"The Los Angeles Dodgers' pitching rotation has been the most dominant force of this year's MLB playoffs, with L.A.'s four aces combining for a microscopic 1.40 ERA and 81 strikeouts over 10 postseason starts. With seemingly every performance from Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani comes a new wave of stats that convey the rarity of their achievements racing around social media. As L.A.'s four starters prepare to face the the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series, we're here to get you ready for their Fall Classic appearances with a guide to what each does best and the pitch mix that makes the quartet so dominant."
"What makes him so good: Snell's excellence is easy to understand: He has been a frontline starter for almost a decade, signed a $182 million deal last year and is a lefty who throws in the mid-90s. He already has two Cy Young awards and a 3.15 ERA over his 10-year big league career. But there has been a subtle change in his approach during his first year with the Dodgers that has powered his playoff dominance. How he uses his pitches: Snell had been a power fastball/breaking ball pitcher for basically his whole career -- but this season, his changeup became his second-most-used pitch and his clear best by run value (i.e. good things happened when he threw it this year, much more so than his other pitches). Run value can be somewhat deceptive -- what if your dominating fastball gets hitters on their heels, but the changeup gets the strikeout and all of the statistical credit for the strikeout? Snell seems to believe in what the numbers are showing, too."
Los Angeles's four starters—Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani—have combined for a 1.40 ERA and 81 strikeouts across 10 postseason starts. Each dominant outing has produced rare statistical moments that have circulated widely on social media. The quartet will face the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series. Blake Snell has posted a 0.86 ERA and 12.0 K/9 in 21 October innings. Snell is a left-hander who throws in the mid-90s, owns two Cy Young awards and a 3.15 career ERA across ten seasons. Snell increased his changeup usage to 23.6 percent this season.
Read at ESPN.com
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