Daily Clips

October 17, 2017

LOS ANGELES DODGERS DAILY CLIPS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017

DODGERS.COM Maeda's seamless move to 'pen boosting LA - AJ Cassavell Injured Seager not traveling to Chicago - Ken Gurnick LA motivated by tough Wrigley Field memories - Ken Gurnick Dominant Jansen using slider more, cutter less - Mike Petriello LA looks to Yu as Cubs call on Hendricks in G3 - Doug Miller Bullpen putting Dodgers in prime position - Anthony Castrovince LA TIMES Back-to-back games for Kenta Maeda? No problem, Dodgers say - Andy McCullough The Dodgers' bullpen has the confidence to be dangerous for the Cubs - Andy McCullough Vin Scully talks about Justin Turner's home run, and watching rather than working the playoffs – Andy McCullough OC REGISTER Whicker: Kenley Jansen, Dodgers’ closer with big shoulders, looms large over Chicago - Mark Whicker Dodgers’ Yu Darvish gains Dave Roberts’ confidence with simplified repertoire - J.P. Hoornstra Dodgers’ Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger find first postseason experience stressful but fun - Bill Plunkett ESPN When it comes to closers, when will managers learn? - Sam Miller TRUE BLUE LA Justin Turner is the gift that keeps on giving for the Dodgers - Eric Stephen The Dodgers bullpen is a force to be reckoned with - Eric Stephen Justin Turner got his home run ball back from the Dodgers fan who caught it - Eric Stephen Corey Seager improving, but doesn’t travel with Dodgers to Chicago - Eric Stephen The first week of the Arizona Fall League - Eric Stephen DODGER INSIDER Bellinger appreciates veterans, Ethier taking him under his wing in rookie season - Rowan Kavner USA TODAY SPORTS California Love: How Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen vowed to return for a Dodgers title - Bob Nightengale LA TIMES Dodgers Dugout: Justin Turner is taking his place among postseason legends - Houston Mitchell

LOS ANGELES DODGERS

DAILY CLIPS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017

DODGERS.COM

Maeda's seamless move to 'pen boosting LA

By AJ Cassavell

This isn't the role Kenta Maeda envisioned for himself in October. He's thriving in it, just the same.

Between his time in Japan and the Major Leagues, Maeda has pitched in 279 professional games during

his 10-year career. He started 274 of them.

So when the Dodgers approached Maeda in the final week of the regular season to let him know they'd

prefer to use him in a relief role in the playoffs, it seemed a bit unorthodox to Maeda. But he jumped on

board with the idea.

Two weeks later, the Dodgers are 5-0 in the postseason and they lead the Cubs, 2-0, in the National

League Championship Series presented by Camping World. Maeda has played no small part.

"Knowing that it's the postseason, ideally, I wanted to start, but I've been given this role," Maeda said

through a team interpreter. "So my mindset is I'm going to do my best in it."

His best has been good enough for the Dodgers. In three outings this postseason, Maeda has faced nine

hitters, and he's retired them all. He's established himself as a pivotal piece in the Dodgers' relief puzzle.

Though many expected Maeda to serve as something of a long man, he's become more of a righty

specialist in the playoffs -- a role that seems to suit him well. Right-handed hitters are batting just .160

against Maeda since the All-Star break, and he is striking them out at a 41 percent clip.

"Obviously with shorter innings that I'm pitching now, my stuff is faster, I think my breaking stuff is a

little sharper," Maeda said. "But that's to be expected because I'm throwing it a little harder. My best

pitch is my slider, so I think I'm able to use that effectively [against right-handed hitters]."

Four of Maeda's five professional relief appearances came this season, and the Dodgers noticed that --

perhaps more than most pitchers -- his stuff benefited from being used in shorter spurts. His fastball

velocity has ticked up from 91 mph during the regular season to 95 in the playoffs. Only one opponent

has managed to put his slider in play this postseason.

"We saw a little bit of it this summer, and the stuff really played up," said Dodgers manager Dave

Roberts. "The credit goes to Kenta as far as buying in and understanding that every out in the

postseason is important. When he gets his opportunity, he's been lights out."

Of course, Maeda isn't limited to a role as right-handed specialist. When the Dodgers pinch-hit for closer

Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning Sunday night, it was Maeda getting loose in the 'pen. Without Justin

Turner's walk-off homer, Maeda presumably would have taken the ball as the long man for extras.

"To have him for a certain three-hitter spot and also to give us length, it's a luxury that we have,"

Roberts said.

Maeda has needed just 26 pitches to record his nine postseason outs. No outing was more impressive

than Game 2 of the NL Division Series presented by T-Mobile against Arizona. With the Dodgers clinging

to a one-run lead in the fifth, Roberts called on Maeda for the heart of the D-backs order. He struck out

A.J. Pollock on three pitches and got Paul Goldschmidt to bounce to short to end the frame. He then

fanned J.D. Martinez to begin the sixth after the Dodgers had tacked on four more runs. Three All-Stars

retired with ease.

Much has been made about the Dodgers' relief corps this postseason -- and rightfully so. In eight innings

this series, L.A. relievers have yet to allow a hit. Maeda seems to be embracing his place within that

dominant 'pen.

"Everyone knows we have a lot of really good pitchers in the bullpen," Maeda said. "If I just do my job,

there are plenty of other pitchers who will come in and do their jobs."

Injured Seager not traveling to Chicago

By Ken Gurnick

CHICAGO -- Injured Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager has still not begun baseball activities and did not

make the team flight to Chicago, where the National League Championship Series with the Cubs

resumes tonight.

"Continued improvement today," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said in a conference call, "but he's not

going to be on the flight with us to Chicago."

Seager sprained his lower back on a first-inning slide in the Game 3 clincher of the National League

Division Series in Arizona last Monday. He played the entire game, but his back locked up the following

day. Seager received an epidural injection for the pain and was left off the 25-man active roster for the

NLCS presented by Camping World, replaced at shortstop by Charlie Culberson in the first two games of

the series. Culberson is 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and a sacrifice fly.

There had been speculation that a rapid recovery by Seager could put him in position to be a

replacement for an injured teammate during this series, but that won't be possible until it returns to Los

Angeles for Games 6 and 7, at the earliest, if those games are necessary.

If Seager hasn't resumed baseball activities in a full week, this is no minor tweak. It now sounds as if the

Dodgers are just hopeful Seager would be available if they make it to the World Series presented by

YouTube TV.

"He hasn't done anything baseball specific," Roberts confirmed after the club held a light workout at

Dodger Stadium on Monday morning. "Number 1, we've got to get him in a place where physically he

can play in a Major League game and endure those conditions as far as weather, to come back after a

night game and play the next day. Right now, I wouldn't say we're close to that point yet."

Game 3 lineup TBD

Roberts said he hasn't decided on lineup changes for Game 3 against Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks,

who beat Clayton Kershaw in last year's NLCS Game 6 clincher. The Cubs started lefties in the first two

games of this series.

"We haven't come to a consensus yet," Roberts said.

Based on his lineups against Arizona's right-handed starters in the NLDS presented by T-Mobile, the

most likely changes would be Curtis Granderson or even Andre Ethier for Enrique Hernandez in left field

and Chase Utley for Logan Forsythe at second base. But Granderson is 1-for-11 in his career against

Hendricks. Roberts could also move Chris Taylor to shortstop for Culberson and put Joc Pederson in

center field, but Pederson is 0-for-8 with four strikeouts against Hendricks.

Adrian Gonzalez, whose herniated disk in his back affected his 2017 season, has been missed this

month. Roberts said Gonzalez didn't want to be a distraction, knowing he is physically unable to play.

"One of those things, he's been such a great Dodger, is still a great Dodger, to be able to rest his back,"

Roberts said. "Obviously the guys, myself, we're in contact with him constantly. He's rooting like heck. I

think he didn't want to be a distraction, wanted the guys who were active and the taxi guys that might

be activated, they're traveling with us, that's an organizational policy he respects."

Gonzalez has one year remaining on his contract, and Roberts said the veteran first baseman is

preparing to be ready for Spring Training.

LA motivated by tough Wrigley Field memories

By Ken Gurnick

CHICAGO -- Clinching a National League pennant at home would be epic, especially after a 29-year

drought. But if karma counts, it would be fitting for the Dodgers, who were eliminated by the Cubs at

Wrigley Field last year, to eliminate the Cubs at Wrigley this year.

After all, you don't easily forget watching a team celebrate at your expense.

"It was tough," said closer Kenley Jansen, who has used those Wrigley memories as motivation. "To see

how the fans got on us, celebrating, how wild they got. And the following year, we come here and they

do the banner and ring ceremony. That's a lot, man.

"But they're a very good team, the hitting is good. They did it all, they're the world champs, and if we

want to be the champ, we have to bring down the champs. We have another shot at them. We respect

who they are."

The NLCS presented by Camping World returns to Wrigley Field tonight with the Dodgers holding a 2-0

lead in the best-of-seven series after Justin Turner's Game 2 walk-off homer Sunday night. But the

Dodgers led the series last year, 2-1, before losing three straight, which is still an open wound.

After falling in Game 6, they had to hang around in a cramped clubhouse for an extra hour while officials

scrambled to devise an escape route for the team bus through Wrigleyville streets overrun by partying

fans. Some players decided to walk through the mob to find a ride back to the hotel.

Then came the Cubs' home opener this year, the schedule-makers returning the Dodgers to Wrigley

Field as the opponent in a chilly April week filled with nutty Cubs mania. After a two-hour rain delay --

during which the Game 6 clincher was replayed on the video board -- some of the Dodgers players

watched the Cubs raise a championship banner. Most didn't, however. The next game, the Cubs handed

out World Series rings.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said what little was watched of those ceremonies further fueled his

club's desire to trade places with the champs.

"Yeah, that was clear with our guys in Spring Training, and up to this point, we've done everything we

can to prove that," Roberts said.

Roberts said the focus on dethroning the Cubs plays into a mental approach that has allowed the

Dodgers to avoid letting setbacks -- even huge ones, like losing Corey Seager to injury -- break their

stride.

"That's the whole mindset of the team, it doesn't affect us," said Roberts, who added that winning the

last two seasons despite back injuries to Clayton Kershaw is proof the team is bigger than any one

player.

"One hundred percent. But there's a long way to go. This Cubs team, they're not going to quit fighting,

competing. Our guys, our focus is on Game 3. It's definitely noted how resilient that club is over there."

Dominant Jansen using slider more, cutter less

By Mike Petriello

There has rarely been any trickery to Kenley Jansen's game, and it has rarely mattered. He throws his

cutter basically all the time, in any and all counts. The hitters know it's coming, and when. It hasn't made

a difference. It is, quite possibly, baseball's most unhittable pitch.

This year, Jansen got even more dominant, notably setting a Major League record by collecting 51

strikeouts before issuing his first walk. And so far this postseason, he has been even better than that,

despite the higher level of opponent. He has whiffed 10 of the 22 batters faced, allowing only two

singles. Twice, he has pitched more than an inning.

How? This is a story about the Majors' best reliever using his most storied pitch less, and supplementing

it with a complementary offering that looks like it's a lot more than just a "show-me" pitch. For years,

Jansen has gotten by with his cutter. Now, as the Cubs are learning, hitters have to worry about his

slider, too.

To start, let's explain that it's in no way hyperbole to have called Jansen a one-pitch pitcher. Nearly nine

out of 10 pitches that Jansen has thrown since his big league debut in 2010 have been cut fastballs,

making him one of only two pitchers (min. 100 innings) to throw his cutter more than 80 percent of the

time in that span. The other? Mariano Rivera, the legendary pitcher he has long been compared to. In

fact, Jansen's 88.2-percent cutter rate slightly topped the 87 percent from Rivera. Jansen has long relied

on just one pitch because that's all he has ever needed.

And why not? Jansen's cutter has elite spin, 2,602 revolutions per minute (rpm) as compared to the

Major League average of 2,333 rpm. It has elite velocity, 93.3 mph as compared to the Major League

average of 88.4 mph. Throwing it 88 percent of the time, he has the Majors' third-highest strikeout rate

since 2010 (40.1 percent). It was the cutter that earned him a five-year, $80 million contract in free

agency last offseason, and if he'd done nothing else but throw that cutter indefinitely, he'd be on a Hall

of Fame track.

But this year was something else. Jansen's 1.32 ERA marked his full-season low, and the best of the 355

pitchers with 100 innings. His 42.3-percent strikeout rate was his best since 2011, and second best in the

big leagues, while his 2.7-percent walk rate was third lowest. His first-pitch strike percentage reached a

career-high 73 percent, a Major League best. When hitters did manage to put the ball in play, they didn't

do it well; his 23-percent hard-hit rate was the eighth lowest of all 438 pitchers who allowed 100 balls in

play. Looking at Expected wOBA, our most advanced Statcast™ metric that combines quality of contact

with amount of contact, Jansen's .198 xwOBA was tops among any pitcher.

Obviously, throwing more first-pitch strikes helped, but around midseason, Jansen also began throwing

his cutter slightly less and his slider a bit more. (He also throws a little-used fastball around 3 percent of

the time.) So far this postseason, it's up to 15 percent -- and nearly a full quarter of the time with two

strikes.

This isn't all new, of course. Jansen has been toying with his slider on and off for years, and it has been

at times a useful pitch. Last year, when he picked up the final five outs to close out Game 1 of the

National League Division Series against the Nationals, he threw 26 straight cutters before getting Jayson

Werth to swing through a slider.

Still, something has changed. Including posteason numbers, just look at the difference in Jansen's slider

production from 2010-16 as compared to '17 to date.

Jansen, slider production 2010-16

.174 average against

41-percent swing-and-miss rate

Jansen, slider production 2017

.057 average against

53-percent swing-and-miss rate

It's so good that it actually stands out among other, more-used sliders. In 2017 (including the

postseason), that .057 average against was fourth lowest of the 406 who had at least 25 sliders put in

play. Going back to xwOBA (which measures both quality of contact via exit velocity and launch angle as

well as strikeouts and walks), his .075 is first of those 406 pitchers. Remember, that's a stat that's

entirely about the slider, though in admittedly small samples. Without his signature pitch -- though likely

benefiting from the thought of it -- his slider is showing elite outcomes.

So far this postseason, Jansen has thrown 12 sliders, inducing 10 swings, three in-play outs, three

swinging strikes and whiffs of Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant. As Bryant found out in Game 2 of the NLCS

presented by Camping World, the slider is more than a change of pace pitch; after starting the Cubs' star

off with two cutters, Jansen then dropped in two sliders. It was, according to research done by Baseball

Prospectus, only the second time all season long that Jansen had used back-to-back sliders.

But what's behind the improvement? This might go back to something we first noticed in May, after the

Dodgers swept the Cubs in Los Angeles, about how Dodger relievers were throwing high fastballs like no

one else in the Majors.

"Their bullpen," Bryant said to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick on May 28, "every pitch was right there at the

top of the strike zone, every single one to all of us. It was unbelievable."

It was true then, and it's true now. The Dodgers' bullpen threw 12.5 percent of their fastballs at the top

of the zone, well above the 9.6 percent of the second-place Red Sox and the 7.6 percent Major League

average. Jansen's 30 percent was far above that, and placed him tied for 20th out of 293 pitchers with

200 fastballs. It has been a trend; in 2016, that was 26.8 percent, and in '15, it was just 20.7 percent.

As his cutters stay high, the sliders go low. When Jansen throws his slider, 84 percent of them arrive at

the plate two feet or lower off the ground, well above the Major League average of 54 percent. In fact,

the vertical break difference between his two best pitches is extreme, especially for two pitches

generally considered to be very similar. Among all pitchers who threw at least 10 innings this year and

threw both a cutter and a slider at least 2 percent of the time, no pitcher had a larger difference in

vertical break between their cutter and slider than Jansen. (Interestingly, if we'd gone with fewer than

10 innings, Jansen would have been second to his own teammate, rookie Walker Buehler.)

The cutter is always going to be Jansen's primary pitch, of course. But the slider isn't just a nice change

of pace, it's an actual out pitch. Imagine that, won't you? As though trying to handle cutters up weren't

hard enough, now there are sliders down. Jansen was already in the conversation for the Majors' most

dominant reliever, and now he's getting even better, just like Kenta Maeda using his cutter more, just

like Tony Cingrani using his slider more. It hardly seems fair.

LA looks to Yu as Cubs call on Hendricks in G3

By Doug Miller

The Dodgers still haven't lost this postseason, and now they take their two-game lead in the hunt for a

pennant on the road, where the Cubs hope their opportunistic opponent finally runs into a brick wall.

An ivy-covered brick wall, that is.

The best-of-seven National League Championship Series presented by Camping World shifts to the gem

of a ballpark on the north side of Chicago, smack dab in a neighborhood filled with history, fervent fans,

bleachers on nearby rooftops, and a defending World Series-champion team that knows how to respond

to its people.

It's a move from Chavez Ravine to Wrigley Field for Game 3, and it's set for Tuesday night.

This matchup pits the Cubs' pitching "Professor," right-hander Kyle Hendricks, against the Dodgers'

Trade Deadline acquisition with the brilliant right arm, Yu Darvish.

The Cubs will be hoping that the change of venue changes their fortunes as they try to climb out of a 2-0

hole and gain an advantage on the road to a second consecutive Fall Classic.

The Dodgers prevailed on Sunday, 4-1, on Justin Turner's walk-off three-run home run, moving to within

two wins of playing in the franchise's first Fall Classic since 1988.

"We have an opportunity to bring a championship back to L.A.," Turner said. "And like I said, it's been a

long time."

But these Cubs, as the rest of Major League Baseball knows all too well of late, are ready to rally at any

point in a series, game or inning.

"I know our guys -- of course, we wanted to win one of those two," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said

Monday. "But we're coming back, and we won't be fazed in the sense that … this is a dire situation,

[that] we can't do this kind of thing.

"We'll be fine. We've had some tough losses before that we were able to bounce back from, and that's

what I'm talking about. … I had the privilege of being in the clubhouse and in the dugout with these guys

every day. I know what they're like. I know what they feel like. I know how they respond to situations,

and we'll do the same thing tomorrow."

Naturally, they know they're up against a formidable opponent. The Dodgers won an MLB-best 104

games during the regular season, earned home-field advantage throughout October, and happen to be

loaded with depth, a powerful mix of veteran presence and immensely talented youngsters in the

lineup, and a fleet of elite starting pitchers backed by a brilliant bullpen.

And they don't even have one of their best players, shortstop Corey Seager, who is sitting out this NLCS

because of back issues.

"I think up to this point, we've done everything we can to put ourselves in a good position, but there is a

long way to go," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday.

"And this team, the Cubs, are not going to quit fighting and competing. I think with our guys, speaking

for our team, our only focus is getting three and putting at-bats together and pitching well. So it's

definitely noted how resilient that club is over there. They're going to do everything they can to win a

game, and we're going to do the same."

On Tuesday, the Dodgers will look to Darvish to continue that march, and they'll be leaning on a pitcher

who might be getting comfortable with his new team at the right time.

Darvish's only postseason start for Los Angeles came in the clinching Game 3 of the NL Division Series

presented by T-Mobile on the road vs. Arizona, and he was dastardly, giving up only one run on two hits

in five innings while striking out seven -- and, perhaps most important, not walking a batter.

"I think that it starts with the confidence he has in himself, and his ability to execute a pitch or throw a

strike when he needs to," Roberts said of Darvish. "And I think that early on coming over here things

sped up on him a little bit. He was out of whack mechanically, but I think right now, simplifying things

and being able to repeat the delivery, I think he's gained a lot of confidence, and I think in turn we feel

the same about him."

Hendricks has been pretty solid recently, too. He sparkled in Game 1 of his team's NLDS win over the

Nationals, pitching seven shutout innings and giving up two hits while striking out six, before stumbling a

bit in Game 5, giving up four runs on nine hits in four innings.

But Hendricks was lights-out vs. the Dodgers in two NLCS starts last year, pitching to an ERA of 0.71 by

giving up one run on five hits in 12 2/3 innings.

"Kyle, with the normal rest coming back tomorrow night, he's had success against these guys in the past,

especially in this building," Maddon said Monday. "So I feel really good about it."

Maddon's positive vibes have permeated the Cubs' clubhouse and culture. That's why a two-game

deficit doesn't seem anywhere near insurmountable. Not when they've accomplished so much together

already, breaking a 108-year drought by winning last year's World Series. Not when they head into a

locker room that's united and fun-loving, no matter what happens.

"For us, this is just Game 170, I think it's going to be," Hendricks said Monday. "So, yeah, we're down 2-

0. Obviously, we know we need to get wins at this point. But approaching it as a must-win is a little

extreme.

"We've just got to go out there and play our brand of baseball."

Bullpen putting Dodgers in prime position

By Anthony Castrovince

CHICAGO -- Two wins away from their first Fall Classic appearance since 1988, and the Dodgers have yet

to see one of their starting pitchers -- the great Clayton Kershaw included -- go seven innings in a start.

In fact, Kershaw's 6 1/3-inning appearance against the D-backs was the only one in which a Dodgers

starter went more than five frames.

Yes, it's a small sample of only five games, but that's pretty much the point. The Dodgers have so far

swept their way through October because they have a formula -- quick hooks and a bullish bullpen --

that is made for this month. It's a formula they hope continues to work for them when the National

League Championship Series presented by Camping World resumes with Game 3 at Wrigley Field

tonight.

"I've never had a bad feeling with our bullpen before," Kershaw told reporters, "but I think at the same

time, we realize that it's one of our strengths of our team."

The Justin Verlander Game -- Game 2 of the ALCS, in which Verlander threw 124 pitches with an

incredible 93 strikes and allowed just one run over nine innings against the Yankees -- was entertaining

and epic and rightly celebrated by some, including MLB Network analyst and former big league pitcher

Al Leiter, as proof that "starting pitching still matters."

But you're not "succumbing to SABR [the Society for American Baseball Research]" if you acknowledge,

as Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts clearly has, the reality that October has evolved. The Dodgers are

proof that you can navigate your way through this month without an outlier like the one Verlander

delivered over the weekend.

In the first 45 games of this postseason, how many times did a starter go more than seven innings? That

would be one -- Verlander.

How many times did a starter go just five innings or fewer? Twenty-eight -- or 62.2 percent of all the

games played.

A team can't confidently bank on a "Verlander Game" being a part of its postseason picture. But what it

can do is align itself so that the well-established third-time-through-the-order penalty doesn't become a

burden and so that the late-game matchups generally tend to skew in its favor.

The Dodgers, who have gotten a five-and-fly from Kershaw and Rich Hill thus far in this NLCS, have done

that, and their bullpen -- so far, anyway -- has delivered. It is the single biggest reason this club is

perfectly positioned to win the World Series presented by YouTube TV.

"They're picking us up every game," catcher Austin Barnes said.

Opposing hitters are 0-for-their-past-26 and 1-for-their-past-41 against the L.A. bullpen, dating back to

Game 2 of the NL Division Series sweep of the D-backs. The heavy lifting in the 'pen this postseason has

been done by closer Kenley Jansen and setup man Brandon Morrow, who are responsible for all five of

the multi-inning relief appearances by a Dodgers pitcher.

We knew Jansen was one of the most feared closers in the game, but Morrow's full-season sturdiness in

the setup role after years of health woes as a starter has been the kind of revelation that can change a

club's fortunes. He has a 0.32 WHIP in 6 1/3 innings this October (appearing in every game), and he

needed just 18 pitches to retire all six Cubs he faced in Game 2. (No wonder Cubs skipper Joe Maddon

called Morrow the Dodgers' "secret weapon.")

Beyond Morrow, the Dodgers have unearthed totally unexpected relief reliability from temporarily

converted starter Kenta Maeda, whose average four-seam velocity has gone from 92.3 to 95.0 mph with

the move to the 'pen. He's faced nine batters, retired them all and struck out four.

"The confidence that we have in Kenta," said Roberts, "that's validated some things and kind of

heightened his confidence."

The in-season acquisitions of the Tonys -- lefties Tony Cingrani (who has yet to allow a baserunner this

postseason) and Tony Watson -- have also given Roberts greater matchup possibilities in the late innings

and deepened the 'pen.

With all of these options at his disposal, Roberts has not yet had to get overly creative with his bullpen

use, hasn't had to thrust Kershaw into relief duty, hasn't had to ask any of these guys to take on some

extremely outlandish workload. The Dodgers, who had the best relief ERA in the NL this year, are only

partially through the process of trying to end their 29-year championship drought, but the 'pen --

especially when juxtaposed against a Cubs unit that's allowed 19 runs on 21 hits with 19 walks in 24 1/3

October innings -- has inspired belief that this club can close it out.

That doesn't mean starting pitching doesn't matter. And it doesn't mean that the Dodgers wouldn't

welcome a stellar start from Kershaw or Game 3 starter Yu Darvish or anybody else. But the proliferation

of off-days and the reliability of this relief corps have given L.A. a formula far more routinely repeatable

than Verlander's pristine performance for the Astros.

LA TIMES

Back-to-back games for Kenta Maeda? No problem, Dodgers say

By Andy McCullough

After recording three outs in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, Kenta Maeda did not

pitch for the Dodgers on Sunday night. He was warming up as Justin Turner’s game-winning homer

cleared the center-field fence.

Maeda has never been a reliever before this postseason, but manager Dave Roberts indicated the team

was ready to use him on consecutive days, despite the right-hander’s lack of experience.

“His arm is resilient,” Roberts said. “Depending on how he’s used in a particular game, the back-to-back,

we’re not concerned about.”

Maeda has retired all nine batters he has faced this postseason. The team wants to deploy him against

right-handed batters; he held them to a .647 on-base plus slugging percentage during the regular

season.

The addition of Maeda to the bullpen has fortified the bridge to closer Kenley Jansen.

Jansen has recorded three saves and a win while appearing in all five playoff games. Right-hander

Brandon Morrow also has pitched in every game, giving up two hits and a run over 6⅓ innings.

Seager doesn’t travel

Shortstop Corey Seager has not resumed baseball activity, and his sprained lower back kept him from

traveling with the team for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday.

Roberts indicated Seager has experienced “continuing improvement” since receiving a painkilling

epidural injection last week. Even so, Roberts does not expect Seager to meet the team at Wrigley Field

at any point over the next three games.

Seager has not been cleared to attempt activities such as running or swinging a bat.

“We’ve got to get him in a place where physically he feels like he can play in a big-league game, and

endure those conditions, as far as weather,” Roberts said on a conference call with reporters before the

team boarded a flight for Chicago. “To be able to come back after a game and play the next day. Right

now, I wouldn’t say we’re close to that point yet.”

Seager was injured sliding into second base during Game 3 of the National League Division Series against

Arizona. He was left off the roster for this round against the Cubs.

The Dodgers hope Seager can be ready if they advance to the World Series. Game 1 of the World Series

is scheduled for Oct. 24.

Charlie Culberson, Seager’s replacement, has contributed in both Dodgers victories to start this series.

Culberson is 2-for-5 with two doubles, a run batted in and two runs scored.

They call him A-Gon

Roberts provided a further explanation for why veteran first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has not been

with the team. Roberts cited the organization’s policy that players who will not be activated, as Gonzalez

would not, do not travel with the team during the postseason.

“That’s an organizational policy that he respects,” Roberts said.

TV ratings up in L.A.

TBS said Sunday’s NLCS Game 2 generated a 12.3 average household rating in the Los Angeles market,

up 14% from a year ago, when the game was televised on Fox Sports 1. Game 1 was up 29%, to 11.0.

In Chicago, Game 2 had a 19.3 rating, a 19% decline from last year. The Game 1 rating was 18.1, down

14%.

The overnight Game 2 household rating among the nation’s top cities was 4.5, down 10% from last year.

Cubs’ offense is offensive

The Cubs are hitting .162 in their seven playoff games, .133 in their two NLCS games against the

Dodgers.

The top batting averages belong to starting pitchers Jose Quintana and Jon Lester, who both went 1 for

2. One hit apiece ties for the team lead.

The numbers 2-3-4 batters in the Cubs’ order are a combined 2 for 22, with 11 strikeouts. In Game 2,

Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Willson Contreras went 0 for 11, with seven strikeouts.

Second baseman Javier Baez is 0 for 5 in the series and 0 for 19 in the playoffs. He was co-MVP of the

2016 NLCS against the Dodgers, in which he batted .318 with four doubles and five runs batted in.

The Dodgers' bullpen has the confidence to be dangerous for the Cubs

By Andy McCullough

A baseball team must secure at least 27 outs to win a game, and so Dodgers manager Dave Roberts fills

the hours before each postseason contest contemplating a countdown.

He consults with the coaching staff and the analysts from the front office. He gauges the readiness of

various relievers. The group assembles a plan, one they trust Roberts to implement. Each action

functions toward the larger goal of assembling a plan to compile the required number of outs.

“There are things that I have in my mind that gives each player the best chance to have success,”

Roberts said. “To deviate from that, that goes away from my process. And I preach nothing but process.”

Through the first two games of the National League Championship Series, as the Dodgers took a 2-0 lead

against the Chicago Cubs and moved two victories away from their first World Series since 1988, the

process has been nearly flawless. This is not hyperbole. Dodgers relievers retired 24 of the 25 Cubs they

faced to handcuff a dangerous lineup.

As the series shifts to Chicago for Game 3 on Tuesday, the gap between the bullpens has been decisive.

The Dodgers have trounced the Cubs relievers. The Cubs have yet to record a hit against the Dodgers

bullpen. Roberts was willing to remove both Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill after only five innings in their

starts because he trusted the relievers to hold firm.

Led by hulking closer Kenley Jansen, the relief corps has looked indomitable, benefiting from months of

planning for this stage. The success of this bullpen is an organizational triumph, the result of keen

scouting, open communication, the tactical prowess of Roberts and the execution of the players.

“There’s so much confidence,” catcher Austin Barnes said. “They’re being put in really good situations,

and they’re making really good pitches.”

The presence of Jansen, a two-time All-Star on an $80-million contract who may be baseball’s best

reliever, serves as a sizable building block in constructing a bullpen. The other contributors were

assembled through canny trades (Tony Cingrani, Tony Watson), low-wattage signings (Brandon Morrow)

and the reallocation of assets (Kenta Maeda). Together they form a bridge to Jansen that, unlike in 2016

against the Cubs, has not buckled.

Near the end of January, the Dodgers added Morrow, who had an enviable arsenal of pitches and a

troubling history of injuries. His talent was immense — he was chosen two spots ahead of Kershaw in

the 2006 draft. His health was spotty — he appeared in only 46 games from 2013 to 2016. Morrow

agreed to a minor league contract, which included an option that allowed the Dodgers to stash him in

triple-A Oklahoma City until late May.

The Dodgers eased Morrow into a place of prominence. He made 45 appearances, but only six on

consecutive days. The team did not want to risk overexposure, and it wanted to see whether he could

handle the strain of a full season. Morrow rewarded his employers with a 2.06 earned-run average as he

handled right-handed and left-handed hitters.

Roberts leaned on Morrow during the first two games against Chicago. Morrow collected two outs in

Game 1. A day later, he buzzed through six hitters in 18 pitches, finishing with a 99-mph fastball. Roberts

described Morrow as “incredibly valuable,” citing the pitcher’s experience as both a starter and a closer.

“You take those components — as far as the head, the preparation, the feel and the pitch mix — that

makes an elite, back-end guy,” Roberts said.

At the All-Star break, the Dodgers bullpen led the NL with a collective 2.99 ERA. Yet, the organization

was unsatisfied. They sought another left-handed arm for the group, and engaged in lengthy discussions

with Baltimore about All-Star closer Zach Britton. Like the rest of the industry, the Dodgers found those

talks stalled by the obstinance of Orioles owner Peter Angelos. The team opted to look elsewhere.

On July 31, as the hours ticked away toward the nonwaiver trade deadline, the Dodgers finalized deals

to procure Texas ace Yu Darvish, plus a pair of left-handed relievers in Watson and Cingrani. The

acquisition of Watson made sense, as he was a former All-Star with a track record of generating soft

contact. Cingrani seemed less useful — he carried a 5.40 earned-run average with him from Cincinnati

— but it was his addition that underscored the guile of the Dodgers’ front office.

The organization viewed Cingrani as a reclamation project with a sizable upside. They felt he could be a

mirror image of right-handed reliever Josh Fields, who arrived from Houston last summer with similarly

unspectacular statistics. As they did with Fields, the Dodgers suggested Cingrani alter his pitch selection,

implementing his slider more often and shifting the location of his fastball. Cingrani struck out 28 batters

in 19 1/3 innings with a 2.79 ERA.

As October approached, the Dodgers simplified his role. The coaches told him to focus on the left-

handed hitters of the coming opponents, players such as Arizona third baseman Jake Lamb, Nationals

second baseman Daniel Murphy and Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo. In Game 1, Cingrani replaced

Kershaw in the sixth inning, pounded away at Rizzo with 97-mph fastballs, generated a groundout and

handed the baseball to Roberts. His job was done.

“I came in and got my out,” Cingrani said. “It’s what I do now.” He added, “I wouldn’t want to do it in the

regular season, but this is a different type of baseball. Everything is magnified, and it’s all about

winning.”

To finalize the mix for October, the Dodgers turned to a player hidden in plain view. Maeda spent most

of the season on the periphery of the starting rotation, with a 4.35 ERA in 25 starts. He has emerged as

the breakout performer of this postseason, retiring all nine batters he has faced.

At times, Roberts acknowledges, he must check himself when watching Maeda mow down opposing

hitters. The team views Maeda as a weapon against right-handed hitters. There is no reason to deviate

from their process. The results are unquestionable.

“It’s about discipline, and not trying to win favor from people,” Roberts said. “It’s to do the right thing

for the Dodgers.”

Vin Scully talks about Justin Turner's home run, and watching rather than working the playoffs

By Andy McCullough

In this first season of the rest of his life, Vin Scully watched the ball take flight on television Sunday

night, from the comfort of his home. The center fielder went back, back, back …

No, of course not. Scully never did resort to a signature line, or a sickly sweet phrase he had dreamed up

a day or two in advance.

Justin Turner had hit the Dodgers’ most famous home run since Kirk Gibson, and just about every

baseball-loving citizen in Southern California had embraced the precious symmetry in the date —

except, that is, the man whose call of Gibson’s home run had been replayed all day, all around town.

“I didn’t realize that was the 29th anniversary of Kirk’s home run,” Scully said Monday. “That never

dawned on me.”

On Oct. 15, 1988, Gibson hit the home run that inspired a generation, the hobbled hero shooting a fatal

arrow into the heart of the Goliath Athletics.

Amid the bedlam at Dodger Stadium that night, Scully spoke three simple words: “She is … gone!” It was

not until after 70 seconds of crowd noise that the best broadcaster in baseball history returned to the

microphone with these now-legendary words: “In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible

has happened!”

On Oct. 15, 2017, Turner hit the Dodgers’ first postseason walkoff home run since Gibson, driving the

Dodger Stadium crowd into mass delirium and putting the home team within two victories of its first

World Series since Gibson. How might Scully have called Turner’s home run?

“I wouldn’t have said much,” he said. “I would have just said, as always, ‘It’s gone,’ and then shut up.”

And then Scully chuckled.

“I do my best work saying nothing,” he said.

Scully turns 90 next month. He retired last year. He said he is grateful that the Dodgers have invited him

and his wife, Sandi, to watch this year’s playoff games from a suite. The couple leaves early to avoid

having to navigate the traffic in the concourses and on the freeways, and to make sure to get home in

time to see the end of the game.

After 67 years as the voice of the Dodgers, his seat in the suite is something new, and about 15 feet to

the left.

“I’m looking at a game sideways,” he said. “My entire life, I would look at a game from behind home

plate.

“Only once in all of my career, that I can think of, did I ever broadcast sitting sideways to the game. That

was a thousand years ago, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. They used to put the visiting announcers in a

different place every time we would come to Pittsburgh. One time, they put us in an auxiliary

scoreboard, down past third base.

“The biggest difference for me is, I can’t quite judge things. I can’t tell whether the pitcher has good

stuff. When the pitcher releases the ball, I’m looking at the visiting dugout and the stands, so you really

almost lose the sight of the ball for a fraction of a millisecond.

“Then balls are hit in the gap, and you have to wait to see who might catch it. There have been a couple

of scary plays — the [Cubs’ Albert] Almora catch in Game 2, when he was looking up into that bright sun

and made a great catch going into the wall, and then the other fly ball to deep right-center, where it

looked like [the Dodgers’ Chris] Taylor and [Yasiel] Puig would collide. I would be able to judge that so

much better sitting behind home plate, in the broadcast booth.

“That’s the biggest difference: I’m looking at the game sideways.”

Scully was so objective in his broadcasts, telling his audience how and why the Dodgers made a poor

play rather than trying to explain it away, that fans might have perceived he did not care if the Dodgers

won.

He might not have let his feelings overtake his professionalism, but he says he was rooting for the

Dodgers all those years behind the microphone, and he is rooting for them today.

“I’m not emotional,” he said. “I don’t jump up on a home run, or anything like that at all.

“But I don’t think it’s any secret that, when you work for a ballclub, you want the club to win. You know

all the personnel — the manager, the coaches, all the ownership.

“Sure, I would like to see the Dodgers win. I want them to win. I was able to enjoy ’88, so why not watch

others enjoy it this year?”

OC REGISTER

Whicker: Kenley Jansen, Dodgers’ closer with big shoulders, looms large over Chicago

By Mark Whicker

LOS ANGELES — Kenley Jansen struck up a friendship with Alex Rodriguez.

This winter he hopes to parlay that into a meeting with Mariano Rivera, who closed out five World

Series for the Yankees.

Jim Leyland managed against Rivera for enough years to say he should have been Most Valuable Player

nearly every year. Now Rivera is in the accolade phase of his life. He will go into the Hall of Fame in

2019, the first opportunity.

It was pure heresy, especially in New York, to think any closer deserved to touch the hem of Rivera’s

garment. But if this keeps up, Rivera might tell Jansen that the pleasure is all his.

“Alex and Fred McGriff were two of my favorite players,” Jansen said. “Alex told me he was one of my

biggest fans. I said, ‘wow, I’m a big fan of yours.’ Then he said he was going to hook me up with Mo

whenever he got a chance. That’s who I started paying attention to when I started pitching.”

Rivera was a dancer, Jansen a 3-technique tackle. But they share a little more every year, particularly

now that Jansen has established himself as the man at the end of the dark, narrow hall.

The Cubs trail the Dodgers 2-0 in the National League Championship Series. They have no countermove

for Jansen, except to grab a stout early lead.

Their bullpen coach, Mike Borzello, helped design this weapon that threatens to eat Chicago. Borzello

had the same position with the Yankees in the dynasty years, and then with the Dodgers.

“When Kenley came up in 2010 after they converted him from catcher, I had a couple of bullpen

sessions on the side with him, and I saw the natural cut, the same one I saw with Mo,” Borzello said. “I

was in shock. I’d never seen anything close to that from anybody else.

“They’re both similar in resolve, similar personalities, very mellow. But both are up to the task.”

Like Rivera, Jansen is no one-inning robot. Fourteen times Jansen went past one inning to earn a save or

a win this year, a nod to the road ahead. Jansen blew one save all year, in Atlanta on July 23, and the

Dodgers came back to win that game.

“When I go more than one inning, it’s just batter to batter,” Jansen said. “I sit next to (pitching coach)

Rick Honeycutt and we go over it one by one. It’s not a false story where I’m thinking about the other

guys coming up.

“I think I’m proudest of the fact that this year I’m not afraid to throw my pitches when I’m behind 3-and-

1, 3-and-2. I just pitch. In Arizona (Game 3 of the NLDS), Paul Goldschmidt was up, and he was the tying

run in the ninth, and I had to go 3-and-2 and I threw one low and away but he chased it. I was lucky

there, but I’ll keep doing that.”

Rivera rode that cutter from Panama to Cooperstown. Jansen was a one-hit wonder, too. But now he

has diversified. According to Pitch F/X, Jansen has thrown the slider 17 percent of the time in October. In

April of 2013, Jansen’s cutters made up 94 percent of the total. It’s difficult enough to merely react to

Jansen, but now he asks you to think.

Another difference is that Rivera was renowned for breaking bats. Jansen just avoids them. He has

allowed batting averages of .177 and .160 the past two years. His strikeout rate, per nine innings, is 14.0

for his career. Rivera’s was 8.2.

Jansen re-signed with the Dodgers in January but it was no sure thing. “Washington came really close, to

be honest with you,” he said. “They really have a great organization.”

That decision preserved the National League dynamic. Once Jansen did re-sign with L.A., Manager Dave

Roberts pushed him to the front row of the class. He asked him to be the leader of the bullpen in

everyday life, not just in numbers.

“I just think when you push people to be leaders it helps them become accountable,” Roberts said. “The

bullpen is where a lot of opinions on your ballclub are formed. So if you have the guy in the back of the

bullpen aligned with me, that’s a big step.”

The Cubs are 0 for 24 against the Dodgers’ bullpen in the NLCS. Seven have faced Jansen. Five have

struck out and only one has hit a fair ball.

Good closers shorten games. Great ones shorten seasons. Jansen is five championships shy of the man

he wants to be. But those who face him in 2017 know he’s Mo of the same.

Dodgers’ Yu Darvish gains Dave Roberts’ confidence with simplified repertoire

By J.P. Hoornstra

The Dodgers will give the ball to Yu Darvish in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on

Tuesday in Chicago. It will be his 11th start as a Dodger, his fourth postseason start and only his second

start ever at Wrigley Field.

That isn’t a wealth of relevant experience to draw on. Recently, though, Darvish’s right hand has been

hotter than any in the Dodgers’ rotation.

In his first six starts after the Dodgers acquired him from the Texas Rangers at the non-waiver trade

deadline, Darvish had a 5.34 ERA. In his past four starts, including his only start in the NL Division Series,

his ERA is 0.74.

In turn, Manager Dave Roberts said his confidence in Darvish has “grown considerably.”

“It starts with the confidence he has in himself, and his ability to execute a pitch or throw a strike when

he needs to,” Roberts said. “And I think that early on coming over here things sped up on him a little bit.

He was out of whack mechanically, but I think right now simplifying things and being able to repeat the

delivery, I think he’s gained a lot of confidence, and I think in turn we feel the same about him.”

To say Darvish “simplified things” might be an understatement.

Darvish has a slow curveball. He threw 30 of them this year for the Rangers but none for the Dodgers.

He has a split-finger fastball too, but hasn’t thrown one since his second start after the trade. The

publicly available data on Brooks Baseball bears this out, confirming the idea of a simplified repertoire,

but there’s more to it than that.

About a month after the trade, catcher Yasmani Grandal was asked to describe Darvish’s array of

pitches. Grandal mentioned “three or four different sliders”; a two-seam and four-seam fastball, each

with movement; plus a curveball shaped “five, six different ways.” That was all in addition to the

changeup, split-fingered fastball and cutter. That’s why Darvish can eliminate two of his pitches and still

possess an unpredictable repertoire.

Variety seems to be the key to his recent success. In his past four starts – the good ones, that is –

Darvish has not thrown any one pitch more than 40 percent of the time, according to Brooks Baseball.

On paper, his recent performance evoked comparisons to the Yu Darvish who earned Cy Young votes in

his first two seasons with the Rangers, in 2012 and 2013. His career was interrupted by Tommy John

surgery in 2015. Many have concluded that Darvish simply returned to his pre-surgery form.

“I’ve seen a lot of comments from people saying I’m close to where I was,” Darvish said through an

interpreter Monday. “If you look at me now – mechanics, pitch selection, approach – I’m a different

pitcher, so it’s hard to compare me to where I was before the Tommy John surgery.”

LINEUP CHANGES?

After starting a left-handed pitcher in Games 1 and 2, the Cubs will give the ball to right-hander Kyle

Hendricks in Game 3.

For the Dodgers, that could lead to several changes to a right-handed heavy lineup. Cody Bellinger was

the only left-handed hitting position player to start the first two games of the NLCS.

Second baseman Chase Utley, outfielders Joc Pederson, Andre Ethier and Curtis Granderson, and switch-

hitting catcher Grandal all have a chance to move into the lineup. Catcher Austin Barnes, second

baseman Logan Forsythe, shortstop Charlie Culberson and left fielder Kiké Hernandez could be relegated

to the bench.

Chris Taylor, who started Games 1 and 2 in center field, has been taking ground balls at shortstop since

the postseason began. With starter Corey Seager sidelined by a back injury, Taylor is the likely

replacement if Culberson moves to the bench.

“There might be a couple changes, but we haven’t really come to a consensus yet as far as what we’re

going to do,” Roberts said. “We’re going to have some conversations, dig into some matchups.”

ALSO

Roberts said Seager experienced “continued improvement” in his back, but the shortstop remained in

Los Angeles when the team flew to Chicago. He is not on the Dodgers’ 25-man NLCS roster. … TBS said

ratings for its telecast of Game 2 peaked with an average of 8.9 million viewers from 7:45-8 p.m. Pacific

Time – the bottom of the ninth inning, when Justin Turner hit a three-run home run to win the game. …

Kenta Maeda was warming in the bullpen in the ninth inning of Game 2, but did not appear in the game.

Roberts said the right-hander, who hasn’t pitched consecutive games all year, will be available to pitch

in back-to-back games if needed.

Dodgers’ Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger find first postseason experience stressful but fun

By Bill Plunkett

LOS ANGELES — Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger have taken very different roads to central roles on this

Dodgers team.

The 27-year-old Taylor did an extended apprenticeship, going up and down between the majors and

minor leagues for three seasons without establishing himself at the big-league level.

Acquired by the Dodgers in a trade more notable at the time for what they gave up (first-round draft

disappointment Zach Lee), Taylor put it all on the line last winter, radically changing his swing and

offensive approach, then embraced the need to learn a new position (moving to the outfield) as well.

That led to a breakout season this year.

Bellinger took a more direct route. The top prospect in the Dodgers’ loaded system he overshot his own

expectations for this year – “Honestly, I thought I was going to be a September call-up,” he has said –

and arrived much sooner than expected, breaking into the big leagues with an unprecedented power

burst that will certainly make him the Dodgers’ 18th NL Rookie of the Year.

Both are now playing in October for the first time, two of six Dodgers getting their first taste of the

postseason this fall – none counted on more heavily – and finding the postseason stage more

demanding.

“Yeah, the moment is always big,” Taylor said. “The level of focus is higher, pitch to pitch. The games are

longer.

“It’s exhausting. But that’s what makes it fun – the games are that much more exciting.”

Bellinger similarly describes his first postseason experience so far as equal parts “stressful” and “fun.”

The stressful part might have been his 1-for-12 start to the NL Division Series with six strikeouts. It has

gotten more fun since then with a home run off Zack Greinke in Game 3 and five hits in nine at-bats

since that rough start.

“Cody himself is – really in his make-up, his DNA – just really even keeled,” Dodgers manager Dave

Roberts said. “He knows he belongs here, and knew that early on. He has the talent.

“Offensively in the postseason I think that there has been some success, there have been some

struggles. Got a big hit against Greinke. But he’s still trying to work through some things.”

Those things are some check points that “mechanically put him in better position to see the baseball

and differentiate between strike and ball,” Roberts said. With more time to gameplan for a specific

lineup during a postseason series, teams can hone in on a young player.

In Bellinger’s case, the Diamondbacks and Cubs seem to have had success in luring Bellinger out of the

strike zone. He has eight strikeouts and only two walks through five games.

“The whole second half they tried to pitch me a little different,” Bellinger said. “It’s just a matter of if

they execute their pitch or not. I do see a consistent game plan, but luckily for us we have in-depth

scouting reports as well to see where they’re pitching you, and I try to take advantage of that.”

The results from Taylor’s postseason baptism have been uneven as well. He is 5 for 20 with a home run

and a double. But four walks have kept his on-base percentage high (.375) in the leadoff spot.

“I think CT is way more stubborn in the strike zone than Cody. That’s the bottom line,” Roberts said.

“When Cody was doing well, he was in the strike zone, taking walks. The last month he hasn’t been.

That’s as simple as I can put it and that’s what I see.”

Bellinger’s at-bats looked more familiar in Game 2 on Sunday. He sliced a double into the left-center

field gap and drew a walk off Cubs left-hander Jon Lester, then beat out an infield single later in the

game.

“Everybody has their ups and downs. I don’t think it’s about the postseason,” Taylor said. “Right now, I

feel good. I know Cody’s working through some things. I know he’s going to come through with some big

hits for us. Just a couple days ago, he hit an opposite-field home run off a changeup from Zack Greinke.

That’s what makes him special.”

ESPN

When it comes to closers, when will managers learn?

By Sam Miller

There's a moment, as a manager is doing something that you can't fathom, when you doubt yourself.

Sure, the stereotype is that fans think they're smarter than the manager and smarter than the GM, and

maybe after a few beers they think they're even better at fielding grounders than the second baseman,

but you know in your heart that actually, no.

In your heart you know that these managers weren't plucked randomly from a phone book, blindfolded,

spun around seven times and sent out to the dugout to muck everything up. You know they're wearing

those uniforms because extremely smart people chose them out of many qualified options. You know

that they were selected because over the course of decades they demonstrated the special combination

of skills and knowledge that prove a person capable of making 50 decisions per game under extreme

pressure.

You know they've been trained, mentored, and tested by thousands of trials. You know these managers

have access to far more information than you do -- not just access to the charts and graphs the front

office prints out based on proprietary statistical data analyzed by doctoral-level mathematicians, but

access also to the very players they are managing. Only the manager knows what's going on between

each player and his girlfriend, or between him and his dead arm, or between him and his teammates.

And, further, the manager is, if you can believe it, even more self-interested than you are. The manager

has to get this right. You, Sam Miller sitting at your desk, you can have a strong opinion with absolutely

no stakes. But the manager will earn, in some cases, many millions of dollars more if he wins, and, in

some cases, be fired if he loses, and in either outcome be judged by millions of fans who are counting on

him to be good. If we believe humans are essentially rational creatures driven by essentially knowable

incentives, then the existence of these incentives alone would logically make that manager a better

manager than you are, sitting on your couch or in class or at your desk, having a low-stakes opinion.

It's not just Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon who is smarter than you; in your heart, you know

they're all smarter than you.

And so, there's a moment when you doubt yourself. Because it's so obvious to you what's right, and Joe

Maddon -- letting John Lackey pitch while Wade Davis sits on the bench -- is doing what's wrong. And

Joe Maddon is smarter than you, more informed than you, and more incentivized than you. It doesn't

make any sense that you'd be right and he'd be wrong, and so you doubt yourself.

And then the Dodgers' Justin Turner hits the ball forever.

I have a friend -- I can't remember which friend, or if it was even a friend as opposed to a fortune cookie

-- who said something I think about a lot: "Ninety percent of people are bad at their jobs. This is true for

Supreme Court justices all the way down."

A year ago, in the wild-card game, Baltimore's Buck Showalter decided to use every pitcher on his staff

before he used his closer, Zach Britton, in a tie game. This failed -- Britton never got in -- and beyond

failing it was a terrible decision every step of the way. Buck Showalter is not dumb -- a couple months

earlier, in the exact same situation against the exact same team but with somewhat lower stakes, he

used Britton in a tie game -- but on this day he was bad at his job.

(Just to quickly establish the reason we mostly all by now believe this is a bad move: Saving a closer for a

save situation means the closer will pitch, at most, one inning, whereas bringing him into a tie game

affords the possibility of getting multiple innings from him. Further, the stakes in a tie game -- when a

run will certainly end the game -- are higher than in many save situations. If you hold the closer for a

save and then score three runs in the top of the next inning, well, you've basically wasted the closer,

because just about anybody can protect a three-run lead. Meanwhile, if your fifth-best starter allows

even a single run before that happens, there's no game to save at all.)

Managers had been making that wrong decision for a long time, saving their closer for the save that

never comes. But Showalter was so widely criticized for this move last year that it felt like this was a

mistake managers would quit making. The rest of that postseason we saw managers using their closers

aggressively, not just in tie games but as early as the seventh inning. "Buck Showalter cost the Orioles

their season, but at least the conventional wisdom will change," Grant Brisbee wrote at SB Nation, and,

yeah, that seemed right.

It is true that in the regular season this year we didn't see many teams breaking from Showalter's

terrible, terrible example. Earlier this season, we looked at every team's closer usage to see whether

managers were making different decisions. In tie games, the answer was mostly not: In only 10 of 61 tie

games did the visiting team's closer start the ninth. But the regular season is a different animal. It's

about getting through the grind of six months, about establishing roles and hierarchies that managers

and players can trust, about making everybody comfortable and confident, and about dealing with the

scarcity imposed by 13 scheduled games every two weeks. (And, yes, about getting players their stats.)

This postseason -- with higher stakes and far more off days -- has been different. Before Sunday there

had been two games in which the visiting team was tied in the ninth, and in both cases the closer came

into the game to protect the tie. And, more convincingly, closers had already pitched while trailing in

eight of 22 games. Managers in this postseason have been focused not on the stat but on one thing:

getting as many innings as possible out of their very best pitchers.

Then Sunday comes. The Cubs are tied in the eighth inning. Brian Duensing, not Wade Davis, is on the

mound. He gets in trouble, and it remains Duensing, not Davis, on the mound. (And it's not Davis

warming up in the bullpen, either.) Then Duensing gets out of it! Joe Maddon can sneer at us all. He and

the Cubs make it to the bottom of the ninth, still tied, and ... Brian Duensing, not Wade Davis, remains

on the mound.

dan haren

Did Wade Davis get left in Albuquerque?

8:01 PM - Oct 15, 2017

And John Lackey, not Davis, is warming up in the bullpen. Duensing walks a batter on four pitches. Then

he gets two outs. And in comes Lackey, a below-average starter who allowed more home runs than any

National League pitcher this year and who ... well, let's be brutally honest, might never throw another

pitch in the majors. Instead of Wade Davis.

Sam Miller

Wow, can't believe Joe Maddon is going to Ubaldo Jimenez instead of Zach Britton here

7:53 PM - Oct 15, 2017

Lackey walks Chris Taylor. Then Turner hits it forever. Joe Maddon is smarter than us, though. What did

we miss?

Bill Shaikin

Maddon on Davis: "We needed him for the save"

8:13 PM - Oct 15, 2017

Maddon also said after the game that he's not always against using his closer in a tie game. But every

time I read that tweet, I cringe. A little embarrassed for Joe Maddon, and a little silly for being

embarrassed for somebody clearly smarter than me.

Davis was only available for one inning, Maddon says, which reduces -- slightly -- the benefit of using

him in a tie game. That's one thing.

Closers like their routines, we often hear, so that's another. But to the extent that applies in the

postseason, I can't imagine Wade Davis would look around a room of his teammates and say he wasn't

available in a tie game. And, anyway, Davis was an ace setup man not long ago, so let's not act like he

never developed the tie-game muscle. It's nevertheless on Maddon to use the regular season to prepare

Davis for this situation. The Dodgers regularly used Kenley Jansen in expansive ways during the regular

season, anticipating the playoffs; Maddon used Davis more rigidly than any manager used any closer.

There are fringier explanations. Maybe Davis wasn't available at all, and Maddon just doesn't want to

tell us that. Maybe, uh, he'd identified the ninth inning as the perfect spot in the order to make a double

switch and, having committed to the double switch, didn't want to use a pitcher who would only go one

inning. That's a stretch. They're all stretches! The only non-stretch is that Maddon did a bad thing.

What this really comes down to is that we watched a smart manager fail, right in front of us, while every

half-engaged person on Twitter knew it was happening. It's easy to say it, but it's hard, in our hearts,

where we know Joe Maddon is quite possibly a Hall of Fame manager who knows and cares more than

we do, to really mean it.

Unless you accept what my friend said: Almost everybody is bad at their job.

Or, more broadly: Almost all of us are failing almost all of the time.

Professional sports create an illusion of superhuman ability. But there's no such thing as superhuman.

There's only human. These athletes are constantly failing. Their coaches are constantly failing.

I, a human, failed at far simpler tasks today than Joe Maddon did. Tasks that I know I can do, and that

you'd be a jerk to suggest I can't do -- but that I nevertheless failed at. Small, simple things that I wanted

to do right. I failed.

Joe Maddon failed. That's it. We can say it. He failed. We'd probably fail, too.

Joe Maddon failed.

TRUE BLUE LA

Justin Turner is the gift that keeps on giving for the Dodgers

By Eric Stephen

LOS ANGELES — Justin Turner authored one of the greatest moments in Los Angeles Dodgers franchise

history in Game 2 of the NLCS Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, on the anniversary of yet another iconic

moment.

When Kirk Gibson hit his walk-off home run for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, Turner

was nearly 4 years old, a southern California kid who remembers watching on TV.

“One of my earliest baseball memories was being at my grandma’s house and watching that game and

watching Gibby hit that homer,” Turner said.

Gibson’s home run was hit on Oct. 15, 1988 and was the only walk-off home run in Dodgers postseason

history. Until Sunday night that is, when Turner hit the second, against Cubs relief pitcher John Lackey.

“Nobody is a really great matchup against Turner, so it just did not work out,” Cubs manager Joe

Maddon said.

“I can’t even put into words right now. It’s incredible,” Turner said. “That’s something down the road,

hopefully many, many years from now I’ll get to tell stories about.”

That the Dodgers even have Turner is a story in itself. He was non-tendered after the 2013 season by the

New York Mets, who didn’t want to go through salary arbitration with the soon-to-be-29-year-old. The

Dodgers signed Turner to a minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to spring training, and he

made the club as a utility infielder.

That turned out to be one of the best $1 million investments the club ever made.

Turner, who grew up in southern California and played his college ball at nearby Cal State Fullerton, was

back home. He also completely overhauled his swing and started concentrating more on fly balls, and

the power and production soon followed.

First a utility man who could play all four infield positions, Turner wrestled away the starting third base

job by mid-2015, his second year with the Dodgers, then hit a career-best 27 home runs in 2016.

Last winter he was a free agent for the first time and returned to the Dodgers on a four-year, $64 million

deal. He responded with the best year of his career, hitting .322/.415/.530 with 21 home runs and 32

doubles.

He is simply a different hitter than he was with the Baltimore Orioles and Mets in the first five years of

his career.

In the postseason, Turner has been even better. In his 23 career playoff games — all with the Dodgers in

the last four years — Turner is hitting .377/.478/.636 with four home runs, six doubles, and 22 RBI.

“I’m not saying he’s David Ortiz, but I played with David, and you’re talking about big spots and coming

up big. And J.T.’s that guy for us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He just has that pulse where he

can just kind of keep his calm and stay within the strike zone. Also just not afraid to fail and just wants to

be in that spot.”

The Dodgers haven’t won, or been to, a World Series since that Gibson home run. Turner already

authored a moment 29 years in the making and put them one step closer to another.

“I’m happy to be right where I’m at today and be a Dodger and get an opportunity to bring the first

championship back here in a long time,” Turner said.

The Dodgers bullpen is a force to be reckoned with

By Eric Stephen

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers bullpen has been a formidable weapon this postseason, ready and rested

to be deployed in an aggressive fashion in October after a season of planning.

So far in the National League Championship Series, Dodgers relief pitchers have retired 24 of 25 batters

faced, striking out nine. The only batter to reach base against the Dodgers bullpen was Anthony Rizzo,

who was hit by a pitch by Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning of Game 2.

Last year in the NLCS, Dodgers relief pitchers had a 4.76 ERA and allowed four home runs. They lost in

six games.

So far this postseason, opposing batters are 8-for-65 against the Dodgers bullpen, with one home run,

one double, one walk, one hit by pitch, and 19 strikeouts, hitting just .123/.149/.185. Dodgers relievers

have a collective 1.37 ERA this postseason, after posting a 3.99 ERA in the previous four Octobers

combined.

“They're just executing pitches and they're ready when called upon and they're competing,” Dave

Roberts said. “Those guys know exactly what they want to do, and they're going out there and

executing.”

Kenley Jansen is the one bullpen constant in this five-year playoff run for the Dodgers, but the problem

has always been the bridge from the starting pitchers to get to him. At times in the last four years, that

link has been more of a tightrope, but the current group is as fortified as they have ever been.

Dodgers playoff bullpens

Year IP BB/K ERA WHIP

2013 32⅓ 21/42 3.06 1.454

2014 8⅓ 3/7 6.48 1.800

2015 13⅔ 9/18 4.61 1.244

2016 45 19/50 4.00 1.289

2017 19⅔ 1/19 1.37 0.458

Brandon Morrow signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers last winter, and by the second half

established himself as the primary setup man. He has been excellent all year, with a 2.06 ERA, a 1.55 FIP

and 50 strikeouts against just nine walks in 43⅔ innings. Opposing batters hit just .194/.241/.213 against

him.

Morrow retired all six batters he faced in Game 2, on just 18 pitches, and has a 1.42 ERA in his 6⅓

innings. He allowed a three-run home run to Brandon Drury in Game 2 of the NLDS, the only home run

allowed by the Dodgers bullpen this postseason, and the only home run allowed by Morrow all season.

“He's become obviously incredibly valuable,” Roberts said. “When you look at the stuff, the velocity is

plus-plus, and the slider plus-plus. So now you take those components as far as the head, the

preparation, the feel, and the pitch mix, that makes an elite back-end guy.”

The Dodgers acquired a pair of left-handers at the non-waiver trade deadline, snatching Tony Watson

from the Pirates and Tony Cingrani from the Reds. Both Tonys have been excellent, with Cingrani

holding left-handed batters to just .188/.212/.219 over the final two months and Watson limiting lefties

to .212/.257/.394.

This postseason, lefties are 1-for-5 against Watson. Cingrani has retired all three batters he faced — all

left-handed — and recorded four outs.

The final piece of the Dodgers bullpen puzzle was Kenta Maeda, the rug that really tied the entire room

together. A starter by trade, Maeda has unleashed a fastball/slider combination out of the bullpen that

has been death on right-handers. In seven relief appearances he has a 1.64 ERA, with 14 strikeouts and

one walk in 11 innings.

In the playoffs, Maeda has retired all nine batters he faced, with four strikeouts.

“We saw a little bit of it this summer, and the stuff really played up,” Roberts said. “The credit goes to

Kenta as far as buying in and understanding that every out in the postseason is important. So when he

gets his opportunity, he's been light's out.”

MLB: NLDS-Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks

Kenta Maeda has 14 strikeouts and one walk in 11 innings as a reliever this season. Mark J. Rebilas-USA

TODAY Sports

Seizing the opportunity, and recognizing the importance of each out has led to aggressive use of the

bullpen by Roberts, who has pulled his starting pitchers after four, five, five, and five innings in the last

four games, with that group collectively allowing six runs in 19 innings in those starts.

“These playoff games, as we've seen throughout the entire playoffs, are completely their own animal,”

said starter Rich Hill, who has allowed three runs in nine innings in his two starts this October, with 13

strikeouts. “You do whatever it takes to win that game. Depending on how many pitches that might be

for the starter, for the bullpen, however we play the chess match moving forward throughout each

game really is going to kind of depend on how the game is flowing.”

So far, Roberts has deftly guided through the October waters, which haven’t been choppy at all. Nothing

will make a manager look better than when his bullpen gets outs, and the Dodgers have done that.

It sure beats leaving your best reliever in the bullpen, like the Cubs did with Wade Davis in Game 2, only

to watch John Lackey surrender a walk-off bomb to Justin Turner.

Opposing batters hit .252/.316/.469 this season against Lackey, who surrendered a National League-high

36 home runs. Furthermore, Lackey has 469 career starts had just six relief appearances in his career.

One of those bullpen outings came in Game 1 on Saturday, when Lackey recorded five outs. Sunday was

the first time in his career that Lackey pitched on consecutive days.

Davis had a 2.30 ERA in 59 games for the Cubs this season, saved 32 games with 79 strikeouts `in 58⅔

innings. Opposing batters hit .186/.290/.310 against him.

“I really just needed [Davis] for the save tonight. He had limited pitches,” Maddon said. “It was one

inning only, and in these circumstances you don't get him up and then don't get him in. So if we had

caught the lead, he would have pitched. That's it.”

That was it for the game as well.

Meanwhile, Jansen and Morrow have each pitched in all five postseason games for the Dodgers so far,

and will likely be relied on heavily for the duration of October as well. The regular season prepared them

for this.

“There have been times you look back in the season and Kenley was down. As a manager, that's not a

good feeling essentially to make that decision prior to the game that your closer's not going to pitch

even in a save situation,” Roberts said. “But taking the long view, that's something that we believe as an

organization.”

Eight different Dodgers recorded saves during the regular season.

Using Jansen as an example, a cursory glance at his usage might not tell the story. He pitched 68⅔

innings in 2016, and 68⅓ innings this year. Jansen faced 251 batters last year, and 258 batters in 2017.

But the Dodgers were more careful with Jansen this year than last, knowing the reins would loosen

come October.

In 2016, Jansen pitched on back-to-back days 21 times, including three times pitching on three straight

days. In 2017, he was used on back-to-back days just 15 times, and never three days in a row.

“That was the plan,” Jansen said of his regular season. “But we know that this moment's going to come,

and we know that I'm going to throw multiple innings, so I was ready for it.”

The entire bullpen was used similarly this year, relative to 2016. Last year, the club used a reliever three

days in a row 20 different times, including Louis Coleman once on four straight days. In 2017, it

happened just four times, and none after Memorial Day. In April, lefty specialist Luis Avilan pitched

three days in a row twice, and Sergio Romo did it twice in May. That’s it.

“It's a long season. But the way you can execute that is when you have good players and you have depth

in the pen,” Roberts said. “You look into that clubhouse, and guys that are active, and there are a lot of

guys that aren't active on our roster that really played huge roles for us — eating innings for us, taking

at-bats, playing innings in the field.

“The organizational philosophy was to not expend guys too much, understand we still have an extra

month to play.”

So far, so good in that extra month.

Justin Turner got his home run ball back from the Dodgers fan who caught it

By Eric Stephen

One of the underrated aspects of Justin Turner‘s walk-off home run on Sunday night in Game 2 of the

NLCS was the tremendous catch by the fan in center field.

The story has an even better ending, as Turner was able to get the ball back from said fan. After the

game, Turner was a guest on ‘MLB Tonight’ on MLB Network, and detailed the interaction.

“I did get the ball. I had to wheel and deal a little bit, but I got the ball,” Turner explained. “He didn’t

know what he wanted.

He actually told me, ‘This ball means so much to me, you have no idea.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it means kind of a

lot to me too. So, if I can get that ball, it’d be great.’ I took his information down and I said, ‘Hey man,

you think about it long and hard tonight and tomorrow, and let me know whatever you need. But I’m

keeping this ball here with me.’”

The fan’s name is Keith Hupp, and he has caught several home run balls this season at Dodger Stadium.

Arash Markazi at ESPN caught up with Hupp:

After the game, the Dodgers brought Hupp and his son back to meet Turner. Hupp gave the ball to

Turner and he and his son took photos with Turner and Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. While there was

no official exchange on Sunday, Hupp expects it will be similar to what he got in return from Bellinger.

“I didn’t ask for anything, but they told me they would hook me up, and I’m sure they will,” said Hupp,

who had 213 text messages on his cell phone by the time he got home before midnight. “That was the

biggest ball I’ve ever caught. I thought the biggest ball I’d catch in my life was earlier this year when I

caught the game-winning home run ball from Ian Kinsler when the USA won the World Baseball Classic

at Dodger Stadium.”

Corey Seager improving, but doesn’t travel with Dodgers to Chicago

By Eric Stephen

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager is improving, but he did not travel with the team to

Chicago for the middle games of the National League Championship Series against the Cubs.

Seager was left off the Dodgers’ active roster for the NLCS with a back sprain, suffered on a routine slide

into second base in the first inning of Game 3 of the NLDS against the Diamondbacks. Manager Dave

Roberts on Sunday said Seager felt “normalish” and that his back showed continued improvement on

Monday.

But Seager still hasn’t been cleared for baseball activities. No running or hitting yet, so the odds of him

being ready enough to activated during the NLCS — if he were to be activated in this series, it would

have to be replacing another injured position player — are low.

“I don’t see it happening right now. He hasn’t done anything baseball specific,” Roberts said. “We’ve got

to get him in a place where physically he feels like he can play in a major league game and endure those

conditions as far as weather, to be able to come back after a game and to play the next day. So right

now I wouldn’t say that we’re close to that point yet.”

Charlie Culberson, who started two games and totaled 15 plate appearances with the Dodgers during

the regular season, started the first two games of the series against the Cubs and was 2-for-5 with a pair

of doubles and a sacrifice fly, scoring twice.

Both of those starts against left-handed pitchers. The Cubs will start right-handers Kyle Hendricks and

Jake Arrieta in Games 3 and 4, respectively, at Wrigley Field. Roberts said the lineup for Game 3 hasn’t

yet been finalized, but that there will likely be some changes.

“A lot of what we’ve talked about is depth, and it’s all rhetoric until it plays out,” Roberts said. “But I

think internally for us we believed that was a huge asset.

“It’s certainly played out that way. When you do lose a guy like Corey, the one factor is we do have

somebody we feel very confident in replacing Corey, which is very difficult to do. But the other part is

that the guys in the clubhouse just aren’t wavering and really aren’t affected by the loss of any one

player. And I think that speaks to the toughness of those guys in there.”

The Dodgers lead the best-of-seven series two games to none. Game 3 is Tuesday night at 6:01 p.m. PT,

and will be televised by TBS.

The first week of the Arizona Fall League

By Eric Stephen

We are a week into Arizona Fall League play, with Yusniel Diaz and Will Smith highlighting the

performances from the Dodgers contingent for the Glendale Desert Dogs.

Diaz was 5-fof-13 (.385) with three walks (.500 on-base percentage) and just one strikeout in his four

games, including a home run hit on Monday against A’s right-hander Sam Bragg.

Smith was 5-for-14 (.357) with two doubles, a triple and two walks in four games. He threw out top

Braves prospect Ronald Acuna trying to steal second base last Tuesday, but allowed three other stolen

bases during the week.

Andrew Sopko started on Friday in Surprise, and allowed only a solo home run in his three innings. The

right-hander, who turned 22 in August, had a 4.13 ERA in 23 starts for Double-A Tulsa this season, with

74 strikeouts and 45 walks in 104⅔ innings.

Here are the other performances from the week:

Matt Beaty: 4-for-17 (.235), double; played all four of his games at third base

D.J. Peters: 1-for-8 (.125), walk in two games

Michael Boyle: 2⅓ IP, 1 run (3.86 ERA), one walk, two strikeouts in two games

Isaac Anderson: 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, two strikeouts in two games

Shea Spitzbarth: 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, two strikeouts, one save in two games

Upcoming schedule

Tuesday vs. Scottsdale, 12:35 p.m. PT

Wednesday at Scottsdale, 6:35 p.m.

Thursday at Salt River, 6:35 p.m.

Friday vs. Salt River, 12:35 p.m.

Saturday: Bowman hitting challenge at Sloan Park (Mesa), 6:35 p.m.

Sunday: off day

DODGER INSIDER

Bellinger appreciates veterans, Ethier taking him under his wing in rookie season

By Rowan Kavner

When Andre Ethier turns to his right at his locker, he sees the same rookie now as the one 39 home runs

ago.

Long before setting the National League rookie record for homers in a season, Cody Bellinger was with

the Dodgers in Arizona, getting the same treatment any rookie would. He’d complete small chores for

the veterans, whether it meant grabbing gum or a tar rag for a bat.

“He stayed the same guy he was in Spring Training when we were all over him telling him to go do stuff

for us and be that guy,” Ethier said. “He’s still that same guy today.”

A 2017 season that saw the Dodgers’ top prospect begin the year at Triple-A Oklahoma City now has

Bellinger hitting clean-up (and third, with Corey Seager out of the lineup) in the National League

Championship Series after one of the most decorated rookie seasons in baseball history.

Through the entire ride, a trait stood out to Ethier he thought would help Bellinger as he now

experiences his first postseason.

“Just how composed he was the whole time,” Ethier said. “You never really saw him get too excited or

ride the success too high. For someone who had such success in his first season … for him not to react or

get too carried away with those successes, I don’t think that’s in his personality.”

Bellinger credits the Dodger veterans for their impact on making this transition to his first big league

season a seamless one. Specifically, when asked which veterans have made the most significant impact,

he singles out Ethier and his unorthodox style of keeping his loose and offering his thoughts.

The two outfielders, 13 years apart in age, are locker mates.

“He goes about it in a different way, but it’s awesome having him next to my side,” Bellinger said with a

grin.

So, what, exactly, does it mean to go about it in a different way?

“It’s a lot of smack talk,” Bellinger said. “He keeps me humble, though, that’s for sure.”

If Bellinger were to get the wrong type of confidence, Ethier would keep him in line. Not that that’s been

a problem for the 22-year-old first baseman, who expertly navigated his way through his first Major

League season with few blemishes or dips in production along the way.

On his way to 39 home runs and 97 RBI, Bellinger compiled an OPS better than .900 in both the first half

and second half of the season. As teams gathered intel on Bellinger, his production stayed consistent.

Any brief dip would typically be followed by another offensive outburst.

Even in his first postseason, after a 1-for-10 start in the first two games of the National League Division

Series, Bellinger adjusted. He’s since responded by going 5-for-11 in his last three games, including a 3-

for-7 start to the National League Championship Series against the Cubs.

“It’s stressful. It’s fun,” Bellinger said of his first playoffs. “Everything matters a little more. Every at-bat

matters a little more. But, you try to treat it like a regular season game.”

If it’s anything like a regular season game, the Dodgers are in luck at the tail end of a season even

Bellinger couldn’t have predicted. He said he figured if 2017 was his debut year, it might be as a

September call-up or a late season addition. With injuries paving his path, Bellinger got a chance in April

and never looked back.

“I think the veterans on the team have helped him immensely, and how to go about preparing and how

to handle success, struggles, how to handle this market, how to handle being a Major League player,”

said manager Dave Roberts. “Cody himself is really — in his make-up, his DNA — just is really even-

keeled, and he knows he belongs here and knew that early on. He has the talent.”

Bellinger is one of the few Dodger players experiencing his first postseason and is now hitting

.286/.348/.476 after five games.

Corey Seager said before the postseason began he didn’t have to tell Bellinger much in terms of offering

tips for the playoffs. He had seen enough from Bellinger in clutch moments to know the 22-year-old

could handle it. Roberts also wasn’t concerned about his young first baseman experiencing the pressure

of this moment.

“I think that Cody’s temperament, mindset, definitely plays in the postseason,” Roberts said.

Ethier said each player reacts to the energy of the postseason differently, though.

Some of the Dodgers’ veterans offered their advice for the handful of young players on the Dodger

roster experiencing their first October baseball:

Andre Ethier — “Do the same thing you’re doing. I know you may want to try less because you’re going

to be over-amped, but just do the same things you’re doing. Go out there and don’t be afraid to be the

hero or the star of the game you guys were all year and carry the team in the moments you did, don’t be

afraid to do that.”

Curtis Granderson — “As long as you just trust that, hey, I’m here for a reason and the things I’ve done

got me here, just continue to keep doing those things and everything will take care of itself.

“If anything, you’ll have certain things happen that you might not have bene expecting. For example, the

starting pitcher may come out in the second inning. You may double switch because of something like

that in the third inning when you may have normally done it in the fifth or the sixth inning. Little things

like that happen. Expect the unexpected.”

Rich Hill — “It’s absolutely different, but I think it comes down to trusting in your ability to execute

pitches for myself as a pitcher and everybody in here to trust their ability that has gotten them to this

point. The work is being put in throughout the offseason and throughout the entire season. That’s part

of the process, sticking with that and the routine. When you go out there, just have fun and leave it all

out on the field.”

USA TODAY SPORTS

California Love: How Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen vowed to return for a Dodgers title

By Bob Nightengale

LOS ANGELES — It doesn’t make sense now, none of it does really, where a journeyman infielder can

impersonate Kirk Gibson, a failed catcher can pitch like Dennis Eckersley, and a wedding, 3,436 miles

away on a tiny island in the Caribbean Sea, can change the fate of an entire baseball season.

Why, if Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen doesn’t get married over the winter, or teammate

Justin Turner doesn’t attend, the Dodgers may not be sitting today with a 2-0 lead over the Chicago Cubs

in the National League Championship Series.

If not for their friendship, and the nuptials that brought them together when both faced the most critical

decisions of their career, Jansen may be in a Washington Nationals uniform, and the Dodgers would not

be playing Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday night, trying to end a 29-

year World Series drought.

If not for the wedding, Turner may have been playing third base all season for the St. Louis Cardinals,

preventing the Cubs from even winning the NL Central Division.

And if not for the wedding, Turner doesn’t hit the greatest walk-off home run at Dodger Stadium in 29

years Sunday in their 4-1 victory, re-creating Gibson’s magical moment in the 1988 World Series, only

without the exaggerated fist pump.

“I’m saving that,’’ Turner says, “for the World Series.’’

If Jansen doesn’t marry Gianni on a gorgeous Dec. 10, 2016, evening at the Santa Barbara Beach & Golf

Resort in Curacao, and Turner doesn’t interrupt them on the dance floor, is it possible this entire

baseball season is turned upside down?

“That’s a crazy question, and to be honest,’’ Jansen says, “I just don’t know. It’s scary to think what

might have happened.

“Thank God it happened this way. Thank God.’’

Jansen remembers waking up believing he was going to sign a free-agent contract with the Nationals.

He had just spent an afternoon earlier that week having lunch with Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, meeting

their owners, and getting a formal five-year, $85 million offer. He would be their missing link, they told

him, winning the first World Series in Washington, D.C., since 1924.

“I really liked Rizzo and those people,’’ Jansen said. “They made me feel good. They were making it a

very tough decision. My wife didn’t want me to leave L.A. But to be honest with you, I was shifting

toward Washington.’’

Jansen, who invited a barber to his hotel suite that afternoon of the wedding, brought along several of

his groomsmen for free haircuts. The dude with the long flowing red hair, the one that needed a trim

the most, was the most adamant questioning him, telling him to be sure this was the right decision.

“I wasn’t really trying to recruit him, or anything like that,’’ said Turner, who has played in four

organizations. “I mean, I was in the same position as he was. I was really just letting him know my

different feelings I had on going somewhere else, or staying here.

“I just said something along the lines of, 'You don’t know what you’re going to get if you go somewhere

else. You don’t know if you’re going to like the guys. You don’t know if you’re going to like the manager.

You don’t know if you’re going to have the same relationship with the strength coach as you have here.

“It might be more money, but it doesn’t necessarily equate to being happy. I have played for some other

organizations, and this by far is the best one I’ve been part of.’’

It was the first time they had even discussed baseball since Turner and his fiancée, Kourtney, arrived a

few days earlier on the island, spending time sight-seeing together, with Jansen proudly showing off his

homeland.

The next time was moments after Jansen and his newlywed, Gianni, unwrapped their arms around one

another, finishing their first dance.

Turner walked over, leaned in, and whispered into Jansen’s ear.

“I’m going to sign back with the Dodgers,’’ said Turner, who received a four-year, $64 million deal. “I

want you to be there, too.’’

Jansen hugged Turner, retreated to the dance floor, and they don’t remember talking again the rest of

the night. Turner and Kourtney departed the following morning for Aruba.

“Here I am, I just got married to the most beautiful person in my life,’’ Jansen says, “and J.T. says that to

me. It was sweet. It meant a lot to me. It showed these guys are like family to me. And this is one of my

good friends wanting me to be with him.

“That kind of shifted things back to the L.A. side.’’

A couple of days later, Turner and Kourtney are sunning on an Aruba beach, sipping on Mai Tais, when

Kourtney looked at her cell phone. There was breaking news. Jansen was returning to the Dodgers,

signing a five-year, $80 million contract.

“That shocked me,’’ Turner said, “that actually blew me away.’’

It stunned the Nationals, too, with ownership revealing it was willing to break the bank for Jansen, but

no one else.

“Kenley actually called me himself,’’ Rizzo said, “to break the news. We really believed it was a perfect

fit. It was just too tough for him to leave L.A.’’

Said Jansen: “I just couldn’t go. It would have been like breaking up with family. I realized how much

they meant to me at my wedding.’’

Now, here they are 10 months later, halfway to their first World Series since 1988, grinning at one

another on the Dodger Stadium dais Sunday night.

Jansen, 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, who was nearly out of baseball as a light-hitting catcher, only to become

the game’s most dominant closer, pitching in all five of the Dodgers’ postseason games without giving

up an earned run, was sitting on the left. Turner, dumped by three organizations, and taking seven years

to establish himself as an everyday player, only to emerge as one of the game’s most feared hitters with

a career. 377 postseason batting average, was on the right.

Their appearances are the soundtrack of the Dodgers' season, and their intro music portends excellence.

Turner, with his flowing locks and overwhelming beard, walks up to Ed Sheeran's Shape of You, a nod to

the budding friendship between the ginger craftsmen of top 40 hits and killer launch angles.

The song had barely stopped playing before Turner crushed a three-run homer in his first at-bat of the

National League Division Series, launching a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks.

He has nine hits in 21 postseason at-bats, with a team-high 10 RBI.

Jansen's California Love entrance has been a glorious staple for years in Chavez Ravine, with even a

mariachi band playing the Dr. Dre-Tupac collaboration in pregame performances.

Jansen has retired 22 of 25 batters faced in these playoffs, 10 by strikeout.

Together, their mission is to end their Cubs’ reign as World Series champions, a vow renewed when

forced to watch the Cubs’ ring ceremony in April.

“To be honest, that’s why I wanted to play the Cubs,’’ Jansen said. “They are the world champs. So you

want to beat on them. It all started my wedding night.’’

It’s the perfect script, a love story, really.

“I don’t know about a movie,’’ Jansen says, “but I plan on being at Justin and Kourtney’s wedding in

Cabo this winter. It would be an awesome story this time, if we could talk about winning a championship

together.’’

It certainly wouldn't be their last waltz.

“If we win the World Series,’’ Turner said, “he asked me, 'Are you going to let me have the first dance

instead of Kourtney?’’’

LA TIMES

Dodgers Dugout: Justin Turner is taking his place among postseason legends

By Houston Mitchell

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. This Justin Turner

guy may just have a future in this game.

Game 2 review

OHMIGOSH THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! WHERE’S MY ASTHMA INHALER?

What better way to celebrate the 29th anniversary of Kirk Gibson’s homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World

Series than Justin Turner creating a little walk-off magic of his own.

An amazing ending to an amazing postseason so far. Let’s review.

— Where in the world was Wade Davis? The Cubs have John Lackey, who has never pitched on

consecutive games in his major league career, out there in the bottom of the ninth. Unless Davis has

some injury we don’t know about, this was a puzzling decision by Joe Maddon. He had Davis warming up

in the eighth. Where is your closer?

— Let’s take a moment to discuss Turner’s postseason career. With his 2 for 4, four RBI performance in

Game 2, Turner is now hitting .377 in the postseason, with four homers and 22 RBIs in 23 games. He is

hitting .375 in thisNLCS with a homer and five RBIs and hit .462 in the NLDS against the Diamondbacks,

with a homer and five RBIs. He went 10 for 19 with six doubles against the Mets in the 2015 NLDS and 6

for 15 with a triple and a homer against the Nationals in the 2016 NLDS. His only blip is going 4 for 20

against the Cubs in last season’s NLCS, but even then he hit a homer and had three RBIs.

In short, we are witnessing a remarkable playoff run by a remarkable hitter.

— Charlie Culberson has scored a run in both games and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt in Game 2.

He’s hitting .400. And hours before Game 1, he learned his grandmother had died.

— Lackey looked like he would have rather been anywhere except out on the mound.

— The Dodgers’ bullpen has been incredible. In 19.2 innings this postseason, they have given up eight

hits, walked two and struck out 19. They have a 1.37 ERA.

— I hope the Cubs never figure out that Yasiel Puig no longer chases the outside pitch. He walked three

times in Game 2.

— The patience at the plate has been amazing. They forced the Cubs to go to their bullpen early and

generally made it a long night for Cubs pitchers.

— Joc Pederson, who was left off the NLDS roster and has had only 22 MLB at-bats since Aug. 19, is

asked to bunt against a left-hander and lays down a beautiful bunt. That’s a lot tougher than he made it

look.

--Nice catch by that fan on Turner’s home run. He have the ball to Turner after the game after a “little

wheelin’ and dealin’” Turner said.

It was a thrilling ending. You can watch Turner’s home run again here.

By the way, in the Game 1 review, I said the Dodgers added Luis Avilan to the NLCS roster and removed

Pedro Baez. Of course, the correct answer was Pederson for Baez. Avilan is not on the roster. I wrote

that just to test all of you. (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it).

Catcher-blocking-the-plate rule

A lot of people emailed about how this new rule is ruining baseball and how men can’t be men anymore

when playing sports because of all this emphasis on safety.

Silly me, I don’t think a sport is ruined if we don’t allow two men to potentially ruin their careers by

crashing into each other. But after giving it further thought, I see I was wrong and have a list of other

things we should change:

Why are these batters wearing helmets? Take them off, you weaklings.

Goalies wearing face masks in hockey? That’s not the way the game used to be played. Ruins it.

Concussion protocols? What do I care what happens to athletes 30 years from now? I demand my

entertainment. Be real men.

Seat belts? Why should we wear them? So what if it saves thousands of lives. It’s really inconvenient.

OK, joke’s over. If you have the ball you can block the plate. If you don’t, you can’t. What’s wrong with

that? Nothing.

Game 3 preview

Yu Darvish versus Kyle Hendricks

Dodgers versus Hendricks

Andre Ethier: .333 (1 for 3)

Enrique Hernandez: .250 (1 for 4)

Yasiel Puig: .250 (1 for 4)

Justin Turner: .167 (2 for 12), 1 homer

Chase Utley: .125 (1 for 8)

Curtis Granderson: .091 (1 for 11)

Yasmani Grandal: .000 (0 for 7)

Corey Seager: .000 (0 for 7)

Joc Pederson: .000 (0 for 8)

Pitchers: .333 (1 for 3)

Team: .119 (8 for 67), 1 homer, 20 strikeouts

Cubs versus Darvish

Tommy La Stella: .500 (1 for 2)

Anthony Rizzo: .500 (1 for 2), 1 double

Leonys Martin: .250 (1 for 4)

Alex Avila: .231 (3 for 13), 1 double

Ben Zobrist: .167 (2 for 12)

Kris Bryant: .000 (0 for 3)

Willson Contreras: .000 (0 for 2)

Jason Heyward: .000 (0 for 1)

Addison Russell: .000 (0 for 2)

Team: .195 (8 for 41), 1 double, 18 strikeouts

All numbers are courtesy of baseball-reference.com.

The NLCS

Game 3: Tuesday, 6 p.m. PT, Dodgers (Yu Darvish) at Chicago (Kyle Hendricks), TBS

Game 4: Wednesday, 6 p.m. PT (will move to 5 p.m. if ALCS is complete), Dodgers (Alex Wood) at

Chicago (Jake Arrieta), TBS

Game 5*: Thursday, 5 p.m. PT, Dodgers at Chicago, TBS

Game 6*: Saturday, 1 p.m. PT (will move to 5 p.m. if ALCS is complete), Chicago at Dodgers, TBS

Game 7*: Sunday, 4:30 p.m. PT, Chicago at Dodgers, TBS

* if necessary

And finally

This needs no explanation. Just watch.