Road to the World Series: The 2018 Dodgers

For the first time since 1977-1978, the Los Angeles Dodgers have advanced to the World Series in back-to-back seasons.  With hopes of improving upon a magical 2017 season that set a “Los Angeles” Dodgers record for most wins (104-58), the Dodgers found themselves, instead, having to claw and scrape their way into the postseason this year.  The road to the 2018 World Series was not an easy one, but the locker-room champagne undoubtedly tasted a little bit sweeter this time around.

For those who followed the Dodgers the entirety of the season, nearly all are aware of the struggles this team had to overcome.  Following a devastating Game 7 loss to the Houston Astros in the World Series last fall, the Dodgers began the season with a laundry list of issues that started as early as Spring Training.  Just 10 days before Opening Day, 2017 All-Star and NLCS Co-MVP, Justin Turner, was struck in the left wrist on a pitch from Oakland A’s right-hander, Kendall Graveman, sidelining him for the first 40 games of the 2018 season.

If Turner’s injury wasn’t bad enough, just two weeks before his return it was announced that All-Star shortstop, Corey Seager, would undergo season-ending “Tommy John Surgery.”  To add insult to injury (literally), All-Star closer, Kenley Jansen, struggled early in the season with a 4.02 ERA, a loss and 2 blown saves by mid-May as well as allowed 3 home runs in his first 7 appearances (Jansen would also suffer from an irregular heartbeat in early August and miss 10 games with the club.  Upon his return, his struggles would resurface in the form of a 5.71 ERA in 18 games including 7 home runs allowed).  Among these injuries, other notable players who spent time on the DL in 2018 were: Clayton Kershaw, Ross Stripling, Tony Cingrani, Julio Urias, Rich Hill, Yasiel Puig, Kenta Maeda, Walker Buehler…you get the picture.

By May 16th the Dodgers were 4th in the division and 10 games below .500 with a 16-26 record following 4 consecutive series losses to the Padres, Diamondbacks, Reds and Marlins, including a 4-game sweep by the Reds at Dodger Stadium.  Despite being early in the season, the hopes of redemption for a World Series title seemed to be out of reach.  An unhealthy roster is not indicative of a championship-caliber team.

With their backs against the wall, the Dodgers marched on.

By June, the Dodgers would start to turn things around and one of the major catalysts who ignited this team was none other than Matt Kemp.  Kemp, who was acquired in an off-season trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy and Charlie Culberson to the Atlanta Braves in December last year, was believed by many to be released before the season began.  Instead, Kemp would emerge as a 2018 All-Star hitting 21 home runs, 85 RBI’s, and batting .290/.338/.481/.818 (BA/OBP/SLG/OPS) by season’s end.  Another surprise player that rose to stardom was Max Muncy who was released by the Oakland A’s in 2016 and picked up by the Dodgers last year.  Muncy would play for the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2017 before being called up on April 16th.  He would finish the season with 35 home runs, 79 RBI’s and bat .263/.391/.582/.973.

In addition to the aforementioned surprise performances, the Dodgers would also have 7 players with 20 or more home runs (franchise record): Max Muncy (35), Joc Pederson (25), Cody Bellinger (25), Yasmani Grandal (24), Yasiel Puig (23), Matt Kemp (21) and Kike Hernandez (21).  The Boys in Blue would also hit a franchise best 235 home runs, previously set by the 2017 Dodgers (221).  The cherry on top of the season would come, though, in a blockbuster trade with the Baltimore Orioles immediately after the All-Star break in which the Dodgers would acquire another All-Star: Manny Machado.  With the addition of 2011 World Series MVP David Freese from the Pittsburgh Pirates and relief pitcher, Ryan Madson, from the Washington Nationals at the waiver-trade deadline, the Dodgers had become a force to be reckoned with.

By July 12th, the Dodgers had captured the lead for the first time all season; however, it would not last long as they would teeter-totter back and forth with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies in a tight division race until the end of August.  As the season entered the final month, the D-backs would fizzle out allowing the Dodgers and Rockies to continue the battle for the remainder of the year.  Despite sweeping the Rockies at home in mid-September, the Dodgers would drop a critical series to Arizona with only 3 games left in the season against the rival San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.  Their chances of winning the division title seemed all but lost.

The Dodgers would need a miracle.

Down one game to the Rockies, the Dodgers would have to sweep the Giants and hope for a red-hot Rockies team to lose at least one game.  As if by divine intervention, that’s exactly what happened.  The season would come to an end with the Dodgers and Rockies TIED at 91-71 forcing a Game 163 for the first time since 1980.  Fortunately, the Dodgers had won the season series against the Rockies and would go on to host the Tiebreaker at Chavez Ravine where they would win by a score of 5-2 to clinch their 6th consecutive NL West division title and head back to the National League Division Series to face the Braves (90-72).

The Dodgers would defeat the Braves 3-1 to go to their third consecutive National League Championship Series.  This time, the Dodgers would face another hot team in the form of the Milwaukee Brewers (96-67) who also won Game 163 against the Chicago Cubs (first time in MLB history that there were TWO tiebreaker games).  Riding an 11-game winning streak into the NLCS, the Brewers would stay hot and win Game 1 to improve their winning-streak to 12 games.  The Dodgers, however, would take Game 2 to end their streak and send the series back to LA.  After taking a 3-2 series lead, the Dodgers would drop Game 6 taking the series the distance to Game 7 where they would win 5-1 and head back to the World Series for a shot at redemption.

Ironically, the 2018 NLCS would mimic the 1988 NLCS including both Game 4’s going to extra innings (’88 went 12 innings and ’18 went 13 innings).

The theme for the Dodgers this year has been “LADetermined” and that’s exactly what this team has embodied.  The 2018 season was far from perfect and was a roller coaster ride for the players and fans alike.  Most people counted the Dodgers out early in the season but, so far, they have proved the nay-sayers wrong.  The ride isn’t over and the Dodgers are as hungry as ever for a World Series title.  Only one team remains in the path of redemption: the MLB-best Boston Red Sox (108-54).  In order to be the best you have to beat the best and that’s exactly what the Dodgers are set out to do.  These two storied franchises have only met ONCE in the Fall Classic in MLB history way back in 1916 when the Dodgers were known as the Brooklyn Robins.  The Red Sox would go on to beat the Dodgers that year 4-1.  This year, however, the Dodgers look to flip the script.

A wise man once said “In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.”  To the 2018 Dodgers, nothing is impossible.

BakoBoyInBlue