Dodgers face an offseason reckoning after stunning NLCS sweep
The home run shredded the October sky like a bolt of lightning.Shohei Ohtani turned toward the Dodgers’ bench.He threw his bat.He screamed.
He punched the air.He screamed some more.With one furious swing, Ohtani unleashed months of pent-up frustration. His streak of 115 plate appearances without a home run was over.But this wasn’t a series-altering three-run home run.This was a last stand.The four-run lead the Dodgers built up in that stadium-rocking second inning didn’t endure.
The Milwaukee Brewers saw that it wouldn’t.As they did throughout this National League Championship Series, the Brewers pressed and pressed and pressed.Little by little, the Dodgers gave in.By the sixth inning, the Dodgers were behind.
Three innings later, they were officially eliminated from the playoffs when Kiké Hernández flied out to left field against Aaron Ashby for the final out of a 6-4 defeat at Dodger Stadium.The Dodgers didn’t just lose.They were swept in four games by the same team they swept at this stage of the postseason last year.Now, comes the hard part.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.The Dodgers have the oldest team in the major leagues.First baseman Freddie Freeman and infielder Miguel Rojas are 37.
Third baseman Max Muncy is 36 and utilityman Kiké Hernández is 35.Shortstop Mookie Betts and outfielder Teoscar Hernández are 34.The problem is magnified by their prime-aged players, who are breaking down as if they are senior citizens.Ohtani, 32, was obviously debilitated in the postseason, which explains why a form...