The Dodgers Have The Worst Playoff Rotation Ever

Or something like that.

8. Dodgers

Prospective rotation: (1) Randy Wolf, (2) Clayton Kershaw (if healthy), (3) Hiroki Kuroda and (4) (pick one) Chad Billingsley, Jon Garland or Vicente Padilla.

Every time we asked one of our panelists about the Dodgers' rotation, we got a variation of the same response: "I don't even know what their rotation is," said one NL scout.

Uh, that's OK. Neither do they. Wolf, to even their surprise, has morphed into their Game 1 starter, thanks to a great year (11-6, with seven blown saves behind him and more quality starts -- 23 -- than any NL pitcher except Tim Lincecum or Dan Haren). And Kuroda (5-1, 2.34 the past two months) has finally righted his ship.

But the often-dominating Kershaw is still inching back from a separated non-pitching shoulder. And the big enigma is Billingsley, who started out 9-3, 2.72, and then unraveled so mightily, he pitched himself out of the rotation -- but then might have pitched his way back in with six one-hit innings Wednesday in Washington. "He had so much trouble commanding the strike zone last time I saw him," said one NL scout, "I thought something [physical] was going on. He's too good to become that ordinary."

Garland and Padilla will be around just in case. So the Dodgers have options. But they also have way too many questions to sit near the top of this list.

That's right, the Dodger rotation is ranked eighth out of the eight current playoff teams despite the fact that the Dodger starters have the second best ERA in the big leagues.

That doesn't matter though, because Joe Scout thinks Aaron Cook is the key to the Rockies' playoff chances. Cool.

Joe Scout doesn't need to pay any attention to the stuff done on the AL and NL playoff rotations at Beyond The Box Score. Why would he? Watching the game is all that matters!

See? It's just a bunch of statistical mumbo jumbo.

Worse yet, those jokers at Baseball Prospectus threw in their two cents as well.

They just don't get it, do they?

Gah.

In all seriousness, I understand that the strength of the Dodger rotation is in depth, and that it's not necessarily top heavy. However, to exaggerate that truth into a suggestion that the Dodgers basically have no worthwhile top four is a bit much, don't you think?

I don't know about you, but i'm now beyond the point of caring about the national media giving the Dodgers respect. I know this is hilarious coming from me, especially since I do nothing but whine about how dumb the mainstream media can be, but i'm going to try and look at the positive side of things for once.

For example, by getting no respect, outside expectations are lowered. When external expectations are lowered, it often ends up being a win-win scenario for everybody involved.

If the team loses, fans will have expected it anyway. If the team wins, fans will be ecstatic that they pulled off an "upset". I'm sure Frank McCourt, Ned Colletti, and Joe Torre would love for the Dodgers to be written off as an easy match in the playoffs. That's the kind of under the radar coverage that does nothing but help a team in the end. Not only from the fan perception angle, but also for the players. After all, there is no better motivator than feeling slighted. So go ahead, peg the team with the best record in the National League as the four seed, it's better that way.

If the current talk surrounding the Dodgers sounds familiar, it should, the team was treated similarly last year, and it resulted in a first round sweep of the heavily favored Cubs, and the first Dodger playoff series win since 1988. Yet, despite similar media disrespect, this year's squad has a decided advantage over last year's squad: they're better. Simply put, they have more talent, which is why they deservedly have more wins. It's the simple truth, regardless of whether people around the country want to recognize it.

Playing the role of the underdog once again, plus having significantly more talent, will hopefully equal one step further into the playoffs. Or perhaps, with a little bit of luck, two.