Blue Jays Just Cracked the Code on Dodgers' Achilles' Heel in World Series Game 1
It was easy to pretend the Los Angeles Dodgers didn't have a glaring weakness when their starting rotation was chewing through innings during a 9-1 run through the Wild Card Round, NLDS and NLCS.
On Friday night, that weakness—the bullpen—moved front and center in Game 1 of the World Series. Blake Snell departed with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, and in a flash, a 2-2 tie devolved into an 11-2 blowout win for the Toronto Blue Jays.
There was no one to put out of the fire.
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One game is not enough to suddenly proclaim the Blue Jays as favorites in this series, but they cracked the code to beating the Dodgers by reaching the bullpen earlier than other teams so far this postseason.
Through the first 10 games of the postseason, the Dodgers got eight quality starts from their rotation, and starters went a combined 7-1 with a 1.40 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 81 strikeouts in 64.1 innings.
That impressive work from the starting staff left just 27.2 innings of work for the bullpen, effectively hiding what has been a weak spot for the Dodgers all season.
But there was no hiding in Game 1.
How Did the Dodgers End Up With This Bullpen?
The Dodgers made the bullpen a focal point during the offseason, re-signing Blake Treinen (two years, $22 million) and adding Tanner Scott (four years, $72 million) and Kirby Yates (one year, $13 million) to join him and hard-throwing Michael Kopech at the back of a bullpen that looked like a potential juggernaut.
So how did we get here?
Scott (61 G, 10 blown saves, 4.74 ERA) and Yates (50 G, 5.23 ERA) both struggled and are now watching from the sidelines with injuries, while Kopech has missed the bulk of the season with his own injury woes.
Treinen struggled with his command all season, posting a 14.7 percent walk rate, and that has rendered him more of a middle reliever than a high-leverage option at the back of the bullpen. Throw in the fact that lefty Alex Vesia is away from the team with a personal family matter, and this relief corps is not in a good place.
The bright spot has been rookie Roki Sasaki, who returned from a minor league demotion throwing gas down the stretch, and he has allowed just three hits and one run in eight innings while nailing down all three of his save chances.
So when the Dodgers ran into trouble in the sixth inning of Game 1, it was starter-turned-reliever Emmet Sheehan tasked to come into an impossible situation with no outs and the bases loaded in a 2-2 game.
Sheehan has power stuff with a fastball that averages 95.6 mph and a slider that generates a 43.6 percent whiff rate, but he also now has more relief appearances this postseason (5) than he did in his entire career when the playoffs started (4).
Simply put, it was too big of an ask to put him in that situation.
When he faltered, allowing three runs to come across while recording just one out, southpaw Anthony Banda was the next man out of the bullpen.
Banda had a 3.18 ERA in 71 games this season, but with only 12 holds, he was used in lower-leverage spots. Entering the year, he was supposed to be the third lefty behind Scott and Vesia.
That's not to second guess the decisions by Dave Roberts, as his alternative options were even less inspiring.
Justin Wrobleski and Will Klein made their postseason debuts in mop-up duty on Friday, Edgardo Henriquez allowed three base runners without getting an out in his lone appearance and rookie Jack Dreyer has only pitched 1.2 innings this postseason and did not pitch in the NLCS. We already talked about Treinen's struggles, and Clayton Kershaw is the only other arm in the bullpen.
Bridging the gap from the starter to Sasaki will continue to be the biggest question mark in the series for a Dodgers team that could be undone by their bullpen.
The Blue Jays Offense is Relentless
The role of overwhelming favorite makes the Dodgers' struggles the story of the night, but let's take a moment to give credit where it's due to the Blue Jays' relentless offense.
The memorable moment of their nine-run sixth inning was a grand slam off the bat of Addison Barger, but before that blast, they had started the inning off with a walk, single, hit by pitch, single, walk, single and a fielder's choice.
Eight different players recorded a hit for the Blue Jays, with No. 6 hitter Dalton Varsho (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) and No. 7 hitter Ernie Clement (2-for-4, RBI) again doing damage from the bottom half of the order.
The nine-run inning won them the game, but they laid the foundation for that explosion by forcing Snell to grind through a 29-pitch first inning, paving the way for his early exit as he threw 100 pitches in his five-plus innings of work.
After piling up 71 runs in 11 games to start the postseason, the Blue Jays also welcomed back offensive star Bo Bichette, who went 1-for-2 with a walk in his first action since Sept. 6 due to a knee injury.
One final point worth making, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. entered the World Series as the hottest hitter on the planet with a .442/.510/.930 line that included six home runs and 12 RBI in the postseason, and while he went 2-for-4 with a walk, he was far from a top contributor in an 11-run outburst.
The Blue Jays have been stringing together hits and base runners all postseason, and they didn't flinch against Snell after he went 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 21 innings over his first three starts of the playoffs.
What's Next
First and foremost, that whole "this Dodgers team is inevitable", queue the Thanos memes vibe that was surrounding this series heading into Game 1 is completely out the window.
The Blue Jays did not look the least bit intimidated by the prematurely crowned champs, with a 22-year-old rookie starting pitcher on the mound opposite a $137 million ace. Toronto had contributions up and down the lineup from players most fans couldn't pick out of a lineup, rendering a Shohei Ohtani home run as little more than a footnote.
Now the Dodgers still have the superior starting rotation, the more star-studded roster and the experience factor, so it's entirely possible they bounce back with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound in Game 2 and immediately snatch control of the series.
However, all of those potential advantages could be erased in the blink of an eye if the bullpen stumbles again, and there is now a a feeling of no lead being safe until these relievers prove otherwise.
This series feels a lot more like a level playing field than it did in the six days since the Dodgers punched their ticket to the World Series with an NLCS sweep.
