Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts needs to see a show of hands. The Dodgers likely will need to put every pair to use in order to win the next two games against the Toronto Blue Jays, take the World Series and repeat as Major League Baseball’s champions.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto already raised his hand earlier this week to volunteer to pitch during the marathon 18-inning Game 3, which the Dodgers won before Roberts could call to the bullpen and bring him in. The Dodgers do plan to start Yamamoto in Game 6 on Friday night when the Series returns to Rogers Centre, and if he responds by throwing something like a complete game, which he did in Game 2, and in the National League Championship Series decider, then a winner-take-all, Game 7 showdown against the Blue Jays seems inevitable.
In firing a four-hitter, the first complete game in the playoffs in 10 years, Yamamoto in Game 2 delivered the best performance this postseason by someone not named Shohei Ohtani. He generated 17 misses on 56 swings (30%), with his curveball being the most effective pitch by percentage. And he was still throwing his four-seamer 96.6 mph in the ninth inning.
However many hands Ohtani has, figurative plus actual, they’ve all been shooting up since he exited Game 4 as a pitcher on the trailing end. Eager for another opportunity to redeem himself in his own view, Ohtani has been gaming all of the scenarios.
“Of course, I’d like to prepare to be available for every game in case I’m needed,” Ohtani reportedly told Japanese reporters.
Realizing that his two-way star can be subject to overexertion sometimes, Roberts skipped Ohtani as a reliever in Game 5. Anything else remains in play. Only two games remain — the Dodgers hope — and envisioning them with a lead in the ninth inning of Game 7 seems more likely if Ohtani is the one on the mound closing out the Series.
But it’s getting harder and harder to envision a positive outcome for the Dodgers. The Blue Jays have been the better team by a wide margin over the past two games, and already could have been celebrating their first championship since 1993 had they pulled out the 18-inning toss-up. Over the entirety of the postseason, Toronto has been the more impressive side, outscoring the Dodgers 100-64 in just one more total game played.
The L.A. lineup aside from Ohtani, Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman has been mediocre at best and well-below league average overall. Mookie Betts is batting .234/.319/.328 with zero home runs in 72 plate appearances. Max Muncy is slashing .188/.339/.354. Andy Páges is 4-for-50. Will Smith has had a moment or two. The Dodgers need more.
Toronto sends right-hander Kevin Gausman in Game 6, completing the copy of the Game 2 pitching matchup. Gausman equaled Yamamoto for 18 outs Saturday night, allowing a run through six innings, before the Dodgers started to break through. Gausman’s early pitches caught a lot of the plate, but the Dodgers expected batting average when he was in the game was .219, about 35 points lower than the Jays over nine innings against Yamamoto.
The Blue Jays also might be getting back their best hitter in the regular season, George Springer, after he missed much of Game 3, plus all of the past two games, because of right oblique discomfort. It’s the kind of injury that typically takes weeks to heal. But they don’t have weeks. Even if he plays, it’s hard to imagine Springer being anywhere close to 100% effective.
But we’re at the end of the season. If you don’t raise your hand, they won’t call on you.
