Dodgers Clinch Eighth Straight National League West Crown
Shortened season or no shortened season, a division crown is a real big deal. This year and every year. Because the Dodgers make it one, from the first day of Spring Training until the final out of the clincher.
Tonight is that night. With the Padres losing 4-2 to the Angels in San Diego, along with their 7-2 win over the A's at Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles has won its eighth straight National League West crown.
Nobody needs to tell the players or the fans that the end-all is a World Series championship. Everybody knows that. But a reverent pause to appreciate the accomplishment is due the club. Because of Major League Baseball's mandate to celebrate "dry," there will be no champagne drenching in the clubhouse, no carpet to replace this fall. But I'm sure manager Dave Roberts will come up with something fun to mark the moment.
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The 2020 team was said to be the deepest roster yet, and while that's easy for prognosticators to say before a ball is thrown in camp, this Dodgers team met those expectations. Nailed them, is what they did.
The Dodgers nailed their opponents as well, as evidenced by the current 39-16 record, good for a four-game lead with four to play. By virtue of their season series win over the Padres six games to four, L.A. has the tiebreaker and therefore the division as or right now, this evening.
Dodgers pitchers nailed their assignment, too. Almost all of them, including the departed-for-Tommy-John-surgery-but-not-forgotten-Caleb Ferguson. Through games of September 21, L.A. hurlers lead baseball with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.061 WHIP. They are second to Cleveland in ERA+ of 142. They've allowed the fewest walks with 131. Their pitchers hold right-hand hitters to a .227/.286/.368 batting line and are even better vs. left: .195/.258/.339. Opponents hit .206 vs. Los Angeles at Chavez Ravine and .220 against them on the road. Opponents hit .214 vs. Dodgers' starters and .213 vs. their relievers. They are five deep in the starting rotation (with a 3.24 ERA) and at least nine deep in the bullpen (2.86), even without Ferguson. They pitch the damn baseball, is what they do.
They hit the baseball too. You don't have to go far to find that L.A. leads MLB in home runs (again, prior to today, with 100), is second in runs (315) and leads in run differential (+119). The Dodgers hit .295/.377/.519 with men on base, they hit .295/.391/.533 with runners in scoring position and they hit .311/.426/.579 with two outs and RISP. And they've gotten to where they are with less-than-expected results from their trio of left-hand hitting sluggers Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy and Joc Pederson. They have the likely NL MVP in Mookie Betts.
None of the above means a whole lot in October, of course, but for tonight let's heap praise on the entire 60-man player pool, the skipper Roberts, the president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and all those who work to support him. Ladies and gentlemen, your perennial NL West Division champs, the 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.
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