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For all the talk of Globe Life Field playing more like an offensive park with the roof open, it sure didn’t feel like it in Game 1 of the NLDS, won by the Dodgers over the Padres.
“If you ask A.J. and Muncy, they’ll probably say no,” said Justin Turner with a smile on Tuesday night.
A.J. Pollock flew out in the fifth inning, in a 1-1 tie at the time, on a ball that seemed destined to be a two-run home run, before falling harmlessly into the glove of Jurickson Profar in left field.
“I put my hands up,” Cody Bellinger said of Pollock’s drive. “From the first base view, I thought he got it.”
That was one of eight batted balls by the Dodgers in Game 1 with an expected batting average of at least .400, per Baseball Savant. Six were outs.
Highest Dodgers expected batting average, NLDS Game 1
| Batter | Inning | Exit velocity (mph) | Expected BA | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batter | Inning | Exit velocity (mph) | Expected BA | Result |
| Corey Seager | 8 | 103.0 | 0.900 | lineout |
| Max Muncy | 6 | 105.4 | 0.810 | double |
| Will Smith | 1 | 107.2 | 0.740 | lineout |
| Mookie Betts | 6 | 104.8 | 0.660 | double |
| Max Muncy | 8 | 100.6 | 0.500 | 400-ft flyout |
| Corey Seager | 5 | 102.1 | 0.470 | 390-ft flyout |
| Corey Seager | 3 | 99.0 | 0.440 | lineout |
| A.J. Pollock | 5 | 98.6 | 0.400 | 361-ft flyout |
Despite not getting more of those hard-hit balls to drop — the Dodgers didn’t have a hit outside the sixth inning — they did also walk 10 times and scored five runs in the game.
“I saw that each guy was taking good at-bats, and I just believe that if they continue to do so, we’ll break out,” manager Dave Roberts said.
A little evened out later in the sixth inning. After Corey Seager’s sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead, they added runs on a 70.5-mph single away from the shift by Turner, and a 71.4-mph infield single up the middle by Bellinger. Those had expected batting averages of .240 and .230, respectively.
In the Dodgers’ regular season series in Texas, all three games were played with the roof closed. They didn’t homer in the first game in that series, but hit five in the final two games that weekend.
“You know, we hit a few homers in the in the series earlier this year here, so you can hit it over the fence,” said Turner, who had one of the Dodgers’ four hits on Tuesday. “But it’s not about hitting home runs, it’s about hitting balls hard and taking good at-bats. Eventually we broke them down, we found some holes, and it actually happened to be the not-so-hard-hit balls that resulted in more runs for us.”
Links
- Sam Miller at ESPN defined the six types of MLB playoff games.
- Sure we’re already one game in, but here are is a NLDS preview at Baseball Prospectus, from Ginny Searle.
- The Padres haven’t yet ruled out Mike Clevinger for the rest of this series, Kevin Acee at the San Diego Union-Tribune writes, who notes Clevinger described his discomfort as “Like the bones are hitting on the back of my elbow.”
- MLB’s plans for fans in the stands in Arlington for the NLCS and World Series are still very much a work in progress, writes Evan Drellich at The Athletic. Unlike protocols for everyone else entering the stadium, MLB will not check temperatures of fans entering the stadium, says Bill Shaikin at the LA Times.
- An update from FanGraphs on site sustainability from David Appleman, and how you can support the site.