On the television screens inside the Dodgers‘ home clubhouse on Thursday, two slides clicked back and forth.
The first showed the team’s schedule for off-day training, on the eve of a decisive match Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres.
The other displayed a three-word quote for the team to consider during Friday’s winner contest:
“The work is not finished”
Indeed, that was the mindset of the Dodgers after saving the season. Game 4 victory in San Diego Wednesday, one that avoided a third straight elimination from the NLDS and set up Friday’s showdown at Dodger Stadium.
“The timing is important” directorDave Roberts said.
“Yesterday was definitely a team win,” star slugger Shohei Ohtani » added, through interpreter Will Ireton. “So we’re going to have the same kind of attitude going into tomorrow’s game.”
With first pitch scheduled for Friday night at 5:08 p.m., here are five things to watch for in Game 5.
Yamamoto’s first round (or three)
Late Thursday night, the Dodgers announced that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 5 on Friday.
Now all eyes will be on what he does in the first round.
Despite going 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA overall in 18 starts as an MLB rookie this year, Yamamoto often struggled early in games. In all of his first innings combined, he posted a 6.00 ERA with a .296 batting average. In innings 1-3, his ERA was 4.76. From round four it dropped to a miniscule 0.69.
The Padres were one of the main contributors to these poor initial grades, skip Yamamoto for five races in the first round of his big league debut, after signing a 12-year, $325 million contract to come from Japan this offseason.
In Game 1 of the NLDSthe Padres quickly ambushed Yamamoto again, scoring three times in the first inning of a five-run, three-inning outing.
In those two starts, the Dodgers thought Yamamoto could have tipped the scales with runners on base. But last week, Roberts said the team had “cleaned things up.”
“Overall, it’s kind of where Yoshinobu is,” Roberts said, “I feel really comfortable.”
That doesn’t mean Roberts will extend his leash on the 26-year-old right-hander, knowing he has a solid team of leveraged relievers in his back pocket. It’s possible Yamamoto will only be tasked with a handful of innings.
But either way, Yamamoto’s job will be to shake off his early-game struggles and set the opening tone — a tone that could give the Dodgers a chance to take an early lead.
Darvish vs. the Dodgers
Except for the three months when he played for the team in 2017, Yu Darvishthe Padres’ Game 5 starter, spent most of his major league career tormenting the Dodgers.
In 15 regular season starts against them, Darvish has a 2.27 ERA (his second lowest against any team, behind only Philadelphia) and 104 strikeouts in 91⅓ innings. He won both of his playoff meetings with the Dodgers, including his one-run, seven-inning game. gem in game 2 last weekend.
Even though the 38-year-old no longer has the most powerful skills, his reputation as a “crafty” pitcher, as Ohtani said Thursday, still holds up.
In Game 2, Darvish recorded just three strikeouts, but held the Dodgers to three hits with his eight-pitch mix.
Learn more: Yoshinobu Yamamoto to start NLDS Game 5 for Dodgers
“You just have to be ready to hit,” Roberts said of how the Dodgers can adjust in Game 5. “He doesn’t give in, but when he throws his slider, his curveball in the strike zone, or he makes a mistake with the fastball, we have to be ready to hit him. I think if we can putting pressure on him from the start puts us in a good position.
One notable blemish on Darvish’s resume: his 0-2 record in winner-take-all playoff games.
During his 2012 rookie season, Darvish was the losing pitcher in the American League wild-card game with the Texas Rangers, despite giving up only three runs (two earned) in 6⅔ innings. And then, of course, there was his infamous Game 7 start for the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series, when he was rocked for five runs (four earned) in less than two innings by the Houston Astros .
Does this memory still haunt Darvish?
“Obviously I remember that time,” he said Thursday. “But that was like, how many years ago?” So… I’m not going to focus on this period, basically. Also, I’m currently wearing a different uniform.
Darvish vs. Ohtani
In the Dodgers’ two wins in this series, Ohtani went three for eight with four RBIs and a home run and reached base safely in five of 10 plate appearances.
In the Dodgers’ two losses, the slugger is one for eight with four strikeouts and no RBIs.
This has become one of the most important factors in this series, as the Padres have seemingly tinkered with their game plan for the future three-time most valuable player.
Compared to the regular season, the Padres attacked Ohtani with more fastballs in this series, throwing him four-seams or sinkers 49% of the time in the NLDS compared to 37% previously (perhaps a wise choice given the Ohtani’s major league-leading score .719). percentage of strikes against pitches other than fastballs this season).
Learn more: Hernández: Don’t think too much about it, Dodgers. Game 5 should be another bullpen game
However, Darvish handled Ohtani in Game 2 with almost exclusively offspeed and breaking pitches, throwing only one fastball in three at-bats against him. Including this match, Ohtani is just one of eight against Darvish in his career.
“It doesn’t rely on one plan,” Ohtani said through Ireton. “So in that sense, for us as hitters, we have to be able to adapt.”
Low end
Another factor in Ohtani’s success this week: whether or not runners got on base in front of him.
When he hits with someone on base, Ohtani is four for six. When the bags are empty, he is hitless in 10 at-bats.
“When there are runners on base,” he said, “there’s obviously going to be more pressure on the pitcher.”
This is why the bottom of the Dodgers’ batting order has taken on significant importance to the team’s offensive success. In the team’s two wins, hitters Nos. 5 through 9 were a combined 11-for-39. In the two losses, they were five-for-33.
Of this group, second baseman Gavin Lux has the best series, hitting .333 (five-for-15) with a walk, a home run and three RBIs. Slugger Tommy Edman continues to struggle on the left side, but has four hits in 14 at-bats. Kiké Hernández also provided a spark in Game 4 after being inserted into the starting lineup for the first time in the series, collecting two hits.
Who is in the center of the field?
Who exactly will complete the batting order remains a question.
While first baseman Freddie Freeman is expected to play, Roberts said shortstop Miguel Rojas is questionable. That means Edman will likely move from the outfield to shortstop, and Roberts will instead have to decide who to start in center field.
The three options are Hernández, Chris Taylor and Andy Pages.
Learn more: Shaikin: Dodgers want fans pumped for Game 5. ‘Bring energy, but be smart’
Pages, a 23-year-old rookie, had the best season of this group, batting .248 with 13 homers and 46 RBIs. But Hernández (.229 average, 12 homers, 42 RBIs) and Taylor (.202, four homers, 23 RBIs) have more experience and more extensive postseason track records.
Hernández, whom the Dodgers re-signed this spring in part because of his reputation in October, has been particularly good over the past few postseasons, batting .397 (25-for-63) since the start of the playoffs. 2021.
Roberts, who did not reveal who he plans to start, said such numbers would factor into the decision.
“Kiké showed he was ready for the playoffs,” Roberts said. “Sampling over the course of a season is definitely something. But the sample doesn’t equate to any type of success, in my opinion, in a single playoff moment. It’s a bit of the person, that moment, and you have to make a bet.
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This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
