The Dodgers and Royals are playing postseason baseball about 35 miles away from each other this weekend, but their expectations are worlds apart.
Don Mattingly has been a part of two of the most successful franchises in baseball history, but he still is trying to secure his first World Series ring. The Dodgers manager and former Yankees first baseman has a chance to end that dubious streak when Los Angeles opens the postseason against the Cardinals on Friday night.
“When your payroll passes $200 million and you look down and see there are large dollars at almost every single position, it’s almost hard not to think that there’s a lot of pressure,” said MLB Network analyst and two-time World Series champion Mike Lowell.
“When a team spends as much as they did — Carl Crawford is making $20 million as a fourth outfielder — that basically tells you money is not an issue. I am not saying he’d get fired, because I think he’s done a great job, but the pressure is there.”
The NLDS against the Cardinals gives the Dodgers a chance to avenge last season’s six-game NLCS defeat. That Game 6, which the Cardinals won 9-0, was also the last time Clayton Kershaw appeared human. The slam-dunk Cy Young favorite will go head-to-head against Adam Wainwright in the most anticipated of the four division series.
“He was probably misused in the postseason. … For Kershaw, this is the year he’s going to start realizing what he needs to do,” said TBS analyst and former Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez, referring to Kershaw being used on short rest.
“He’s a more mature pitcher, and he knows how to handle the situation better. Last year, he was full of energy and hype. He and [Yasiel] Puig didn’t know how to deal with it effectively. I wouldn’t label him as not having success in the postseason. I don’t think so. I think he’s mature this time.”
On the other end of the pressure spectrum sits the Royals, a team that was being embraced by the masses even before their improbable wild-card rally against the A’s sent them to face the Angels in the ALDS, which started Thursday night.
“One thing that makes Kansas City so dangerous is they have a bunch of young players that are riding a high right now,” TBS analyst Gary Sheffield said.
“Their confidence level is going to go sky high. They’re not thinking about the pressure of the playoffs. They’re just thinking about being relevant.”
The American League appears to be wide open. The Royals, Angels and Orioles lack elite starting pitching, while the Tigers have been unable to take full advantage of their three Cy Young Award winners.
“I can relate to the Royals. In 2003, with the Marlins, I think we were the Pirates and Royals. In the first round no one gave us any chance against San Francisco,” Lowell said of the upstart Marlins team that upset the Giants, Cubs and Yankees 11 years ago.
“It was us against the world. You just don’t want it to be a nice story, we wanted to try and make this special.”