It wouldn’t be a Los Angeles Dodgers’ postseason game without late-inning decisions to dissect. Whether it’s waiting too long to bring the best arm in or bringing him in early, manager Dave Roberts has impacted multiple game with his decision making in his postseason debut.
Saturday against the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series was no different.Game 1 saw the Dodgers pit their No. 3 starter, Kenta Maeda, against the Cubs’ lefty Jon Lester.
Despite Maeda allowing three runs early in the game, the Dodgers were never out of contention. Andre Ethier’s fifth-inning home run was his first off a left-hander in three years.
When the Dodgers loaded the bases in the eighth inning with nobody out and suffered consecutive strikeouts against Aroldis Chapman, all one could think was “Here they go again.” But Adrian Gonzalez came through to tie the game in what seemed like a mini-miracle.
In the bottom of the eighth, Roberts went to setup man Joe Blanton, which made perfect sense. Unfortunately, Blanton, who had already pitched three times this week, didn’t have his best stuff nor his best command.
Ben Zobrist started the inning with a double, immediately putting the Dodgers’ backs against a wall. Addison Russell, expected to bunt, instead swung away but grounded out harmlessly to third. Then the inning took a turn.
Jason Heyward came up to the plate. Heyward, who signed an eight-year, $184 million with Chicago in the offseason, produced a lowly .631 on-base plus slugging percentage this season. It was the third-lowest third-lowest mark by a qualified batter in all of baseball.
So why would Roberts see that matchup and automatically think to walk Heyward? It turns out the rookie manager wasn’t simply managing the eighth inning. He was also managing the ninth.
With the Cubs’ No. 4 and 5 hitters out of the way, Roberts wanted to work his way toward Aroldis Chapman’s spot in the lineup. An intentional walk to Heyward, the No. 6 hitter, brought up Javier Baez, to whom Roberts allowed Blanton to pitch.
Baez popped out harmlessly to shallow right, bringing up the No. 8 hitter: David Ross. Cubs manager Joe Maddon countered with Chris Coghlan, a lefty who’d hit Blanton well in the past. However, the old Joe Blanton isn’t the same as current Joe Blanton.
Still, with an open base and Chapman’s spot on deck, Roberts decided to load the bases to force the closer out of the game. Roberts later said, “I felt that if we did that, then the game was ours.”
Unfortunately, as Vin Scully would say, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Maddon obliged, pinch-hitting for Chapman with Miguel Montero. The approach was sliders down and in.
Blanton’s first pitch was up, but in, and Montero’s check-swing resulted in a harmless foul ball. The next pitch was a hanger with “HIT ME” written all over it, but Montero swung through it. The plan was a single pitch away from working.
But a slider that was meant to be buried at Montero’s back foot was instead left very much alive in the strike zone and the 33-year-old catcher made the most of it. The plan failed, and all eyes were on Roberts to explain why.
The easy answer is Blanton made a bad pitch. But the situation he was put in gave him zero room for error and maximized risk for the Dodgers. Roberts was looking forward to the ninth, where Chapman would face the Dodgers’ eight, nine and one hitters in Joc Pederson, Andrew Toles and Chase Utley — three left-handed batters.
However, had Roberts conceded the top of the ninth, the bottom of the ninth could have consisted of the same hitters from the Cubs’ lineup. Sure, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo would have been lurking, but that’s what Kenley Jansen is for.
Then, in the 10th inning, had the game gotten that far, the Dodgers would have had Justin Turner, Corey Seager, the pitcher’s spot (presumably Josh Reddick as a pinch-hitter) and Adrian Gonzalez.
While planning ahead is understandable, it’s rare to give a team so many opportunities to beat you without getting beaten. Had the plan worked, everyone would laud Roberts for being so strategically aggressive and cunning.
But it didn’t work, despite getting the matchup he wanted, and now we’re left to simply ask “What if?”
