Only two teams can make the dance. For the first time in three years, the Dodgers aren’t one of those two teams. The Milwaukee Brewers completed a four-game NLCS sweep over the Dodgers on Thursday, reaching the World Series for the first time in 44 years.
This officially closes the book on the team’s gaudy expectations of a three peat. Although the Dodgers took ahold of an early 4-0 lead, they couldn’t muster anything else while the Brewers ran away with six unanswered runs. Dave Roberts put it simply during his post-game presser; they got beat.
“It never feels good to lose and not accomplish your goals to win the World Series. It started back in the early part of February, and I love this team… This series, I can’t give enough praise to the Brewers organization… We just got beat in four games.”
So much has to go right for a team to win the World Series, even more so for a team fixated on securing their third straight title. The last two years weren’t perfect despite the glory, and this year wasn’t any easier for an aging core. Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times delves into what glaring issues prevented the Dodgers from making it past the NLCS this year in his latest column. The biggest issue was dealing with a hobbled, slumping Shohei Ohtani, whose big moment wasn’t enough to extend the series to a potential Game 5.
Bottom line, the Dodgers could not three-peat without the full strength of their most important hitter. Ohtani is the catalyst for everything they do, everything they are. He hit a three-run homer in the second inning of Thursday’s Game 4, but it was too little, way too late.
Now the offseason has officially begun for the Dodgers, and they’ve already seen an aging veteran call it a career with Miguel Rojas announcing his retirement shortly after Game 4’s conclusion. The Dodgers will certainly have many questions to answer this offseason— one of the main ones being Shohei Ohtani’s future status as a full-time two-way player, as noted by Dylan Hernandez of the California Post.
The Dodgers might be the second-best team in baseball behind the Brewers, but they can’t return with a similar roster next season and expect the results to be any different. Farewells are in order. Farewell to long-time Dodgers who will forever be known in these parts as World Series heroes. Farewell to Ohtani hitting and pitching full-time. With how the Dodgers were thumped by the Brewers, president of baseball operation Andrew Friedman has a clear directive. Adjust – or else.