BetCrimes1984
CTG Big Brother
Right from the start of the NLCS, 2 things went against the Dodgers - one controllable, the other not.
(1) With Ethier injured, Kemp out, and Puig a playoff rookie with lots to learn, Rameriz was always going to be 1 of 2 key ABs for LA (Gonzo the other). Hey presto, first AB of the series & he's done like a dinner (2-12 +3 BB from Game 2 onwards). STL might well have packed their bags for the WS right then & there. This just gets filed under shit that happens. The Cards know all about an injury to your best batter in an NLCS, and how it can cost you. Just go back 1 season.
(2) Donnie Loseball slotted Ethier into the starting lineup (I personally saw nothing prior to the day the series started that said that was going to happen). If that was his long term intention (as opposed to the more unlikely, on the spur of the moment decision), then he needed to give him at least a start in Game 4 vs Atlanta to get up to some kind of speed, when, at 3-0 up in that series, he could afford a performance like, say, I don't know, Ethier dropping a game winning catch, and not really pay for it. Blow a game up 3-0, no biggy. Blow a crucial Game 1, slighty more of a biggy. Just slightly. He PH'd him throughout that NLDS, so you know his decision to start him wasn't a spur of the moment thing, because what difference did 3 days really make (between Game 4 & Game 1)? No, Donnie Loseball fixes something that isn't broke, and it unarguably cost them Game 1 (and with it probably the series). As for his BS reasoning -
Mattingly steadfastly defended Ethier. Asked if Ethier might have felt rusty as a result of not having started in the outfield for nearly a month, Mattingly said, "Usually when a guy jumps at a ball at the wall and runs into it at the same time, you don't really call that rust. If he catches it, it's a great play. I don't think you can find any fault with him not catching it."
Well, if a guy is fit enough then he can run at full pace towards the ball's perceived landing area, meaning he's there to catch the ball early enough to avoid any heavy collison with the wall. By being a step slow - due to not being fully fit & an extended time off full-game play - he inevitably arrives at that area however much more slowly (i.e., late), thereby necessitating a collison with the wall. While that catch wasn't easy, an injured player made it harder than it really was (not only look harder, but made it actually harder). This quote is a classic case of rationalization: it's got little to do conveying reality, and everything to do with saving DM's own ego.
Besides that missed catch, Ethier did nothing at the plate (1-10 +1 BB) until his 'breakout' 2-3 +1 BB in Game 4. I personally don't think that was worth wasting 3 full NLCS games getting him up to speed for, not when your lineup was functioning fine with him only PH'ing. And considering he went 0-4 in Game 5 I'd still not have him starting, but at this point it's all about Donnie Loseball's ego & the possibility of losing face, so he won't bench him hence LA is odds on to lose the series because of it. It's one thing to have 1 passenger in a lineup, but 2?
LA has won 2 games: 1 because of a shutout by it's pitcher, the other due to hitting 4 HRs. Without either of those kind of irregular efforts, they've failed to win a game. Are they going to shut out the Cards twice @home? Are they going to total 4 HRs in both coming games? Are they going to manage 1 of each of those efforts again? Because at the moment they're the only benchmark for LA managing a W.... Yeah, I don't see it either. Maybe lightening strikes once more in either form, but not twice. LA will show some serious mettle to overcome these 2 offensive obstacles, when their very advantage over the Cards before the series began was offense (imo each pitching staff cancelled out the other). Frankly I'm struggling to see it, not when their best case scenario is facing Waino@home in a Game 7 without Greinke or Kershaw on the mound?
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