Grantland's weekly baseball team "power ranking" equivalent, "The 30", focuses on strikeouts this week. And in the top tier, the Dodgers (the overall #2 team to the Cardinals) receive in-depth review from Jonah Keri, who analyzes the bullpen's improved strikeout rate:
Bullpen BulletsThe Dodgers turn to a high-strikeout bullpen in the hopes of avoiding another October disappointment.
3. Kansas City Royals (34-25, plus-45, LW: 4)
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (37-26, plus-60, LW: 2)
1. St. Louis Cardinals (41-21, plus-68, LW: 1)As I wrote last week, it’s not fair to blame all of the 2014 Dodgers’ playoff failures on Don Mattingly — or Clayton Kershaw, for that matter.