Saturday, October 25, 2025

Newsletter Excerpt, October 25, 2025 -- "Postseason 2025: The Unexpected"

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider.

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With all that, there was some predictability. Once the Dodgers had to turn to their middle relief, all hell broke loose. Banda and Emmet Sheehan combined to allow five hits and six runs in an inning of work. Dodger relievers, and this does include starters like Sheehan, now have a 6.16 ERA in 30 2/3 postseason innings, with a 23/20 K/BB. It’s a continuation of the problems the team had in September, when their bullpen’s 4.90 ERA was sixth-highest in the sport. Great starting pitching and Roki Sasaki has covered over it for most of October, but the problem is still there.