All puns aside, when the Dodgers opened the 2013 season, they just didn't seem to have the magic. Hanley Ramirez went down with an injury sustained in the World Baseball Classic, Matt Kemp struggled out of the gate, and the team had early health concerns about starters Chad Billingsley and Josh Beckett, who were lost for the season soon after. The team went 13-13 in April and 10-17 in May, and just as it seemed manager Don Mattingly's future employment was in limbo, a Cuban rookie named Puig burst on the scene as a spark at the top of the lineup. He played hard, he played brash, and the team followed suit. In July and August, the Dodgers seemingly couldn't lose, going 42-12 in two months and leaving the defending World Champion Giants - as well as the rest of a struggling NL West division - in the dust.
In a "light" division where the second-best Arizona Diamondbacks finished a full 11 games back of Los Angeles, what are the Dodgers chances against powerhouses of the East and Central? These five factors favor the Dodgers over their competition in the Division Series and beyond.
Kershaw and Greinke and Pray For Rain
Doesn't have quite the ring it did with the 1951 Boston Braves, but this duo rivals even Spahn and Sain in a short series. Having led the in ERA and WHIP title three years in a row, Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in the game. The big lefty strikes out nearly a batter per inning and his control is as precise as his curveball is devastating. His first challenge comes against the Braves, whose top hitters Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann all bat from the left side. It is worth noting that two of Kershaw’s nine losses came against the St. Louis Cardinals, though the Redbirds struggle notoriously against southpaws. His counterpart from the right side has been equally terrifying to opposing batters, as Zack Greinke - one of the most fundamentally-sound pitchers in the game - allowed only 72 hits in 92.1 innings after the All-Star Break.
A Closer, With a Cutter!
As the Mariano Rivera era comes to a close, a new ninth-inning man - owner of the only “true” cutter next to Mo's - takes center stage. Kenley Jansen has long been a force in late relief for the Dodgers, but since being named the team’s closer, he has overpowered to the tune of 13 strikeouts per nine innings. Jansen finished the season with a 0.86 WHIP, proving that he not only racks up saves, he keeps the bases empty. A quick glance at Brian Wilson 2.0 would make a reasonable baseball mind chalk his signing up to a Hollywood publicity stunt, but the former Giants closer has been successful in a setup role with a revitalized fastball.
Don't You... Forget About Three (and Four)
A good playoff team throws an elite starter in the first two games. A great playoff team can beat you with starting pitching the entire series. Korean rookie Hyun Jin Ryu, shaped like Boomer Wells with a whiff-worthy changeup from the left side, went 14-8 with a 3.00 ERA and 1.20 WHIP on the season. Ricky Nolasco was a reclamation project who - while his talent was unquestionable with the Marlins - became a winner in Los Angeles, going 8-3 after being dealt. With his six-pitch deep arsenal, Nolasco will give up hits but limits free passes, and is good for a big strikeout.
Putting The Pieces Together.
When analyzing season stats, the Dodgers were seemingly unspectacular on offense, ranking 24th in baseball in home runs, 17th in stolen bases and ninth in hits. Only Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez reached the 20-homer mark, and outside of A-Gon, no hitter amassed 61 runs batted in. Their team sucess, despite mediocre individual numbers, can be explained simply by the fact that the Dodgers played few games in 2013 with all of their regulars on the field. Gonzalez played in 157 games in 2013, far above that of superstars Yasiel Puig (104), Carl Crawford (116), and Ramirez (86.) Now that the heart of the order is intact - for the most part - the Dodgers will reap the benefits of having a barrage of hot hitters batting back to back.
The Puig factor.
Rookie Puig got the call to the bigs at the beginning of June and set the baseball world on fire, hitting .436 with seven home runs in his first month and begging the question whether a 30-game veteran was All-Star selection-worthy. He has since cooled considerably, but having faced Cardinals’, Braves’ and Pirates’ pitching in only one series each during the season, he will be getting a first look at much of opponents’ pitching staffs. If his track record proves anything, it is that Puig is capable of going on a Sandoval-esque tear over a short series.