I still can't believe the Dodgers started Lance Lynn
It still makes zero sense
It’s been a week and I’m still trying to figure out why the Dodgers made this decision.
On the brink of elimination, the Dodgers turned to a guy who nearly set the single-season record for home runs allowed. Seriously, he was that close to making history. In 2023, Lance Lynn allowed 44 homers during the regular season. The all-time record is 50. Only five pitchers in the HISTORY of baseball have allowed more homers in a season.
That is who got the ball in a do-or-die game.
I just don’t get it.
I did all I could. I tried to explain prior to the series that Lynn shouldn’t even be on the roster. Due to the playoff scheduling, LA needed only a 3-man rotation. They were going to go with a 3-man rotation. They could leave him off and have an extra bullpen arm. The Dodgers did in fact go with a 3-man rotation. Only issue is they used the wrong arm.
Ryan Pepiot was the Dodgers’ best pitcher over the final six weeks of the season. He appeared in eight games, posting a 2.14 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 3.99 xFIP. He had a K/BB% of 20.8%. Pepiot was fantastic for the Dodgers.
He didn’t throw a single pitch in the NLDS.
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I don’t know how that’s possible. I don’t know how that happens. What the hell were they thinking?
They haven’t really given an answer other than “We wanted him available for Game 4”. Well, not sure if they know this or not, you kind of need to win Game 3 to even make it to Game 4.
In addition to Pepiot looking great, Lynn had done nothing to earn that start. With LA, he posted a 4.36 ERA and 6.16 FIP. Oh, and his home run rate actually WENT UP with the Dodgers. How could they see that and think to themselves “THIS GUY is the one who gives us the best shot at winning!”
Seriously. It actually blows my mind. People get paid a lot of money to make these decisions. How is it possible everyone knew it was the wrong decision except them?
Sure, Pepiot could have gotten lit up just like Lynn did. Only, we’ll never know. Pepiot could have gone out there and allowed two runs in five innings. We’ll never know.
The Dodgers could have left Lynn off the postseason roster and had Ryan Yarbrough available to piggyback following Pepiot’s outing. That surely could have gone better. Except they didn’t. They decided that the guy who allows homers at a historic rate was the man they wanted.
At the end of the day, the Dodgers lost because the offense went to Cancun early. They didn’t lose because of this one decision. But it certainly didn’t help when the deficit became four runs in the blink of an eye.
A week following the postseason exit, this decision still baffles me. I mean I just don’t know how you can provide a reasonable explanation as to why this decision made sense. You can’t use length as an argument, because Pepiot averaged nearly six innings an outing when he took the mound. So what other argument is there?
There isn’t one.
Baseball is a hard game. It’s a hard game to manage. But at the end of the day, the decision was clear as day for them. They had a chance to start the better pitcher
….. they chose not to.
😢