Rays’ bullpen a test for Dodgers’ patient hitters

Crucial matchup likely to decide World Series

In the waning moments of Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday night, with two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the ninth inning, the gate to the Tampa Bay Rays’ bullpen opened one last time, and right-hander Diego Castillo jogged in toward the mound. In their own dugout, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ hitters moved to the top step, leaning on the railing and watching intently.

The Dodgers, with a stellar collection of patient, professional hitters, consider it a small victory any time they get to see another member of the opposing bullpen. They have made it this far in the post-season largely by wearing down pitchers, working counts, drawing walks, getting deep into bullpens and getting long looks at every pitch in every reliever’s arsenal. They may not win every at-bat, but if they work a pitcher over before losing, they have at least gained something useful for the next time they see him.

That was not what happened against Castillo, one of the pillars of the Rays’ deep and exceptional bullpen. The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor took the first pitch, a slider, for strike one on the outside corner. He took the second pitch, a sinker, for strike two, also on the outside corner. On the third pitch, Castillo unleashed another wicked slider, which bent out of the strike zone. Taylor tried to check his swing but failed. Strike three. Game over. Rays win. The entire at-bat lasted about a minute.

It is in moments such as this, the granular, late-inning micro-battle to win every pitch, when this World Series is likely to be won and lost with two of the most potent forces in baseball, the Dodgers’ high-octane offence and the Rays’ rally-crushing bullpen, clashing on a nightly basis.

Both are arguably the best in the game. The Dodgers led the majors in homers (118), slugging percentage (.483) and weighted runs created plus (122). The Rays were third in bullpen ERA (3.37), first in bullpen walk rate (2.9 per nine innings) and first in bullpen wins above replacement (3.6).

The Dodgers have compiled a highlight reel’s worth of writ-large, signature moments this post-season — epic home runs, outrageous defensive plays, late-inning comebacks — but arguably their most effective weapon has been the walk, at least one of which has preceded almost every significant hit or homer in these playoffs. Eighteen times in this post-season, a Dodgers batter has drawn a walk, then come around to score.

In all, the Dodgers have drawn 69 walks in 14 games this post-season (including 11 in the first two games of the World Series), an average of 4.9 per game — about 50 per cent more than the Rays’ post-season average (3.3), as well as the MLB average during the regular season (3.4). It is also a significant improvement from the Dodgers’ rates during the previous three post-seasons, all of which ended in losses.

“The best players in the game, year in and out, control the strike zone. They swing at strikes and take balls,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And I believe championship baseball, at least on the offensive side (is) about passing the baton, getting on base, and it’s not about chasing hits. And we’ve just done it very well this post-season.

“If there’s something in our nitro zone, we’re going to slug it. Pitchers understand that. And if they’re not going to pitch to us, then the next guy will take that at-bat.”

The Dodgers are seeing an average of 157 pitches per game this post-season — 11 more pitches, or almost an entire inning’s worth, than the MLB average (146) during the regular season. In Game 1 of the World Series, an 8-3 Dodgers win, they worked Rays started Tyler Glasnow over for 112 pitches in just four-and-a-third innings and as a result got to see three members of the Rays’ bullpen. Every pitch an opposing pitcher is forced to throw — and the Rays threw a whopping 174 in Game 1 — provides one more bit of information to file away for later.

“It’s really about getting baserunners. It puts pressure on pitchers — something else to worry about. They’re more likely to make mistakes if you can work counts and get that pitch count up,” said Taylor, who cited Cody Bellinger’s 10-pitch at-bat against reliever Ryan Yarbrough in the pivotal fifth inning of Game 1. Although Bellinger ultimately popped out, he forced Yarbrough to work hard, and Taylor, the next batter, lined an RBI single.

Bellinger, Taylor said, “was able to wear the pitcher down, and the first pitch to me he left one over the plate for me to hit. The more pitches you can get those guys to throw, the more likely they are to make a mistake.”

However, the near-blowout nature of Game 1 provided the Rays with a subtle advantage: it allowed manager Kevin Cash to bypass his “A” bullpen — the handful of exceptional arms he saves for high-leverage situations. That decision came in handy in Game 2 after the Rays out to a lead. Cash immediately deployed his best relievers — right-handers Nick Anderson and Pete Fairbanks, lefty Aaron Loup and finally Castillo — to carry that lead home.

THEY SWING AT STRIKES AND TAKE BALLS.