NL wild-card game: Dodgers rallying for one-game playoff without Muncy, Kershaw

By Pedro Moura
FOX Sports MLB Writer

The last time the Dodgers won 106 games, their efforts earned them a first-round matchup with a team that snuck into the playoffs because of a late run … and a prompt exit in the 2019 NLDS.

This season the Dodgers won 106 games, and their efforts have earned them a play-in matchup with a team that snuck into the playoffs because of a late run … and, well, we’ll see what happens Wednesday against the Cardinals in the NL wild-card game.

A historically skilled roster faces a one-game test to qualify for the rest of the postseason, and that’s not even the scary part. The scary part is that the Dodgers must do it without two key players: first baseman Max Muncy and left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who both sustained significant injuries over the season’s final weekend.

The Dodgers weathered injuries all season, especially early in the year. Their depth typically insulates them against the worst of it. But Muncy’s absence this month might hurt them more than almost any other player’s.

"Obviously," Justin Turner said Tuesday, "he’s the cornerstone of our offense."

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All season, Muncy was a dependable power and on-base threat. And for once, the Dodgers lack a ready-made replacement for him. Albert Pujols can fill in against left-handed pitching, but against right-handers such as wild-card starter Adam Wainwright, it gets complicated. Will it be Cody Bellinger, he of the .542 OPS? Will it be Matt Beaty, the on-base threat but defensive drop-off? Will it be Pujols, who has been awful against righties?

No one projects to be as valuable as Muncy.

"The at-bat quality we're certainly going to miss, but we still have a pretty dynamic lineup," Turner said. "I think the best way to look at it is an opportunity for someone else to step up and take it."

Muncy watched the Dodgers’ Tuesday workout with a brace protecting his injured left elbow. Detailing the extent of his injury and the uncertainty surrounding his diagnosis, he did not speak like someone who expects to be back on the field soon. He did, however, express confidence that the team will hold the line in his absence.

"It’s not great," he said. "But we have a special group. We have a lot of depth. We have a lot of talent. This team, they’re not gonna let anything deter them. They’re gonna go out there and fight to the death. And, basically, me and Kersh are gonna be there cheering as loud as anybody."

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Kershaw’s absence probably won’t hurt as much Wednesday. Max Scherzer would be starting the game anyway. But Kershaw would surely have been available in relief. And if the Dodgers advance, they will suffer without Kershaw going forward. Replacement Tony Gonsolin can be a competent starter. The damage Kershaw's injury inflicts on the team is, rather, a loss of their treasured flexibility. Julio Urías won’t be able to pitch out of the bullpen as often as he did during his breakout 2020.

All of this, yet the Dodgers retain the confidence that they will emerge victorious Wednesday. This is a team that has dominated the competition for three years running, with limited exceptions: mostly the aforementioned 2019 NLDS and scuffles this spring, while a number of their players were sidelined. But since Opening Day 2019, they have won 66.4% of their regular-season games and 62.5% of their postseason games. No roster is more accustomed to winning.

"It's a good, wall-balanced ballclub, for sure," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. "There's a reason why they are the defending World Series champion and a perennial contender."

And the reason they are here is the San Francisco Giants, suddenly contenders again in 2021. For the Dodgers, there might prove to be one upside to the persistent threat the Giants posed this year: They never stepped back and calmly waited for the postseason to arrive. They pushed and pushed in an effort to avoid the wild-card game.

Could that agitation have them in a sharper position come the 5:10 p.m. PT first pitch at Dodger Stadium? They say it will.

"We’ve had years in the past where we've clinched the division pretty early in the season and then gone through some lulls," Turner said. "There was some concern about the way we were getting ready going into the playoffs. Obviously, that wasn't the case this year.

"It was meaningful games all the way down to the wire, and the way we responded, the way we played, I certainly think that should bode well going into this playoff game."

Pedro Moura is the national baseball writer for FOX Sports. He most recently covered the Dodgers for three seasons for The Athletic. Previously, he spent five years covering the Angels and Dodgers for the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. More previously, he covered his alma mater, USC, for ESPNLosAngeles.com. The son of Brazilian immigrants, he grew up in the Southern California suburbs. Follow him on Twitter @pedromoura.