Sitting Muncy and Bellinger in games 1 and 2 was bad, in my opinion. Pulling Hill in the 7th of game 4 was worse. And putting in Alexander and then Madsen for Hill there was really
the worst thing they could have done.
But in the end, to me, this World Series was more about Kershaw than anything. A good friend of mine that equally dislikes the Red Sox and Dodgers but is also the most knowledgeable person about baseball that I know told me before the Series that the way LAD could and would win would be Kershaw. "Two good starts from him and you win. If not, you lose. Plain and simple." And I think he was right.
And believe me, I love Kershaw. The best regular season pitcher I've ever seen. My favorite current Dodger and one of my 3 favorites ever going back to 1979 when I started following them. But they needed him and he came up short. He was not terrible. But he didn't do what they needed. To beat a superior opponent your best has to be at their best.
Now, at age 30 and with 2,250 innings on that arm, what happens with him? My guess is he opts out to get a final big payday. Because he knows if he waits another two years it's not coming. He is still
very good of course but he is also now a 13-win, 160 innings starter. It's his average the past three seasons and what he is and will be- at best- the next three years. So what do the Dodgers do? Unemotionally it would make sense to move on should he opt out. Try to pressure him to stay under the current deal and slowly transition Buehler to become their ace while Kershaw is more of a very good #2 or 3.
Will they? I doubt it. But Dodgers fans have to be prepared that he will not be better or more durable than he was 2016-2018. And very possibly worse.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2018 08:59AM by LMU93.
