The Los Angeles Dodgers arrive at the World Series with a week off and a structured plan for their starters, who are in great shape, not only because they have had time to recover, but also because of the dominance they have shown in the postseason from the Wild Card Round to the Championship Series, in which they have only had one loss in 10 games played.
In the Championship Series, manager Dave Roberts opted to line up Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the first games at American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, with Snell going eight innings and Yamamoto going the distance. At Dodger Stadium, Tyler Glasnow was in the third game, pitching 5.1 innings, and in game four it was Shohei Ohtani’s turn with six innings of work and 10 strikeouts
Dave Roberts has already announced at a press conference his strategy on the mound to face the World Series against a team with a lot of contact like the Toronto Blue Jays:
Snell will open first, followed by Yamamoto … We’ll see about Game 3 and Game 4. The idea is to run the same starting rotation, certainly for the first two games
Shohei Ohtani set to make World Series pitching debut from Dodger Stadium
If the plan goes as Dave Roberts mentioned, Shohei Ohtani would come into action in Game 3 or 4, both at Dodger Stadium, so it would be the first World Series start for the Japanese and nothing better than to do it at home in front of his fans, who have patiently waited for his evolution to see him again on the mound.
The team has been extremely cautious with his return to the mound, as Ohtani returned to pitching midway through the season after his long recovery from the ulnar collateral ligament. Last season he played in the World Series as a designated hitter, but did not take the mound and this year, the pitching staff gradually increased his workload to avoid overexerting him so that he would have a good recovery, so now his long-awaited debut in the Fall Classic is expected.
Dave Roberts praises the strength of his starters: Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani are ready for the World Series
When the postseason began, there were some doubts about how the Dodgers’ starters and bullpen would fare, whether they would be erratic or dominant. However, as the games went on, they looked better and more accurate, shutting down offenses such as the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers.
Dave Roberts highlighted the role of his pitchers as the cornerstone of Los Angeles’ success this postseason:
In any great starting pitching staff, it’s important to have that anchor. Blake has always been a finisher
In addition to mentioning that the performance of Snell, a left-handed pitcher, has had a contagious effect on his other starters to achieve the results:
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