What Went Wrong for the Dodgers 2019 Season

It was impossible to see the 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers season ending the way it did – unless you are a Dodger fan. The LA faithful has seen their team make it to the World Series two of the last three seasons, but still endures a title drought stretching back to 1988.

This season the club looked to be different. It seemed like they solved the art of offense. The Dodgers hired cutting edge hitting instructor Robert Van Scoyoc last offseason. They went on to set a National League record for home runs in a single season and score more runs than any team in the Senior Circuit.

Their starting rotation was almost as good. Aging hurler Clayton Kershaw continued his evolution as a finesse pitcher en route to 16 wins. Walker Buehler proved again to be the heir to Kershaw’s thrown as Dodgers Ace leading the team with 215 strikeouts. Hyun-Jin Ryu led all of baseball in ERA (2.32) and was the NL starter in the All-Star game.

One flaw stuck in the mind of even the most optimistic Dodger fan all year: a weak bullpen. Closer Kenley Jansen finished with a career high 3.71 ERA with eight blown saves in 62 appearances. Offseason acquisition Joe Kelly helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series but had a 7.59 ERA in June for LA. Although he followed with a sub-3 earned run average, Kelly entered the postseason with a mysterious “overall body” ailment.

The LA front office did not provide much midseason support. President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman had been known for marquee pickups in recent years. The last three seasons, he swapped prospects for proven contributors Rich Hill, Josh Reddick, Yu Darvish and Manny Machado at the deadline. This time the price was too high for elite talent on the backend.

Still, the Dodgers believed their dominance on the mound to begin games and in the batter’s box could overcome their bullpen issues. They could also rely on an old baseball adage: “get in the playoffs and anything can happen.”

That cliché proved to be true.

LA’s opponent in the divisional series was the Washington Nationals. The Nats had never made it out of the DS in four tries since moving from Montreal in 2004 but enjoyed a feel-good regular season. Despite losing star slugger Bryce Harper in free agency they won 93 games and the NL wildcard after a slow start.

The top 3 in the Nationals rotation were as good as any in the National League. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasberg and Patrick Corbin could dominate on any given night but LA felt confident with a record setting lineup.

Game 1 went to script with the Dodgers winning. Several troubling trends emerged as the series wore on. Game 5 will haunt True Blue Nation until that championship drought ends. The Dodgers season was hanging by a thread and Kershaw’s playoff legacy was sealed. Despite winning 3 Cy-Young awards and an MVP, he is 9-11 with a 4.43 ERA in the postseason. His ERA in the NLDS is 3.99, in the NLCS it raises to 4.61 and in the World Series it balloons to 5.40.

Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless 9th and young Dodger catcher Will Smith almost won it with a near walkoff home run that died at the warning track. Kelly was still on the mound when Howie Kendrick stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the 10th inning. Kolarek and Jansen watched from the bullpen as Kendrick delivered a grand slam that eventually sent Washington to the next round and LA to next year.

Kendrick’s blast was a redemption story after a forgettable series by the infielder. It was the end of an unforgettable sequence of events in those fateful 8th, 9th and 10th innings for the Dodgers.

Roberts will return as manager despite his questionable decisions in the postseason but the front office will look to make changes between the lines. Even with 106 regular season wins and the third longest playoff appearance streak at 7 years, the Dodgers wait for another championship continues.