The Los Angeles are officially heading to the NLCS.
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The Boys in Blue defeated a formidable Philadelphia Phillies team by a score of 2-1 on Thursday night in a classic thrilling overtime game. The team will now have a few days off and can resume the postseason on Monday night against either the Chicago Cubs or the Milwaukee Brewers.
While the team is certainly elated to defeat what many felt was the toughest opponent on the road to a World Series title, the ballclub is far from satisfied.
Many players spoke to the media after the win against the Phillies. Max Muncy, in particular, thinks he’s only scratched the surface of how the can move in the right direction.
“I think it’s still another gear. I don’t think we’re quite there where we can get to,” Muncy said. “And that’s not to say we are, and that’s not to say we’re not. But I still think there’s a whole other level there that we haven’t gotten to yet.”
All-Star catcher Will Smith spoke specifically about Shohei Ohtani’s struggles in the NBA and strongly believes the versatile talent can turn things around quickly.
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“I think there’s another gear. Look at Shohei,” Smith said. “He didn’t do much in this series. I hope he hits like five home runs in the next series. That’s who he is.”
Quique Hernandez echoed similar sentiments, focusing on how the will rely on their championship pedigree going forward.
“I think we can be better. We didn’t necessarily defend the way we could defend. We didn’t hit the way we could hit. Even if we beat a really, really good team, we can be even better,” Hernandez said.
“That just speaks volumes about this group. We’ve been through a lot together. We’re battle-tested and we’re going to find a way to win ballgames, even if things don’t go our way.”
The series chronicles Ohtani’s struggles in detail. He had one hit in 18 at-bats, nine strikeouts, and two walks. Part of that has to do with the elite left-handed pitching that Philadelphia utilized. However, the quality of Ohtani’s at-bats was far below what it should have been.
He seems to be second-guessing his pitches, swinging hard just hoping to make contact, regardless of the location of the first pitch. From then on, I developed an indecisive personality.
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Perhaps it would be good for Ohtani (and Andy Pages) to take a few days off, hit the reset button and face a new pitching staff, whether it’s the Cubs or the Brewers.
If these two improve, along with Smith and Muncy’s expected recovery from injury, it will be difficult to beat the in a seven-game series.
Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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