3 lessons the Dodgers should learn from Phillies and Astros

2. There’s a Need for More High-Energy Players

The Phillies are such a great story. This is a team that has been starved of successful baseball and the moment they get a chance they catch fire and walk through their opponents.

Highlighting this run for the Phillies are the hot bats of Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper, both of whom bring a unique energy to the game that the Dodgers simply lack. This energy is huge in the postseason. Los Angeles should know that.

Obviously, talent is going to be more consistent than having someone who just gets amped up in the playoffs, but as we see every year, the hottest team makes the run, not the most talented. High-energy players that absorb the moment and don’t shrink are the ones that get hot in October, plain and simple.

This was a huge issue with the 2022 Dodgers roster. Is there anyone here that’s actually a high-energy, emotional player? Sure, Mookie Betts will get hyped every now and again, but the only one that fits this billing is Alex Vesia, a relief pitcher.

And let’s go back to the 2020 World Series run, shall we? The Dodgers had two key bats in that lineup that were high-energy and produced in big spots: Enrique Hernandez and Joc Pederson. Hernandez and Pederson are not the most consistent regular-season players, but the duo has more postseason heroics than a lot of the players on the Dodgers.

Heck, look at 2018! Yasiel Puig hit the biggest home run of the year in the NLCS and then hit what should have been the biggest hit of the World Series before Dave Roberts botched it.

The Dodgers don’t need to bring in 26 wild horses. But all October we kept hearing how the team was “not worried” and that it was “just another day” once the playoffs arrived. They can downplay October all they want, but it obviously doesn’t lend itself to results. Maybe some urgency would actually help this team.

1. Elite hitter that can’t defend > Elite defender that can’t hit

Defense is important in the game of baseball. There are so many key moments on the field where defense changes the course of a game. For example, Cody Bellinger has made his fair share of elite catches in the outfield that saved games for the Dodgers in the past.

Heck, Justin Turner turned in one of the most impactful plays of the entire 2020 World Series run after he doubled up the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS when they had runners on second and third and one out. Defense definitely is important.

However, what’s interesting about that Turner play is that he isn’t really considered to be a great defender, especially late in his career. Do you know who else isn’t a great defender? Yordan Alvarez, who has played six of seven games in left field in the postseason.

What about Kyle Schwarber and Nicholas Castellanos, both of whom have played the corner outfield spots all year for the Phillies? None of these guys are great defensive players; they’re in the lineup because of their bats.

Nobody is saying that the Dodgers should go out and sign a bunch of horrible fielders and throw them on the roster. But the team cannot keep justifying putting in a bat like Bellinger because “he’s a great fielder” (even though Trayce Thompson had better advanced metrics).

Granted, the Dodgers weren’t expecting Bellinger to turn into a Double-A hitter these last two years, but they have seen plenty to change how they approach the game, and it isn’t just Bellinger. They added guys like Joey Gallo, who “were great fielders at the very least” instead of just targeting the best bats. Offense wins the postseason. And the Dodgers went cold and failed to be clutch at the worst time because they didn’t have enough bats ready for the task.

Dodgers fans will love Joe Davis’ Bryce Harper HR call that ended Padres season

The San Diego Padres were eliminated from the postseason on an epic home run from Bryce Harper. Joe Davis on the call. LA Dodgers fans will love it.