Dodgers’ postseason needs Adrian Gonzalez to get going in clutch

“Small sample size” has become something of a baseball catchphrase as the sabermetric types gained increasing influence. Like it’s a preface before using a stat they really know isn’t all that reliable.

But the postseason is compiled of little more than small sample sizes, making their use actually necessary.

Which brings us to Adrian Gonzalez.

More than the Dodgers would probably like to admit, as Gonzalez goes, so goes the Los Angeles offense. And in the small sample size of the last two postseasons, it has not been going well.

Gonzalez bats cleanup for a reason. For the third consecutive season, he led the Dodgers in home runs and runs batted in. He is a constant, steady, controlled and productive presence in the middle of their lineup.

Only last postseason was a struggle for Gonzalez. He had just three hits in 16 at-bats against the Cardinals. Then twice Friday night against the Mets’ Jacob deGrom, he struck out with runners on base.

Yes, he later drove in the team’s only run against reliever Tyler Clippard, but the big hit in the big situation continued to evade him, and the team.

Gonzalez was bothered by a pinched nerve in his back in September, but said it was not an issue Friday, claiming it felt “great.”

“I think my swings were a little too big in those crucial situations,” he said. “Maybe not too big, but just need to be a little shorter so I can put the ball in play. I need to do a better job of that.”

The Dodgers were one for eight with runners in scoring position Friday, something they’ve struggled with throughout the regular season. The Dodgers were 22^nd in the majors last season in batting average with RISP.

“I have no real true answer for you why we don’t hit that well with men in scoring position, but sometimes it’s luck,” said Manager Don Mattingly.

The Dodgers were 29^th in opportunities with runners in scoring position, and this is where you are reminded there are only 30 teams.

“That is a bigger issue for me than the runners in scoring position,” Mattingly said. “That means we’re not moving runners and things like that.

“But the stuff we’re talking about is individual parts of a season. At this point we’re talking about trying to win a game. So, I mean, throw stats out, cut them up and throw them out there on the table right now. I don’t know how much good it does to kind of try to evaluate your club and your chances of winning a game today.”

Small sample size and all. Any evaluation of the Dodgers, however, has them in better position if Gonzalez is proving productive with runners on.