It goes without saying that every Dodger fan on the planet has tremendous confidence whenever the best pitcher on the planet is on the mound for the Dodgers; whether it’s during the regular season, the postseason or even in a postseason relief appearance like the one that we predicted here on ThinkBlueLA on October 13.

In his nine major league seasons, three-time NL Cy Young award winner and 2014 NL MVP Clayton Kershaw has always answered the bell, except during his two stints on the disabled list; and even then his former and current managers had to occasionally battle with him to keep him off the mound during his recovery and rehabilitation. But in spite of this, asking – even expecting – Kershaw to always be the guy to save the Dodgers’ proverbial butts is both unfair and unreasonable. Yet this is exactly what Dodger fans and even his own teammates and coaches have continually done and are, again, asking him to do.

After having appeared in three of the five National League Division Series games against the Washington Nationals (two starts, one in relief), the 28-year-old Dallas, Texas native pitched seven shutout innings allowing only two hits (followed by two perfect innings by Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen) against the Chicago Cubs in Game-2 of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field. In doing so, Kershaw (and Jansen) turned an 0-1 series deficit into a 1-1 series split before returning home to a much friendlier Dodger Stadium for Game-3 of the best-of-seven series.

Kershaw has dispelled any and all notions that he is not a good postseason pitcher. In fact, what he has accomplished thus far this postseason is nothing short of miraculous.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

But it was Game-1 of the NLCS at Wrigley Field that brought to light a potential concern for the Dodgers – their bullpen. Why is it that the bullpen with the lowest ERA in all of baseball (3.35), the most innings pitched (521.2) and tied for second in bullpen wins with 32 is suddenly be 0-2 with a 5.95 ERA in the NLCS? (Note: This ERA is a bit skewed because all 13 earned runs have come at the hands of only three Dodger relievers – Joe Blanton [7], Ross Stripling [4] and Pedro Baez [2] for a combined 9.0 ERA).

The Game-1 troubles began when normally reliable right-hander Joe Blanton – without whom the Dodgers wouldn’t even be in the postseason – entered the game in the eighth inning after Baez and Stripling had pitched 2.0 and 1.0 scoreless innings respectively in relief of Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda, who had allowed three runs in his four innings of work. After a leadoff double, a ground out, an intentional walk, a pop out and a second intentional walk, Blanton served up a pinch-hit grand slam home run to Cubs back-up catcher Miguel Montero on an 0-2 hanging slider that looked as though it were sitting on a tee. With one swing of the bat, Montero, who hit .216 on the season with eight home runs, turned a very winnable 3-3 tie into a 7-3 deficit.

And then on his very first pitch to the next batter, Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler, Blanton hung a curveball right over the middle of the plate that also looked as though it were sitting on a tee which Fowler hit for a solo home run to give the Cubs a 8-3 lead and the final score. The silver lining to this otherwise very dark cloud is that left-hander Grant Dayton came in and finally got the third out, but not before nine Cubs batters had come to the plate.

After the disappointing Game-1 loss and Kershaw’s dominating performance in Game-2, the Dodgers left the Windy City with the NLCS tied at one game apiece. What then came as a surprise to many Dodger fans, fellow left-hander Rich Hill was equally dominating in Game-3, in which he allowed no runs and only two hits in his six innings of work. Hill was followed by relievers Grant Dayton and (wait for it) Kenley Jansen in an eventual 6-0 shutout over the Cubs and just like that the Dodgers had what many considered to be a “comfortable” two-games-to-one lead in the 2016 NLCS.

And then came Game-4.

Although 20-year-old rookie sensation Julio Urias was brilliant through his first three innings of work in Game-4 during which he did not allow a hit, he got pounded in his fourth. The Cubs would eventually go on to win Game-4 in a 10-2 blowout that was aided by four very costly Dodger errors. But of greater concern, the proverbial sleeping giant had awakened as the Cubs bats had finally come alive – as every honest baseball fan knew that they eventually would – while the Dodgers bullpen continued to collapse.

After Urias allowed his four runs, all with one out in the fourth inning, Baez gave up another before the inning finally ended. Right-hander Ross Stripling allowed five more runs (four earned) in the fifth inning after recording only one out to account for the rest of the Cubs runs in the extremely lopsided affair.

Fortunately, right-hander Josh Fields and left-handers Luis Avilan and Alex Wood did not allow any runs in their respective 0.2, 1.2 and 2.0 innings of relief (silver lining), so there’s that. But suddenly that “comfortable” 2-1 series lead was now tied at two games apiece.

And then came Game-5.

Although the first hint that there may be something wrong with the Dodgers bullpen was Blanton’s meltdown in Game-1, it came to the front burner in Games-4 and 5 … and hard.

Once again, Game-5 starter Kenta Maeda looked strong in his 3.2 innings of work, having allowed only one run on three hits. In fact, when he was removed by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts with two outs in the fourth inning, the game was tied 1-1. But after 0.2 scoreless innings of relief by both Josh Fields and Grant Dayton (silver lining), Blanton was brought in to pitch the top of the sixth.

It did not go well.

On his very first pitch – yet another tee-shot hanging slider – Cubs first baseman Javier Baez lined a single to center and quickly stole second base. Blanton then struck out struggling Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward bringing shortstop Addison Russell to the plate with one out and Baez in scoring position. That scoring position thing quickly became moot when Russell absolutely crushed Blanton’s second pitch – another tee-shot hanging slider – 425 feet to center field for a two-run home run that turned a very winnable 1-1 tie into a 3-1 deficit.

Two pitches later, former Dodger catcher David Ross doubled down the left field line, although this one was a tee-shot fastball right over the middle of the plate. Blanton then managed to get Cubs pitcher Jon Lester to fly out and Fowler to pop out to end the inning. And though Blanton would came back out to begin the top of the seventh inning and would strike out the ever-dangerous Kris Bryant before being replaced by Stripling who threw 1.1 scoreless innings of relief (silver lining), the damage was already done with the Dodgers trailing 3-1

…or so we thought.

Joe Blanton is not having a good NLCS.
(Photo credit – David J. Phillip)

After Luis Avilan pitched 0.2 scoreless innings to end the the seventh (silver lining), Pedro Baez was brought in to get a quick third out to end the eighth inning. Unfortunately, rarely can you use the words “Pedro Baez” and “quick” in the same sentence.

In a half inning that would eventually take nearly 30 minutes to complete, Baez allowed five runs (although only one was earned) on three hits and a walk, having faced seven Cubs batters in his one-third of an inning. He was finally removed from the game with the bases loaded and still two outs and replaced by Stripling. Unfortunately for Ross (and the Dodgers), the Cubs’ Baez (Javier) lined a bases-clearing double off the right field wall to close the book on the Dodgers’ Baez (Pedro), with the Cubs now holding a very commanding 8-2 lead.

Stripling would come back out to pitch a scoreless ninth (silver lining) with the aid of a 5-4-3 double play, having given up a leadoff single to Addison Russell. And even though the Dodgers managed to score one run in their half of the eighth and two more in the bottom of the ninth to make it a slightly more respectable 8-4 game, the seven runs given up by the Dodgers bullpen were simply too much to overcome.

The point of this article was not to give a recap of the series but to show that the Dodgers bullpen is not okay – at least several members of it, that is. We are not seeing the same Joe Blanton or Pedro Baez or Ross Stripling that got the Dodgers to where they are now. But what we are seeing is a Dodgers bullpen that will – absolutely positively – be needed behind Kershaw in Game-6 on Saturday and (hopefully) behind Rich Hill in Game-7 on Sunday. On that, you can bet the farm.

The point here is also that everyone – every Dodger fan, beat writer, blogger, player, coach and manager – expects Kershaw to win Game-6; this in spite of the fact that the Dodgers are on the brink of elimination and he will again be pitching in the unfriendly confines of Wrigley Field. Heck, even Kershaw expects to win, but then, he always expects to win. And though this is most definitely a doable expectation, is it fair to dump this unimaginable pressure on him? Is is right for Joe Blanton, the guy responsible for the need to even have a Game-6 and then hopefully a Game-7 when the series should have – or at least could have – been closed out in four games, to openly say: “We have Kershaw going the next game, which we’re excited about,”?

We all understand and accept that the Dodgers would not be in the postseason were it not for Joe Blanton, Pedro Baez, Ross Stripling and the rest of the Dodgers bullpen. But what consolation will this be if Kershaw is unable to meet Blanton’s – and everyone else’s – expectations and the Dodgers fall short of making their first World Series appearance in 28 years?

Trust me, I get the whole confidence thing and, in fact, I embrace it. I also get that no player is ever going to say anything negative about their chances when there are still games to be played. But while the confidence that his teammates (and every Dodger fan on the planet) have in Kershaw is a great thing, shouldn’t the Dodgers bullpen, offense and defense have to bear some of the expectations to make it to Game-7 and beyond?

Thankfully, someone else sees it this way too; a very important someone.

“We can grab that momentum back with one name – Kershaw,” said Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez following Thursday’s frustrating 8-4 loss. “Obviously, we don’t want to put it all on him. Obviously, we have to score some runs for him.”

And there it is.

Leave it to AGon, the unofficial team captain and players spokesman, to put the confidence that he and his teammates have in Kershaw into proper perspective without dumping the unfair and unreasonable expectation on him that he must do it all himself.

Thank you, AGon. Just Thank you.