Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcellus
Anyone can beat LA in the playoffs, losing is what they do best once the lights are brightest.
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The Dodgers kiiiiiinda have that record setting Mariners feel to them? It depends on whether or not you think Kershaw is finding a 'new normal' and figuring out how to dominate with lesser stuff and if you think Buehler can be a true ace in the postseason.
Ryu is inching closer and closer to the wall, IMO. He's not looked nearly as sharp of late. Maeda is just a guy; probably a reliever in the playoffs. Stripling and Hill may be non-entities at this point. May looks as good as any of those guys at times.
The difference is really Bellinger. Muncy has also been pretty outstanding this year. But that team is completely different when Bellinger is feeling it. The issue with him is that his swing has a lot of leverage in it; his timing has to be letter perfect given that high finish and his full extension.
There's a path to seeing the Dodgers go down in the post-season. Don't get me wrong - they're easily the best bet. But they're not the juggernaut the Astros are, IMO. And I'm not even sure they have the offensive depth to bludgeon teams like the Yankees do.
A team that we should start looking very warily at is the Nationals. Scherzer, Strasburg and Corbin going 1-2-3 in a post-season series is pretty nasty. Soto is a full blown superstar and Rendon just keeps doing under the radar awesome hitter stuff, like he's done for years. You have Robles/Eaton/Turner as additional lineup depth and they've cobbled together some really nice production out of Dozier and Kendrick. There are some real bullpen issues there but if they can get those straightened out over the next month, they could be damn dangerous.