John Smoltz recently observed the Dodgers’ disappointing performance in the National League Championship Series. Sitting alongside play-by-play announcer Joe Davis, the former Cy Young award winner witnessed the struggles of the Dodgers’ pitching staff, which included Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow. Despite being a strong contingent, none of these talented pitchers managed to last beyond the fifth inning against a formidable Brewers team.
Smoltz pointed out flaws in the Dodgers’ pitch selection throughout the NLCS, where the two-time defending World Series champions were swept by Milwaukee. “They pitched well, but not well enough in critical moments where experienced pitchers shouldn’t make those kinds of errors,” he remarked during a segment on the Flippin’ Bats podcast. “There were definitely some questionable pitch calls—whether they came from Will Smith or the pitcher themselves—and they allowed the Brewers to take control when the Dodgers should have been asserting themselves.”
Smoltz also shared his surprise at how the series unfolded, noting, “It was the most unexpected scenario I could have imagined. I mean, going into the series, you wouldn’t think Milwaukee would win every game while trailing most of them, except the last one when they were down by four runs. They managed to out-homer the Dodgers and performed better with runners in scoring position, which, I guess, wasn’t entirely shocking given their regular season. And their bullpen dominance was something we haven’t really seen before.”
