The Dodgers have won 16 of their last 17 games :help:
I can't take this time of year. I've never before had the stress of playoff anxiety with two teams at the same time.
The Dodgers are due for a dry spell, right?
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The Dodgers have won 16 of their last 17 games :help:
I can't take this time of year. I've never before had the stress of playoff anxiety with two teams at the same time.
The Dodgers are due for a dry spell, right?
I did say when they were in Cincy 2 weeks ago they were better than the Reds. However, the faltering Padres have made the hot Dodgers not nearly as big of an issue.
I'll take my chances against the Dodgers in a short division series. I'm not terribly frightened by Lowe, Maddux, or their offense. In fact, I'm not frightened by any team in the West.
not a single team in the NL is frightening. the Mets without a healthy Pedro aren't scary either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Falls City Beer
The best part of the Dodgers has turned out to be that bullpen(and the problem for the Reds). They have been lights out during the winning streak.
The only race in the NL that is over is the East.
With Nomar and Kent back, their offense is is really good. They don't have great starting pitching, but there are a few lights out guys in the pen. They have a good team, and they'll win the west.Quote:
Originally Posted by Falls City Beer
The Dodgers' offense is like the housing market bubble that burst 6 months ago.
Tons of guys looking to crash down, go cold.
I think the Dodgers are getting hot at just the wrong time.
There is not a single team in the NL that can put up two starters that really scare an opponent.
I keep waiting for them to cool down, but it doesn't seem to be happening.
I'm paraphrasing and relying on faulty memory, but I think I saw on ESPN where this is the latest in a season ever that a team has gone from last to first.
They definitely helped themselves at the break...getting Lugo and Betemit in the lineup in place of Izturis and Ramon Martinez greatly improved their lineup (necessary with Kent and Garciaparra on the shelf at the time), and Maddux has been brilliant since his arrival.
They are not going to continue this torrid pace from here on out, certainly, but I would take their pitching staff against any team in the NL in a short series...their bullpen has been very good recently with Broxton and Saito at the back end, and every NL team still in it has questions in their starting rotation.
Their lineup leads the NL in OBP and Average, but did not hit a lot of HR. Lugo and Betemit were both slugging well at the time of their acquisition (.492 and .512, respectively) and add more to the lineup than most assume. The Dodgers personally scare me a lot more than the Mets, even given the Mets lineup.
I'll be in LA for the rubber game,i'm hoping the Reds will stomp em in their own backyard.
if you can put together decent starting pitching and a lights out bullpen it may not matter. The Maddux trade, seeing as they gave up basically nothing for him, could likely be the best deadline deal. Certainly Billingsley and Hendrickson are shaky at the back of the rotation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Falls City Beer
The Lugo deal is a bit of a head scratcher in the sense he doesn't have a place to play with Kent back. Of course, they didn't give up a lot for him as Guzman had seemingly fallen out of favor. The Maddux deal has by far had the biggest impact because their starting pitching didn't go past Penny and Lowe. During their losing streak those two struggled, if they start stuggling again, who knows.Quote:
Originally Posted by boognish
This is where the subjective side of me comes out.
I see the Dodgers and I really don't see a bunch of ferocity; they have no Edmonds or Pujols or Harang or Freel or Jose Reyes or Beltran--in other words, the Dodgers lack a genuine difference-maker. They have a bunch of nice, buffed-up parts, but no one capable of wringing another team dry and collapsing their dignity.
Honestly the Astro still scare me as much as anybody because if they can figure out how to score a few runs I like their top 3 pitchers a lot better than any other team. Pettitte has started to pitch better of late and if he continues they could quickly get back in the hunt. They are only four games behind the Reds.
This could easilyl go to the last week with as many as 4-5 teams still in the hunt.