The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the National League Championship Series for the second consecutive season, and the fourth time in the last six years.
Their path was a little different his October as the Dodgers had to go through the Wild Card round, which saw them sweep the Cincinnati Reds. After that, they faced a Philadelphia Phillies club that many considered the favorites in the NL.
The NL Division Series featured a lot of great pitching, but inconsistent offense, and also some mistakes from both teams that put them behind or cost them the game.
Even though the Dodgers won the series, they almost felt lucky getting past the Phillies in just four games. They have some things to clean up, and getting more offensive production would solve a lot of worries.
If they do that, they can reach another level given their elite starting pitching, and Max Muncy is confident there’s more in the tank for the Dodgers.
“I still think there’s another gear in there,” Muncy said. “I don’t think we fully reached where we can be at. And that’s not saying we are, and that’s not saying we aren’t. But I still think there’s a whole other level in there we haven’t reached yet.”
But Muncy also doesn’t want to comment more on the Dodgers reaching that next level, unless it includes a World Series title. He feels that’s the only thing that would indicate the Dodgers were able to find that next gear.
The past experiences could help the Dodgers reach that point. They won the World Series last year, and they’ve seen nearly everything the playoffs have to offer.
“Yeah, like I said, having been there and done that, and then there’s also the understanding us knowing that a little more than halfway through the year we were starting to get some of our starting pitchers back,” Muncy said. “They were starting to get healthy. Just knowing that they were going to start get into a groove.
“Once that happened, it was time for the offense to come around. I think just for us seeing the guys coming off the injured list, I think that alone was just a big boost, knowing that we’re not going into the postseason the same way we went into it last year. It’s a completely different mindset almost.
“And like I said, that’s just understanding we’ve got guys coming back. We’ve got guys getting healthy. We’re starting to get into what we were expecting to be all year long. I think that’s just really all it was.”
The Dodgers are a confident group, even with things are going poorly, and they’ve been able to maintain an almost unreal level of consistency because of it. They now stand just eight games away from their ultimate goal, and they may find a way to be even better than they already have.
Dodgers starters not relieving pressure
Even though the Dodgers starting pitchers keep them in the game on a nightly basis, Muncy said that doesn’t help take pressure off the offense.
“Our job as an offense is to not worry about what our pitching staff is doing,” Muncy began. “We’ve got to go out there, find a way to put pressure on a team every single inning. Even if we’re not scoring runs, we’ve got to figure out a way to get pressure out there.
“That’s our whole job as an offense every single game, regardless of what’s happening on the other side of it.”
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