The Philadelphia Phillies’ NLDS matchup is set. The Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card Round and will travel to Citizens Bank Park for Game 1 of the NLDS against the Phillies.
The Game 1 pitching matchup looks to be as good as it gets with the Phillies starting Cristopher Sánchez and the Dodgers sending Shohei Ohtani out to the mound for his first career playoff start. It may be tough for the Phillies’ offense to score runs early on Saturday and throughout the series, but the hitters will exploit the Dodgers’ biggest weakness if they can get past the starters.
Phillies must take advantage of Dodgers’ lackluster bullpen in NLDS
The Dodgers may have handled the Reds in the Wild Card Round, but their bullpen’s struggles from the regular season carried into the playoffs. It was only a two-game sample, but the Dodgers’ bullpen allowed five earned runs and seven walks in 4 1/3 innings against the Reds, owning a 10.38 ERA heading into the NLDS.
On the other hand, the Dodgers’ starting pitching was excellent against the Reds. Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto combined to go 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts may have shown his lack of confidence in his bullpen in Game 2 against the Reds on Wednesday night. Roberts sent Yamamoto back out for the seventh inning after throwing 95 pitches through six. The right-hander lasted 6 2/3 innings and finished his outing with 113 pitches.
The Dodgers’ elite starting pitching and lackluster bullpen were common themes throughout the regular season. The starters featured the fifth-best ERA (3.69) and were tied for the fifth-lowest WHIP (1.19), whereas the bullpen was tied for the 10th-worst ERA (4.27) and tied for the seventh-highest WHIP (1.33).
Ironically, the Phillies’ pitching staff was strikingly similar to the Dodgers’ in the regular season. The Phillies’ starting rotation had the second-best ERA (3.53), tied for the fourth-lowest WHIP (1.18) and recorded 98 more strikeouts than the Seattle Mariners for the most in the majors. However, the bullpen was tied with the Dodgers’ bullpen for the 10th-worst ERA and seventh-highest WHIP.
The NLDS matchup between the Phillies and the Dodgers could very well come down to which offense can get to the opposing team’s bullpen first. The Phillies have one clear advantage: they secured home-field advantage with the best atmosphere in Major League Baseball.