MLB Postseason | Brian Kenny BOLD PREDICTIONS Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers vs. Reds in NL Wild Card series

MLB Postseason | Brian Kenny BOLD PREDICTIONS Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers vs. Reds in NL Wild Card series

We went down the last minutes, but we finally have it and we have the matchups for you. Let’s start right there and just launch right into it and take a look at the bracket and who is playing who. Wildard round, Dodgers and Reds, Padres’s and Cubs in the American League, Tigers and Cleveland, Red Sox and Yankees. We start with the uh Dodgers, the defending World Series champions. I’m dying to say a tad disappointing Tom Bduchi as they go to the wildcard round. Focus on the matchup first. Runs per game. Look at the Dodgers. Second in all of baseball. Hitting second in all of baseball. Top five starting pitcher er by the way is defensive run save. Dodgers are a better defensive club. Base running runs. Reds with Ellie Dela Cruz run a little better. Tom, thoughts on the Dodgers uh given that normally they do not have to um uh mess with the Hoy Poy. They don’t have to dabble with the the wild card round. They’re used to winning their division and and waiting for a week. Yeah, just the second time in the last decade they don’t have the buy getting into the DS. But when you look at those numbers, season numbers, I look at what are you doing lately and they’re a different team lately because of their starting pitching. They’ve got Otani throwing the ball great. They’ve got Blake Snell throwing the ball great. Tyler Glaznau, they’re in a really good position. So for me, it’s about Otani. First time we get to see him as a pitcher in the postseason, of course, still going to hit as well. And when I saw him last time out against Arizona, wow. I mean, he was pitching off his fast ball for the most I’ve seen him in a long time. He was hitting 99 in the sixth inning, averaging 99 in the sixth inning. held his stuff, went to 91 pitches, fully operational for postseason baseball. It’s not like there’s governors on him, give him the ball, and oh, we’re gonna have to get him out after three or four innings. No. And we know what he does offensively. We’re in for a treat. First time we get to see the Babe Ruth of our generation, both sides of the baseball in the postseason. That is unbelievable. Just as you’re looking at it, you’re looking at 47 quality innings and it was limited to that. And he’s slugging 622. I mean, we never thought this was possible. Uh Reds did win eight of 11 to grab the six seed. Again, the Mets are another topic obviously. Uh but the Reds did win a bunch to get there. Thoughts on their chances against what we know is a very loaded number one payroll Dodgers club? Well, let’s just say it’s a three-game set. I I like that for the Red’s favor. If this series goes longer, I think the talent might play out like we see. But for right now, you’re talking about Hunter Green, Looo was excellent in his last start and Andrew Abbott are probably the three starters they’re going to face. These guys can walk out to any major league game and show up and put the Dodgers in a tough situation. Uh look, the Reds obviously have gotten some big arms down there. Pagdans pitched great down the stretch. Ashcraft in that bullpin with others. They’re formidable. Tito Francona, Mike Napoli, I know very well in that clubhouse. These guys are believing and made a run. They’ve got nothing to lose. you you make a great point that I would have just skipped right over is just because it’s not a knockout round doesn’t mean it’s a short short series and that like all these teams toward the top anybody can beat anybody. We’re going to make predictions later. I’m essentially throwing a dart, you know, at a dart board. We we don’t know this from the Dodgers by the way. Clayton Kershaw, who pitched on the final day of the regular season on Sunday, will not be on the Dodgers wildcard roster. So, he made his normal start today. He’s had a good season, Tom. He’s just edged out numbers game. Yeah, I you know where he’s not going to start. Obviously, it’s a short series as Jake said. I mean, longer series, maybe he’s back on the roster. I’m curious. I thought maybe there be a spot for him in the bullpen. I mean, you don’t tend to have a long guy in a wild card round. So, but when you look at their bullpen here, you know, I I like, you know, this different kind of bullpen for Dave Roberts. I’m not sure what his endgame is. Probably Vessie to me is the most valuable guy for him late in the game, especially because you want Ellie de la Cruz on the other side of the plate. You want the lefty there. Um, I think Roi Sasaki is going to play a big role for Dave Roberts. I’m not saying ninth inning, but I think I’d be comfortable giving him high leverage spots. Maybe it’s a seventh, maybe it’s middle of the order in the sixth inning. You’re not going to bring him in the middle of an inning, but watching this guy’s stuff play up one inning at a time, hitting a 100. I trust him. And I know he’s had issues with throwing strikes in the past, but I think in short sample sizes, he’s he he’s not going to fold under pressure. I think he’s going to handle this really well as long as you say, “Okay, Roki, you got next inning.” And I think he can dominate. Uh they could have Tyler Glasnau and Emtt Sheen in long relief, which might protect those elite relievers that they’d hoped would be great that weren’t this year. Uh but yeah, we got a a glimpse of that when it was like a whole bunch of starters in there, including Kershaw start the other day and you know, not start, but coming out of the bullpen and just give them length. Yeah, this is the one question for the Dodgers for me is if you’ve watched them play this last week, you haven’t known who’s throwing the ninth inning. They don’t have a closer. That is not the ideal way to walk into the postseason. Glass Now and Sheen and what kind of role do they play? Here’s what I’ll say. Leaving Clayton Kershaw off this roster, I think it does something emotionally to the team that I don’t like. Clayton Kershaw 112 with a 33 something erra this year. Swing and miss still in there for me emotionally. I would have had him on my roster. I think it does something to the rest of the bullpen. If he has his cleats on down there, probably not going to pitch. We understand. For me, I I’m a big vibe guy at this time of year and I don’t know with all the hype around Clayton Kershaw. If that last guy pitches in your pin, you’re probably losing the series anyway. I would have him on there just emotionally locked in and engaged. That’s what I’ll say. I’m kind of with you because he’s been good, Tom. Again, I’m not even going vibes. I’m like, he’s been effective. He’s also looked like a guy that can deal. He’ll have, you know, just a quick sprint for one inning. Like, is Emtt Sheen going to be that much better? Uh, I mean, if you want swing and miss stuff, yes, but I’m with Jake on this. How do you measure the heart of Clayton Kershaw in a big spot? He’s been through every situation imaginable. Again, you’d have to be careful with how you used him. You’re not going to throw him in with runners on base in a dirty inning. Uh, but there’s something to be said for what he gives you. I expect him on the next round if they do advance. Okay. I say even even knowing his postseason disasters. He’s had blowups. He’s had great outings and he’s had disasters. I get it. We acknowledge that. I like the way he’s thrown this year. All right. Again, that’s the Dodgers and the Reds in one of the uh brackets. Let’s move down the National League bracket and focus on this is a fascinating matchup. Padres’s and Cubs head-to-head. Cubs were the number two offense for a good part of the season. Padres’s have the number one bullpen of the game. Here they are in a snapshot runs per game. You see the Cubs fourth. Padres’s only 18th hitting wise, same thing. That’s sixth. That’s power runs per game. Starter erra. Cubs have better starters. The bullpen is the difference. Jake, we’ll start there. That is the number one bullpen in the game. Padres’s are basebally. A little light in the hitting department these days, but they can feel, they can run, and they’ve got that deep, deep bullpen. Yeah, that was certainly the strength of of the team and what they’re trying to do. You get tied or behind in the fifth, sixth inning, you’re typically in trouble. They know that, and they’ll game plan around that. I think they’re going to be looking for some big outings from these starters to to get there. Other outside Nick Pavetta, King Cece, and Darvish haven’t been what they they quite thought. Who the other two guys they go to, you know, two of those three I think are going to play a big critical role in what kind of innings they get out of the starters. Um, look, the Padres’s are rolling and they believe they’re ending the the season on a good note, coming in hot. Um they believe they can play with anybody in baseball and um they’re going to have a big test because look the Chicago team in Wrigley offensively can go a big blow for the Cubs though Kate Horton will miss this series with a fractured rib Tom that’s it’s a big effect that is that’s one quality day that they were kind of banking on he’s been their best pitcher like a Jakea type second half of the season for Kate Horton so uh Imanaga is been his RA is almost six his last six starts he gives up a ton of home runs that scares me in the postseason boy’s been reliable I think Con Ray is in the mix now. Um whereas, you know, if you got Horton, you probably start with him. So, you’re missing your game one pitcher if you’re the Cubs, but I think this is going to be a managerial chess match this series. We know Craig Councel uses everybody in that bullpen. He loves matching up. And we know that Schult to me has the best bullpen in all of baseball. So, I think you’re going to see a ton of pitching changes, a lot of strategy from both of these managers. Okay. Uh and the super weapon is with the Padres’s. Even with losses to injuries, Mason Miller is roaming high leverage. Yeah, he reminds me of Andrew Miller going back in 2016. The way that Terry Francone used him 10 times he used him nine times before the eighth inning. And I would tell Mike Schult, you got a weapon here like that. Don’t wait for the eighth inning to fire Mason Miller. Get him in the game. Right. I’m saying if you’re up one or two in the sixth or seventh inning, that’s where you put him in there. Hold the game right there. Give your team a couple of more at bats. This guy is almost unhitable. His slider, by the way, take every pitch from every pitcher in baseball. It’s the second most difficult pitch to hit in all of baseball. Only Andre Andre Munos has a tougher slider to hit. He has not given up an extra base hit since August of last year. He’s got more than a calendar year giving up an extra base hit on his slider. We know he throws a 100. It’s great. But to me, his slider is literally one of the best pitches in baseball. He can just keep on throwing it. I I I agree with you and I think with Miller with where he’s at, like the way he throws. Go ahead. Go ahead, Tom. Yeah, I was looking at the way he just kind of tightened up his delivery. He doesn’t bring the hands up as high as he did last year. I looked at the spin rate on a slider, by the way, and it’s up this year. It was great last year, don’t get me wrong. It didn’t need fixing. It’s just better now. And I want you to see how he forces swing decisions because that slider is in the zone a long time, right? It’s nothing you could dismiss out of the hand. And he gets a ton of chase, even tons of swing and misses. This is the slider it reminds me of. Remember Brad Lid’s slider? Top to bottom. People would say that’s a curveball. That’s not a slider. Well, no, it’s a slider. And Mason Miller’s got that kind of a slider. Top to bottom, you get a lot of chases, a lot of swings and miss because it’s on the plate forcing swing decisions. So Mason Miller to me is the key of this series. When do they fire the bullet of Mason Miller? You see the lowest opponent average with two strikes in a single season. We’re going back to 1988 since we tracked these things. Bunch of closers out there. Miller is essentially a closer. Yeah. But you’re going to use him. And again, don’t wait till the eighth inning. I know you want to go Miller Suarez. I’m saying if you’re up one in the fifth, sixth inning, middle of the order, pop him in the game. I’m with you 100%. I think the the Padres’s actually caught a break in that having Suarez set up for the ninth and he’s the closer. Now you can unleash Miller as what you say, a true fireman, right? When when there’s a fire to put out, you can apply him anywhere. Yeah, you’re exactly right. And I think that’s what’s going to happen. If you watch the Padres’s, Mory Hone and and you’re talking about Estrada, these guys are going to be deployed fifth, sixth, bridging that gap. Mason Miller has done this multiple times, getting out of an inning, going and throwing the eighth. So, I expect just what Tom says to happen. I think Mike Schil’s going to be not in this short series, but if the Padres’s continue to advance with the strength of that bullpen, it’s going to be hard to let a starter, even who is pitching well, to to to run on. Here’s what I’ll say. These starters are going to have to keep this Cub lineup in check. this Cub lineup, especially in Wrigley, can get going in one through nine, starting with Nico at the top. Big energy, these guys can score. So, Mike Schil has used them 21 times, 13 times in the eighth inning, never before the seventh inning. What I’m saying is you’re now in a wildcard series. Yeah. Yeah. I’m saying that don’t rule out going to him in the sixth inning. Well, I I’m always saying I call it the caged beast. Don’t be losing and saying, “Yeah, you see that guy? He’s very dangerous back there. Don’t make me bring you bring him in.” Like, no, no, get him into the game. I thought we’re doing predictions later. I thought this was the toughest call as far as like who’s the series like who’s gonna win this. This was my toughest call. I don’t know who’s winning this series. Cubs have the home field advantage, but again, Horton to me kind of tips the balance towards San Diego. Yeah, if it’s a bullpen game, it’s San Diego. Tough call. Tough call. I think the Padres’s find a way with their pitching to pull it off. I think their pitching depth is going to prove crucial. I I think it’s a a wide margin over who’s going to be in the game late for both teams. So, he’s talking fireman. 1970s baseball trying to sell it to Jake. Sparky Lyle. You can bring him Sparky L. Billy Mor had him in the fourth inning. Fourth inning.

MLB Postseason | Brian Kenny BOLD PREDICTIONS Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers vs. Reds in NL Wild Card series

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