But why did the starter get injured during the series? It could be that it was going to happen no matter what, but it could have also been a result of pitching on short rest and/or in relief. I'm not going to absolve the Dodgers of all blame and just chalk everything up to bad luck. We'll never know for sure but I feel like it's unlikely that Scherzer throwing 13 pitches on two days rest destroyed his arm. And even if Scherzer goes down anyway, if Kershaw doesn't get hurt, they're probably not in this situation. They wouldn't have had to start Buehler on short rest in Game 4 of the NLDS and (assuming they win that game), they don't have to do a bullpen game in Game 5 making it less likely they need Scherzer out of the pen in Game 5. Then you've got a rested Scherzer on normal rest in Game 1 of the NLCS, your Game 4 NLDS starter on normal rest in Game 2, etc. So even if you ignore May and Bauer, Kershaw getting hurt right before the playoffs played a huge role in this.