The point again feels redundant at this stage, but it’s nonetheless worth repeating because it’s the reason why the Dodgers are on the verge of another divisional-round elimination: Their starting pitching is atrocious.
The suspicions of the winter, which became legitimate fears in the regular season, have turned into a full-scale disaster in these playoffs.
Incredibly, the problem everyone saw coming is somehow even worse than imagined. In this National League Division Series, their starters have registered a combined earned-run average of 10.13. The Dodgers are behind in the best-of-five series to the San Diego Padres, two games to one.
The Dodgers’ starter in their elimination game on Wednesday?
TBD.
As in, to be determined.
Read more: Plaschke: It’s happening again. Dodgers on verge of another ugly October encore
“I see one of our relievers starting,” manager Dave Roberts said, because the Dodgers don’t have any traditional starters who are healthy or competent enough to pitch at this stage. Roberts will depend on a parade of relievers to complete nine innings and extend his team’s season.
If the Dodgers force a Game 5, they will start either Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was charged with five runs in three innings in Game 1, or Jack Flaherty, who was charged with four runs in 5⅓ innings in Game 2.
“This situation isn’t ideal,” Roberts said.
Then again, the situation could be worse. Game 3 starter Walker Buehler, the pitcher of record in the 6-5 defeat at Petco Park on Tuesday, recovered from a six-run second inning, to complete five innings. Because the Padres were the home team and didn’t hit in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers bullpen had to cover only three innings.
“Walker did a nice job of keeping his composure and still giving us some length and throwing some zeros after that [six-run inning],” Roberts said.
Starting pitching this ineffective has to be graded on a curve, and Roberts not calling on Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips, Ryan Brasier and Alex Vesia to pitch in Game 3 kept Buehler’s start from being categorized as a complete failure.
Buehler’s second inning cost the Dodgers the game, and this doesn’t count Freddie Freeman’s throw to second base that ricocheted off Manny Machado’s helmet or the mistake Miguel Rojas made of trying to beat a runner to second base instead of flipping the ball to Gavin Lux. Up to that point, Buehler could be called a victim of…