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LOS ANGELES – Joc Pederson, who has a total of 10 goals in the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night, has only started 51% of the time since the beginning of August . Max Muncy, who essentially won the game on a 400-meter three-point circuit, has been in 20 of 55 games since joining the All-Star team.
The Dodgers, who have a half-game lead in the Western National League with just 11 left, were built largely thanks to the sacrifice.
L.A. looked very good and St. Louis still has some work to do, but both teams can feel the playoffs – and they missed their absence.
While the Rockies, Dodgers and Cardinals are fighting for two playoffs, we have a new team at the top of the pack.
With key races in full swing, we are previewing the biggest clashes and measuring what is at stake this week.
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Five of their eight positions – all but the receiver, third base, and shortstop – have a semblance of timeshare, and two of their most successful pitchers currently hold non-identifiable roles.
The director of the Dodgers, Dave Roberts, was responsible for the grueling sales work.
"A lot of conversations," said Roberts about what that entails, "and sell them to give us the best chance of winning a championship, and understand that and understand that, although you do not start, you have a chance to have an impact our game that night, which, if you look at how we handled things, really played that way.There are a lot of guys in the games we won that have not started yet and have had an impact, whether it's in defensive mode or taking a stick, when you see it like that, it's valid. "
The enviable depth of the Dodgers 'players' position has pushed franchise icon (Matt Kemp), a World Series hero (David Freese) and a future Hall of Fame (Chase Utley) member into part-time roles . The same can be said of one of the best hitter in the first half (Muncy) and, in some respects, the rookie of the year in the title of the National League (Cody Bellinger). Brian Dozier, a second-base regular for half a decade, and Pederson, a budding young player with all the tools, were not exempt either.
On the pitch side, the mix-and-match was even more noticeable. Alex Wood, who created an ERA of 3.65 and did not miss a start, was recently sent to a center that already included Kenta Maeda, a solid pitcher with incentives in his contract that depends on the innings launched. Ross Stripling replaced Wood in the rotation. He was sent to the paddock shortly after being part of the star team.
Roberts met the entire team earlier this season and told his players that he basically had two options: he could use virtually the same lineup each day, or he could try to take advantage of the game's benefits, maximize his depth and involve more players.
The choice was easy.
"Everybody wants to play every day", third base player Dodgers Justin Turner said "but there are 17, 18 really good baseball players here, and the truth is that not everyone can play every day." Hard to talk about what everyone feels, but I think do a good job. "
Roberts has used 146 alignment combinations this season and is now trying to use the depth of his rotation to help fortify the back of his enclosure, which is easily the club's biggest gap.
Wood, a southpaw, and Maeda, a right-handed, could serve as configuration options for Kenley Jansen. The same goes for Dylan Floro, Scott Alexander, Ryan Madson, Caleb Ferguson and maybe Julio Urias, the 22-year-old prodigy who looked good in his first league appearance since his surgery at the time. ;shoulder.
Roberts said that there is "room for maneuver" regarding the changing role of installation in his office, as has been the case all year long. Encounters, peripherals and the body of work have been the dominant factors for most of the season, but there is an intentional recency bias at this stage.
"The guys we talked about will have opportunities if that makes sense," Roberts said. "But it's about right now – we need to get results." For me to see what guys have done here recently, it's at the heart of my concerns. "
That's why Yasiel Puig, who has just been named Player of the Week in the Netherlands, is basically an everyday player. And why Pederson and Muncy, beating a .372 combined total over the last seven days, look like matches again.
But everything is ephemeral.
Roberts can spell Muncy with Freese against lefties at first base. He can use Kemp to replace Pederson against left-handed in the left field and use Alex Verdugo, the best hope of the organization, to replace Puig against a right-handed in the right field. Bellinger is an option on the first or first central field, while Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez can fill virtually anywhere. If Dozier – a .189 / .302 / .346 batter since his arrival – continues to struggle, even 39-year-old Utley can start if the clashes favor him.
That's the kind of depth that could make the Dodgers a nightmare opponent in the playoffs, if they succeed.
"At the end of the day, especially in September, the depth we have is an advantage for us," said Turner. "Guys understand that, we know what we're playing for, we know what we want to do, and the guys buy, everyone here wants to win."
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