How did Dodgers succeed?

This is the life on the Dodgers, whose extreme peloton practices produce a new composition almost every game – but also create controlled chaos that forces players to ignore their pedigrees and adopt the collective good.

"The most important thing is to throw your ego out the door," says Enrique Hernandez, who is bouncing on all terrain and evolving into training, and just comes here with the same goal: to win the world. And no matter what happens – who plays and who does not play. "

The Dodgers enter this NLCS after a 13-4 losing streak that allowed them to double the Colorado Rockies to win the NL West title and roll the Braves into the NLDS. Only two players started every game of this crucial stage: the shortstop Manny Machado and the third baseman Justin Turner.

The rest of the composition comes from a group of 11 players who start and rest almost entirely on the opponent's pitcher. Constant adjustments create an "Where's Waldo?" Effect on the alignment map. Hernandez was first, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth in just three weeks, while Chris Taylor and he both went to three places.

During these 17 games that marked their season, the Dodgers put together 14 combinations, sometimes even a slight shift to the bottom of the order, minor adjustments to make the most of the exhaustive analyzes that filter from the front office to Dave manager. Roberts at the clubhouse.

And it is perhaps the last part of the information flow that is most important: That the affected group accept the decisions with elegance.

"I think I can speak on behalf of all club club members, they come every day, getting ready as they started that day, even if they are not." Muncy said Thursday, shortly after the club's arrival at Miller Park. "That's what makes us so good: every person there is getting ready every day like she's going to play."

It is inevitable that many do not and the members of this pack are well decorated: Seven old All-Stars. Two NLCS MVPs, including one – the field-fighting player Taylor – who claimed those honors last season.

And a Yasiel Puig.

But this group – we'll call them Andrew's Eleven, after Baseball Operations President Andrew Friedman – is as balanced as he is talented. Or maybe one student the other.

"This is a cold group," said field player David Freese, the most valuable player in the NLCS and World Series 2011 series acquired by the Dodgers a few minutes before the trading deadline on August 31. "It's a group that, especially in mid-October, understands the priority, understands what we are aiming for. The Dodgers are as analytical as everyone else; it's just how they do it.

"But if you have so much talent, you will have a team, no matter who is on the back. It's funny. "

Indeed, the Dodgers as a whole are formidable: no one in NL. does not hit hard (79% of the time) and does not cross the fence more often (highest score in the NL at 235).

Seven Dodgers – none of them named Turner or Machado – scored at least 21 homers. The club has won 92 games, and sometimes a direct line can be traced from DIY to victory.

In the only game played by Hernandez at the top of the standings in his decisive series, which marks the start of the last series of the season in San Francisco, he started the match with a single and produced three successes against Giants, Madison Bumgarner; the Dodgers won this game 3-1, swept the Giants and beat the Rockies in a playoff game for the division title.

Such results mean that Roberts never has to say much.

"There's a lot of talk about why all the way through the regular season," says Roberts, "and in the playoffs, things happen faster. There must be trust in your culture and your team, in which you only do what you are asked to do, because every decision we make takes a lot of thought and preparation.

"And fortunately for us, we have it."

The 35 circuits of Muncy only gave 395 shots. His batting average (.255, instead of .266) and his OPS (.891 vs. 1.001) are far from disastrous for left-handers. His rebirth in baseball after his release in March 2017 by Oakland A – "I was not good enough to play for a team finishing 20 games over the first two years I was there. there, "he said. weekend.

Instead, he will join the third baseline on Friday night with the rest of the Dodgers in pre-game introductions and wait for his last-minute chance, probably against a right-handed reliever like Corey Knebel or Jeremy Jeffress. .

The third game in Los Angeles will pit Brewers right-winger Jhoulys Chacin at the Muncy window. His behavior in the meantime will certainly also count for something.

"You need a particular group of people," says Freese. "That's what counts.A guy can lift hell, can cause problems with regard to playing time.He is covered by what we are trying to accomplish.We are on the same page and we are aiming for the goal. "