Dodger thoughts- a thread:

The Dodgers have such a large amount of talent that over the course of 60-160 games, they’re gonna win 60 percent of the time. No matter who Dave runs out there, they’re gonna win. He doesn’t have to make many in-game decisions, so he doesn’t really

get any flack for his in-game management. However, when the playoffs come around, the small sample size eliminates the talent advantage and in-game decisions become extremely important. Daily managerial decisions are the difference between winning and losing. And that’s where

Doc struggles. For example, the Betts/Seager double steal in the Padres series. Betts and Seager made that decision themselves. No input from the bench at all. And Dave Roberts later went on to say “In that situation, that was the difference in the game.” So why did he not call

for it? How did it not even cross his mind? Because for the entire season, he just relied on the talent in the lineup instead of forcing action. He’s not used to making calls that force the action. It’s the same with his bullpen management. He relies on his talented starters

and reacts to situations instead of forcing the action with the pieces he has. Tonight, having Kershaw start the 6th was a choice. However, there was no one ready in the pen to start that inning. Once Acuna got on, then Freeman got on, then Ozuna got on, it was already too late.

But Doc was reactionary. Instead of forcing the action, he waited and relied on his talent, and the inaction failed him.