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The Dodgers love to use the advantage of the pack – 57.3% of the time, a few notches above the baseball average and 52.4% in Boston – and their composition is the proof, with many combinations can be configured in a radically different way. fashion from one game to the other. The Dodgers also love to hit a lot more than another baseball team: 303 times in the regular season, compared to an average of 241 in the National League. (It's also more than any other team since the 1992 Dodgers, with 304.) In other words, the club's composition is not really a static build and you can expect a lot of moving parts. So what will it look like?
Range of Dodgers
So far, only two players have taken part in each of L.A.'s eleven games: Justin Turner on third and Manny Machado on short. Now, there are four others who have appeared during each team's post-season game – remember this obsession with hitting a pinch? – but with regard to the starting composition, there is not necessarily much of a safe bet apart from Turner and Machado. This does not apply only to who plays, but to or they will play. The Dodgers have fully adopted positional versatility, which gives them maximum flexibility to tweak the range on the fly. In this post-season alone? Enrique Hernandez started at second base, center and right field. Chris Taylor started at second base, left fieldand centerfield. Max Muncy started first and second. All of these changes make it difficult to predict exactly how the team will be arranged on the diamond, not to mention what it might look like on the map of the lineup, but that largely depends on the opposing thrower. Based on what they have done so far, here is a rough idea of what to look for against the Red Sox.
Leftist Versus of Boston
The Dodgers will start the series against them: Chris Sale in the first game, followed by David Price in the second game. The most successful batter of the team against the leftists in the regular season, although in a small sample, was David Freese. The 35-year-old playoff icon was on fire since its acquisition in late August, ripping left-handed shots with a 1.331 OPS. He should have the go-ahead at first base. Enrique Hernandez is likely to be seen by the second; Matt Kemp is on the left, Chris Taylor in the middle and Yasiel Puig on the right. Austin Barnes, finally, is probably behind the dish. This is more or less the starting training that has prevailed against the Milwaukee left-handers in the NLCS, and it makes sense that the team stays true to this general idea.
Boston right-handers
Now, for something almost entirely different. Rick Porcello of Boston and Nathan Eovaldi in a certain order will take the mound for the third and fourth games. At first base, they will likely face Max Muncy, the only L.A. player with home runs this season, aside from Machado. Hernandez will probably still be in second position, because the right-hander does not have a huge division in the pack. As for the outer field: Joc Pederson on the left, Cody Bellinger in the center and Puig on the right. A potential exchange? Bellinger for Taylor. The first was the slightly higher hitter in the regular season, but this has not been the case lately. Bellinger struggled to get hot in October, 5-in-36 via NLDS and NLCS. Meanwhile, Taylor led the playoff team – 1,067 OPS – and is the most impressive player. Like Hernandez, he is only modestly divided into a pack and it should not be too surprising to see the right-hander win more time, even against other right-handers.
At the receiver, look for the Yasmani Grandal hitting the switch, although this is another one that may be subject to change. Given his defensive troubles throughout the playoffs, LA could be reluctant to rely too much on him.
Boston Versus
The Red Sox's rescue body is extremely right handed, with only one left-handed. (That would be Eduardo Rodriguez, who threw a single round in the ALCS.) In games 1 and 2, then expect the aforementioned right-handed training to be eliminated from the bench to sneak up against them.
The Boston office creates a situation very different from what Dave Roberts & Co. has just faced in Milwaukee in the NLCS. The Brewers called the pen early and frequently, and their rescue team was anchored in a major leftist threat to Josh Hader. The Red Sox are much more likely to rely on their starting pitcher – to agree that today, "looking at the starting pitcher" will likely mean a maximum of about 6.0 IP, but still ! – and that there is no scary southpaw. Ryan Brasier and Matt Barnes, as well as Craig Kimbrel; Heath Hembree and Joe Kelly took a big part of the rest. Compared to Milwaukee, this is a set that is certainly easier to manage, if not much easier to manage.
Range of Red Sox
Unlike the Dodgers puzzle, the Red Sox hitters form a more stable group. That does not mean that Alex Cora is not looking for the benefits of the pack like Dave Roberts does, but only that he changes his nine starts less than the skipper of Los Angeles, a man who goes through the lines like us all.
The core of Cora's lineup – Mookie Betts at the front of the pack, followed by Andrew Benintendi, Martinez and Xander Bogaerts – is expected to remain unchanged throughout the series. The four players are regulars, regardless of the pitcher's position on the mound, and they are the best hitters that Boston can offer. The only question concerns Martinez's position or presence when the series moves to Los Angeles and his retrograde National League rules for Games 3, 4 and 5.
Martinez, 31, Boston's second-best hitter behind Betts, has played 93 of his 150 regular-season games this year (and every round of the post-season) as a designated hitter. That's a good reason for that: it's a disaster with a glove in hand. But Cora will not have that luxury at Dodger Stadium; to keep Martinez's bat in the formation, he will have to put it on the field.
The safest and most likely scenario is to have Jackie Bradley Jr., the ALCS MVP, but also the worst hitter in Boston's outfield, slide Betts to the center and kick the ball out. sent to Martinez. The wildest and arguably superior option, however, is to place Betts on second base, his original miners position, but he has only had 15 games since 2014 (including six emergency heats this season). But Betts can hack the keystone, and Cora should seriously consider this choice, as this would allow him to play against Martinez, keep excellent defender Bradley in the center and replace a bottom bat in Ian Kinsler or Brock Holt at second place.
Regarding the rest of the training, Cora will arrange according to the players for the Dodgers.
Versus / Right handed Versus L.A.
Amongst left-handed orders, the Boston order will likely include Steve Pearce – who crush left-handed, first base, Kinsler on second base (assuming Cora does not use the Mookie Gambit), and Eduardo Nuñez on the third. On the other hand, you'll see Mitch Moreland first, Holt second and Rafael Devers third. Bradley will be in the center, followed by Christian Vazquez, after Sandy's move.
The biggest complication for Cora is in third place. Nuñez (right-handed) and Devers (left-handed) create a sensitive peloton, but the former is a defender so unstable that Cora may be afraid to use it. There is also the fact that Devers hit .350 / .409 / .500 in 22 plate matches, this post-match, including a big three-point homer against Justin Verlander in the ALCS match 5 win. in Boston. Meanwhile, Nuñez slashed a measly 188 / 0.278 / 0.250 in 18 AP to accompany his Keystone cop routine in the hot corner – oh, and he has ankle pains since the third game of the ALCS.
But with Los Angeles starting three left-handers at Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-jin Ryu and Rich Hill, Cora could take defense in defense with Nuñez to win the pack advantage. This sounds like an error – not only because Nuñez did not hit and did not play well, but because the adoption of a left-right strategy gives Kinsler a lot of time. not produced since his arrival in Boston in a waiver agreement in August (.242 /.294 / .311 in the regular season, .250 / .280 / .375 in the playoffs). This last fact is another vote in favor of playing Betts to the second, as Holt (a 109 OPS + this season) is better than Kinsler, but remains rather average overall.
The Boston Southpaw batters should have a lot of work at the end of the inning, however, as the Dodgers' desk is quite heavy, especially in high leverage situations. Alex Wood, Caleb Ferguson and Julio Urias are Roberts' only raised weapons, while Wood and Urias are beginners in training. These three players are unlikely to be in late crucial situations, but Urias or Ferguson could play LOOGY on the spot for Benintendi, the Red Sox's best left-back hitter. Kenley Jansen, Pedro Baez, Kenta Maeda, Ryan Madson and Dylan Floro will record the majority of tight and late innings, and the last three are vulnerable to left-handed batters. Moreland, Holt and Devers (and Bradley, if he sits in Martinez's place) could play a crucial role against the Los Angeles relief corps.
One more thing that Cora will have to understand: hitting for the thrower. It's not something he had to do a lot during his rookie season on the bench, but that will become a problem in the middle of the series. This is where the last piece on the Boston bench, the third receiver, Blake Swihart, could finally come into play. Mainly unused against the Yankees and Astros, Swihart's position flexibility – he can play the outside field and appeared in the first, second and third of his brief career in the Major League – offering Cora the opportunity to replace any one in case he needed a double change. and reduces the likelihood of an empty bench late or having to pinch with Leon, one of the worst hitters in the majors.
X factors
For the Red Sox, it is tempting to turn to Devers, who has shown serious advantages to the plate when the opportunity has been offered to him and which lengthens an already difficult alignment. But with the Dodgers starting three left-handed, his opportunities may be limited. Instead, I'll go with Rick Porcello, who will start either Match 3 or 4, but will likely appear before in a spare capacity. The veteran right-winger has surprisingly helped stabilize a fragile enclosure in the ALDS and ALCS, giving Cora a worthy additional arm to join Craig Kimbrel, Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier. That said, Porcello in relief is a weapon that can only be used once at the beginning of the series, whether in the first or second match. otherwise, his departure would be sacrificed. But he could handle the seventh or eighth rank of any of these games to give Cora the depth he needed, and could play a bigger role after the fourth game.
As for the Dodgers, the best is to wait for something from David Freese, who will start Games 1 and 2 at first base against Chris Sale and David Price. His impact may be limited to what he can do against these two pitchers because Boston has no high leverage left-handed in his pen. But it would not be in October without Freese's contribution to a huge success in a crucial moment, whether as a starter or referee.
Manager's Corner
Alex Cora's 108-win campaign is already one of the most impressive ever for a new director. He is now trying to become the fifth new skipper to lead his team to victory in the World Series. (He would join Bucky Harris of the 1924 Senators, Eddie Dyer of the 1946 Cardinals, Ralph Houk of the 1961 Yankees and Bob Brenly of the 2001 Diamondbacks.) After posting a fairly cautious approach in many respects during the regular season – a relatively quick hitch with his starters, a reluctance to use relief officers two days in a row, a deep dislike for the caress – he dealt with the aggression as planned after the playoffs. See: Cora's decision to call Chris Sale, his future starter for the fifth game of the ALDS, instead of finishing the fourth. It's hard to be much more daring than this.
Dave Roberts, meanwhile, was here before. It's just his third season as a manager, but it's his second year running in the Fall Classic. Perhaps the best summary of his style is the striking pinch figure mentioned before – after all, you do not make most plate substitutions by accident for over two decades. This deliberate nature extends to other areas of the game, in order to protect themselves from risks. Roberts is not a big fan of flying (99 attempts, 22nd in baseball) or signal of a hit-and-run (248 riders downs on a swing, 23rd in baseball). The Red Sox ranked third and second respectively in these two measures. The contrast between these areas may well be one of the most interesting encounters in the series.
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