Questions arise for the Dodgers
Two key ones are Seager’s hitting and Wood’s role during the postseason.
The Dodgers are rolling again. They clinched homefield advantage through the National League playoffs Tuesday with their third consecutive victory. They have won 101 games, including 56 at home, the latter a record since the team moved to Los Angeles six decades ago. They are close to clinching the best record in the major leagues, and with it the home-field edge in a potential World Series.
However, the march to October hit two speed bumps Tuesday, neither the kind of issue a team would prefer to have unresolved with the playoffs a week away.
Can the Dodgers win if Corey Seager is not hitting? And do the Dodgers believe their best postseason pitching staff includes Alex Wood in the bullpen?
The first question might be more relevant to the Dodgers’ October fate, but that issue has lingered for a few weeks. The second question exploded into the public discussion Tuesday, when manager Dave Roberts was
asked to confirm that Wood would be a part of the Dodgers playoff rotation.
“We’re still not prepared to make a decision,” Roberts said before Wood pitched six strong innings in the Dodgers’ 9-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Yasmani Grandal hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, putting the team ahead to stay. Grandal has 22 home runs, most of any catcher in the NL.
Adrian Gonzalez also hit a home run, his first since Aug. 24. Gonzalez, most likely competing with Andre Ethier for the postseason roster spot of left-handed pinch-hitter, also doubled.
But the home run that made the Dodgers breathe the easiest was the one hit by Seager. He entered the game batting .172 in September, with a .489 on-base-plusslugging percentage and one home run in his previous 143 at-bats. He homered, singled and drove in four runs, in his first multi-hit game since Aug. 25.
In the three postseason series in which Seager has played, he has slugged .270 in the two the Dodgers lost and .435 in the one they won. So, again: Can the Dodgers win in October if he is not hitting?
“Can it happen? Absolutely,” Roberts said. “Is it ideal? Absolutely not. You can say that about any team’s best player.
“We expect Corey to get out of this funk and be as productive as he’s always been.”
Roberts said the elbow discomfort that has nagged Seager for weeks has not hampered his swing and said the Dodgers would rather have him get at-bats this week than rest the elbow.
“Shutting him down until the playoffs is not an option,” Roberts said.
Wood has a 2.72 earnedrun average, ranking fifth among major league starters with at least 150 innings. The top four: Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.
In his last three starts, Wood has a 2.00 ERA. However, Wood has lost a bit of velocity on his fastball late in the season, with his groundball rate down and his f lyball rate up. That could be a worry against the Dodgers’ most likely opponents in the division series, because Wood probably would start in one of two homer-happy ballparks, either in Chase Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks or in Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies.
The Dodgers would have the option to use Kershaw on short rest in the division series, or to use Hyun-Jin Ryu as a fourth starter. Ryu has given up no more than one run in five of his last six starts.
The numbers favor Wood as a starter, at least against the Dodgers’ most likely opponents in the division series.
Wood is 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA against the Diamondbacks this season and 2-1 with a 3.18 ERA against the Rockies. Ryu is 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA against Arizona, 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA against Colorado.
However, the Dodgers have struggled to identify the middle relievers that might justify inclusion on a playoff roster. They already have said Kenta Maeda will be considered for such a role, although Maeda has four career relief outings in 279 professional appearances. They have ruled out Ryu as a reliever.
Wood has made all four of his postseason appearances in relief. The Dodgers put him in the bullpen at the start of this season, but he soon filled a vacancy in the rotation and emerged as an All-Star.