Editorials

Dodgers Reaction: Playoff Success Not Determined By ‘Momentum’

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Looking at the bright side is often times difficult when you see your team lose eight of ten games down the stretch, and Dodger starters not named Clayton or Zack are serving up 28 hits over the course of the Colorado series.

Alex Wood was embarrassed after the sweep in Colorado as told to Mark Saxon of ESPN:

It’s pretty embarrassing to come here and get swept this late in the year,” starting pitcher Alex Wood said. “I think you look at the two teams and you don’t know anything about baseball, you would have guessed that the Rockies were the team about to head to the postseason and we weren’t. We got a really big wake-up call here.”

A single player can even shift momentum. Clayton Kershaw did not need to make another motivational speech about urgency. With Clayton Kershaw on the mound for the second game of the series at AT&T Park, the momentum pendulum swayed back to the Dodgers favor with the reigning MVP’s division-clinching gem. The Dodgers ace did not utilize any words on Tuesday when he took the mound and struck out 13 San Francisco batters to give the Dodgers their “One Win” to clinch the division. It was just the catalyst the Dodgers needed heading into the postseason.

Concerns over injuries to Adrian Gonzalez (pinched nerve in back), Corey Seager (heavy legs) and Howie Kendrick (hamstring) are far more integral to the success of this Dodgers team in the playoffs than a September sweep by the Rockies or even the disappointing loss to the Giants on Monday. We have seen how one cracked rib can change the course, or dare I say momentum, of a team who is fully charged for a World Series run.

Once the champagne was flowing in the clubhouse when the Dodgers clinched their third straight NL West title, the sweep in Colorado and the San Francisco walk-off was all but forgotten. Any team can look awful or grand on any given day. It has been a marathon of a season, and although it would be nice if the Dodgers win some of these final games down the stretch and obtain home field advantage, late season momentum really has no bearing on how they will fare in the postseason.

A.J. Ellis, the Dodgers veteran catcher, explained how the postseason is an entirely different animal than the regular season:

My experience the two years I was watching, in ’08 and ’09, and then the last two years, [was] you’re going to show up, the adrenaline’s going to be there, and you’re going to be right where you need to be,” catcher A.J. Ellis said. “If you can’t get up to play playoff games, you need to check your blood pressure.”

Dodger fans have certainly had to check their blood pressure many times throughout this season, but the outlook for this year’s Dodger team is about as bright as any of the previous years.

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Staff Writer

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