings in the first five games, the most trusted options in the team’s bullpen have largely been spared.
Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips and Daniel Hudson have each pitched just once in this series. Anthony Banda has thrown only 20 pitches over two appearances. Blake Treinen has taken down 2 ⅓ innings in two outings, but only faced one hitter twice in that span: Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor.
Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen delivers during Game 3 of the NLCS against the Mets on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
It means, going into Game 6, the Dodgers’ top relief arms will not only be fresh, but relatively unfamiliar to the Mets’ lineup — a potentially impactful byproduct of the Dodgers’ decision to essentially punt on their two losses this past week.
According to MLB researcher Sarah Langs, hitters in the postseason since 2019 have a .275 batting average and .483 slugging percentage when facing relief pitchers for a third time in a series. For comparison, hitters in the postseason have only hit .232 with a .392 slugging percentage overall in that same span.
This is a dynamic the Dodgers are hoping factors into the next two days, when their relievers will likely get most — if not all — of Game 6 and could be needed for more big innings behind starter Walker Buehler in Game 7, if the series gets there.
“We’ve kind of been protected from some of their guys in the lineup,” Phillips stated. “And I think the rest is probably more important, to keep our guys fresh for tomorrow and a Game 7 if necessary. But those two things are hopefully in our favor.”
Precisely how the Dodgers’ Recreation 6 pitching plan will look stays unclear. Roberts stated it may look just like Recreation 2, however that he will likely be extra keen to get aggressive along with his higher-leverage arms earlier within the sport.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck situation,” Roberts stated. “That’s how I’m gonna look at tomorrow.”
What is obvious, nonetheless, is the Dodgers’ consolation degree in relying upon the bullpen on the season’s most crucial level.
It labored in Recreation 4 of the NL Division Sequence, when the Dodgers had been going through elimination. The unit has been integral in every of the membership’s different 5 wins this October, as effectively. Total, Dodgers relievers have a 2.94 ERA within the playoffs. And their highest-leverage quintet — Treinen, Phillips, Kopech, Hudson and Banda — has been nearly flawless, combining for a staggering 23 ⅔ scoreless innings.
Given the membership’s conservative utilization of these 5 these days, they need to be primed to proceed that dominance via the remainder of this collection.
The Dodgers, after all, might want to them to be; successfully placing the season of their arms after deciding to no more aggressively chase comeback wins of their two losses to the Mets this collection.
“I think we’ve kind of built up that confidence and that equity in bullpen games over the course of the past few seasons,” Phillips stated. “Bullpen games are a piece of how we run things here. We’re certainly excited about the opportunity to have a piece in it tomorrow.”
Roberts will nonetheless need to strike a steadiness along with his reliever utilization Sunday. If he pushes his bullpen too onerous in a Recreation 6 loss, it may compromise them for a possible Recreation 7.
Then once more, this the second the Dodgers have been saving the back-end of their bullpen for. All yr, that group has been the power of the pitching employees. And if the Dodgers are to win their fourth pennant within the final eight years, that unit will doubtless have to guide them there.
“The offense scoring matters too,” Roberts famous. “But I think, in a vacuum, bullpen games give you a chance to prevent runs, certainly.”
