HOUSTON -- Start with this -- the Los Angeles Dodgers tried to strengthen their late-inning relief. They tried all year. They recognized the potential problem, spent big dollars on Joe Kelly over the winter, gave Pedro Baez more opportunities, promoted Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin during the season and attempted to trade for Felipe Vazquez before adding left-hander Adam Kolarek in a deal with the Rays. The Dodgers saw the cracks in Kenley Jansen's performance, and manager Dave Roberts had conversations with him.
But in spite of their efforts, that shutdown setup option eluded them, and when Roberts and the Dodgers reached the eighth inning of what turned out to be their final game of the year, the potential solutions were imperfect. They didn't have someone like the Rays' Nick Anderson, or the Yankees' Zack Britton. Kelly's command was erratic and unpredictable, even on his best days. The days of Jansen dominating for two innings are apparently over. May pitched effectively in relief, but wasn't entrenched as a high-leverage option.
Roberts trusted Clayton Kershaw with a two-run lead, and it's hard to imagine armchair managers saying before Game 5 that leaning on Kershaw in a big spot was a bad idea; finding that tweet or column would probably be an elusive exercise. It's much easier to question that particular decision afterward. During the 2014 World Series, Giants manager Bruce Bochy chuckled over the question of whether he was an idiot or genius that day, in a time of year when all decisions are judged by the results.
But you can assume that moving forward, the Dodgers will have a hard conversation about their bullpen, and about possible additions either through trade or free agency. The contract of Rich Hill is set to expire, as is Hyun-Jin Ryu's deal, and that of the newly retired David Freese, so they will have some money to spend.
It might be, however, that the Dodgers will again bet on their pitching depth, and figure that eventually, they'll find solutions along the way -- as the Rays have done, as the Astros did in 2018 through the addition of Ryan Pressly and Roberto Osuna, as the Yankees did when they traded for Britton in the summer of 2018. It might be that the Dodgers could focus on a big-ticket position player -- Anthony Rendon, perhaps.
The Washington Nationals have reportedly offered Rendon a seven-year deal, and free agents of Rendon's caliber can sometimes command a deal of seven to 10 years. But some friends of Rendon believe that he's more interested in a shorter-term deal -- perhaps a higher salary for a four- or five-year contract -- because he might not be devoted to the idea of playing for as long as he possibly can. Rendon would fit the Dodgers, as he would many teams, because of his multilayered approach at the plate, with discipline and power, and a shorter-term deal for a higher salary might be a more attractive option for L.A. In the Dodgers' fleeting conversations with Bryce Harper last winter, that was the type of structure they discussed -- fewer years for a higher annual salary.
Harper chose a deal for a then-record $330 million, spread over 13 years. If Dodgers seriously and successfully pursue Rendon, he could play third base while freeing Justin Turner to move to first or into a multipositional role, and balance an L.A. lineup that has a lot of left-handed hitters.
The reaction to the playoff failure, then, would take on forms other than a mad rush to immediately fix the bullpen.
News from around the major leagues
Typically, bullpens are worn down at this time of year, with relievers weary from innings compiled over the long summer. But the New York Yankees' bullpen started its series against the Astros remarkably fresh. Because New York controlled the American League East, manager Aaron Boone was able to rest his bullpen consistently in September, and then the Yankees had four days off after the completion of the regular season -- and another four days off following the three-game sweep of the Twins in the division series.
Consider the light workloads of the Yankees' relievers:
• Britton pitched in two regular-season games after Sept. 18, and threw twice against the Twins. Over the past 24 days, he's thrown a total of 48 pitches in game competition.
• Aroldis Chapman: Over the past 23 days, he's thrown 62 pitches in game competition.
• Chad Green: 105 pitches in the past 24 days.
• Adam Ottavino: 63 pitches in the past 24 days.
• Tommy Kahnle: 115 pitches in the past 24 days.
Since Sept. 18, there have been only three instances in which any of those five relievers worked on back-to-back days -- Kahnle on Sept. 24 and Sept. 25, and then in the first two games of the series against the Twins; Ottavino in Games 1 and 2 of the Minnesota series.
Astros skip lefty relief in ALCS: The Astros don't have a left-hander in their bullpen for the AL Championship Series. As manager AJ Hinch explained, it seemed better for Houston to load up on as many right-handers as possible given how heavily the Yankees' lineup is stacked with right-handed batters -- the most right-handed-leaning lineup in the club's history.
Sarah Langs dug out these numbers: the most right-handed home runs by a Yankees lineup, by year:
2019: 221
2018: 178
2017: 150
2004: 108
2005: 104
And the Yankees' first home runs in the ALCS were by right-handed hitters Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton.
Where will Cole go? Josh Reddick joked on Friday about how Gerrit Cole might sign with the Oakland Athletics -- knowing firsthand from his days in Oakland that the Athletics would have to devote basically a third of their budget to get him. But Reddick also speculated out loud what a lot of folks in baseball believe -- that when Cole signs, "it's going to be west of Nevada."
As in California, Cole's home state, where he attended high school four miles from Angels Stadium.
Hicks back quick: After Aaron Hicks met with Dr. Neal ElAttrache in early September and was told it was possible that he would need Tommy John surgery on his ailing right elbow, Hicks thought it was out of the question that he would play in the postseason. But later in the month, he was hanging out with a friend, and his elbow felt better -- so Hicks picked up a bat and took some swings; he advanced to some batting practice, and making some throws, and his elbow continued to feel fine.
This is how it came to pass that Hicks was in the cage taking batting practice in Houston on Friday evening, in advance of the Yankees' series against the Astros. Hicks worked through some simulated at-bats earlier in the week against Jonathan Holder and other pitchers, he explained, because his greatest challenge now is to recapture his timing at the plate without benefit of in-game at-bats. He hasn't played since Aug. 3.
Picking the right ball: Justin Verlander, who is slated to start Game 2 for the Astros on Sunday evening, said he hasn't noticed whether the postseason baseballs feel different to him, and as he talked about the ball, he mentioned "that the players should be involved if the ball is going to change. Who knows if they are or are not. But at the end of the day, we are all using the same baseball when we step on the field. As long as it's an even playing field at this point in the game, that's all we can ask for."
And Verlander referenced the discussion to come about what kind of baseball would be provide the best brand. "For me personally, I would like to see some of that small ball come back into play. I don't want to call it small ball, that's the wrong terminology. Everybody thinks of small ball, they think of bunting. I think of the little things -- taking the extra bases, using athleticism as a team to get extra runs. You look at the course of an inning, we're almost like playing an ADD (attention deficit disorder) version of baseball right now, where it's these huge elation moments, Home run, home run, yeah, yeah. And then you're just kind of sitting there waiting for the next moment with a bunch of strikeouts in between. If you're not a fan of strikeouts, then what are you watching?
"You think of getting a guy on first base, the next guy hitting ball to right field, that guy going from first to third, that's a great moment to cheer. The next guy hitting a sac fly, that's another good moment to cheer. There's so many different ways to love this baseball game that I think have kind of fallen by the wayside a little bit, and rightfully so."
Honor due to the beaten Rays: The Astros walked away from their division series victory over Tampa Bay with deep, deep respect for the Rays. "What a great team," said outfielder George Springer, who raved about the pitching staff -- the quality of the arms, and the way in which the Rays' Kevin Cash deployed them. "Brilliant managing," Springer said.
Jose Altuve said, "Every game who came out [of the bullpen] had something -- a great breaking ball, or a fastball he could throw at the top of the zone. A tough team."
It's possible that Major League Baseball could implement a three-batter rule for 2020 -- that each pitcher summoned into the game would have to face at least three batters. This would affect some specialists in baseball, particularly lefty specialists who have typically been used for one batter. But as Springer noted, this kind of rule change would not necessarily affect the Rays more than any other team, despite their reliance on their bullpen. "They've got guys who are good against both [right-handed and left-handed batters]," Springer said.
Some of the Astros mentioned that Rays reliever Diego Castillo might have the best pure stuff of any bullpen option in baseball. Altuve said with a smile that he was glad the right-hander started Game 4 as an opener, "because then I didn't have worry about him the rest of the game."
Family first: Our daughter Sydney turns 20 this year, and as she has gone through the discovery of a young adult, she has asked me for the details of her first minutes of life. I happily obliged her, of course, reporting all that I can. The first signs of labor, the emotional early-morning drive to the hospital, the reassuring presence of a nurse named Sue. We had chosen to wait to learn the gender of our first child, and so I can recall for Sydney the overwhelming joy I felt when I first saw that I was to be the father to a daughter.
I also remember vividly the initial looks of concern in the face of Nurse Sue, and the scramble to a nearby table, where they used a long-nosed instrument; as they would explain to us afterward, Sydney had fluid in her lungs and there was an immediate concern about her breathing. The 2½ minutes that followed felt interminable, and I could recall for Sydney the practiced countenance each of the professionals used, so as to not panic the new mother and father in the room.
Everything turned out fine, and I remember being somewhat concerned about falling over as I walked toward the waiting room, because I could not feel my feet. I was aware that I was moving, but not entirely sure how that was happening.
And I can tell Sydney about the faces of her maternal grandparents as they learned about her arrival, about how her sometimes gruff grandpa Keith reflexively reached out for a hug. Those memories, and that of our son's birth four years later, are cherished and important, and although I don't really know Daniel Hudson that well, I'm happy and relieved for him that he will have his own, after he left the Nationals to be with his wife, Sara.
The idea that anyone could criticize Hudson or any other athlete for making that choice is incomprehensible.