Make California Post a Preferred Source Eleven wins in October.
For the Dodgers, that’s all that stands between them and baseball immortality.
Entering this year’s postseason, the club has already cemented a modern-day dynasty. It has already joined the ranks of back-to-back World Series champions.
Now, even more rarefied air awaits, as they try to become the first-ever National League team, and only the third MLB franchise overall, to win three consecutive championships.
The Dodgers won’t know their exact road to a three-peat for a few more days, as they await the winner of this week’s Braves-Phillies best-of-three wild card series in the NLDS, which will begin next Saturday.
In the meantime, though, the California Post analyzed each of their potential opponents in each round of the upcoming playoffs –– picking the best (and worst) matchups they might face on their quest to more October glory.
There were times this summer that the Phillies seemed like the biggest potential threat in the NL. However, they moonwalked into the postseason, having to win their final game of the season on Sunday to avoid what would have been an historic September collapse. And now, they are in scramble mode entering this week’s wild-card series in Atlanta.
The Phillies will turn to the recently injured Jesús Luzardo to open Game 1. In Game 2, they will hand the ball to staff ace Cristopher Sánchez –– which will likely limit him to just one outing in the NLDS if they advance. It’s also possible that co-ace Zack Wheeler, who pitched in Sunday’s playoff clincher, will be needed out of the bullpen in the wild-card series, which could hamper his availability for the NLDS.
They do, of course, have big names at the top of their lineup in Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Trea Turner. But that trio went just 10-for-48 against the Dodgers in last year’s NLDS. And beyond them, the Phillies’ lineup thins out quickly, especially with trade deadline acquisition Luis Arraez battling an ankle injury sustained during the final week of the regular season.
Regular-season records don’t mean much once the slate gets wiped clean in the playoffs. Still, the two times the Dodgers met this Braves this year, Atlanta got the better of them –– going 5-1 overall, including in a three-game sweep at Truist Park last month.
In a potential NLDS rematch, the Dodgers could face Braves ace Chris Sale twice; a daunting prospect after he pitched a complete-game shutout against them during that August sweep.
The Braves also boast a better bullpen than the Phillies (who ranked last in reliever ERA during September) and a more balanced lineup (albeit, one that cooled off in the second half of the season by ranking just 13th in scoring and 16th in OPS after the start of July).
No disrespect to the Brewers, who were the winningest team in the majors for a second-straight season with a franchise-best 103-59 record. But remember what happened last October, when they scored just four runs in four games while getting swept by the Dodgers in the NLCS.
The big difference this year, of course, is Jacob Misiorowski, the presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner who blossomed in his second MLB season with his 105 mph fastball.
However, the Brewers have just one other starter (rookie Logan Henderson) with a sub-3.80 ERA. Their talented bullpen will be less of an advantage in a longer seven-game series. And, most importantly, there are still plenty of questions about how their small-ball offense (which had the second-fewest home runs in the majors this season) will translate against October pitching.
That was their undoing against the Dodgers last year. And it would represent a favorable matchup for the two-time defending champions once again this fall.
No team was hotter down the stretch than the Padres, who surged into the postseason with a 35-17 record in August and September. No club will be more motivated to see the Dodgers in October, either, in what would be the fourth playoff series between the two Southern California rivals since 2020.
The Padres’ offense isn’t quite as potent as the Cubs’ (the third potential opponent the Dodgers could draw in the NLCS) but has nonetheless been revived by late-season turnarounds from Jackson Merril, Xander Bogaerts and Fernando Tatis Jr. most of all (his .978 OPS in August and September was sixth-best in the majors).
San Diego’s rotation is also a question mark, but can be compensated for by an uber-deep bullpen led by superstar closer Mason Miller.
The Dodgers would still be favored in this matchup. But, especially after dropping two of three games in San Diego’s visit to Dodger Stadium last week, the Padres might be the last team they want to face.
The Astros are not only the worst MLB playoff team ever, squeaking in as champions of a dismal AL West division with an 81-81 record (the first team in league history to qualify for the playoffs without an above-.500 mark).
But, they would also present the most narratively enticing potential World Series opponent for the Dodgers –– who, almost a decade later, still bear the scars of their 2017 Fall Classic defeat to Houston’s infamous sign-stealing, trash-can-banging title squad.
The Astros’ pitching staff has been a mess all season. Their aging veteran offense has been extremely dependent upon AL MVP frontrunner Yordan Alvarez.
And while they do have plenty of October experience, nothing would be a better capstone to this Dodgers dynasty than getting revenge on the team that –– as they see it –– cheated them out of their first opportunity to win a championship.
In a relatively weak American League, the Yankees still boast the most talented roster.
*The one big caveat: Aaron Judge’s uncertain health status.
The superstar slugger is questionable for this week’s best-of-three wild card round against the Red Sox. He has hardly played since the first couple months of the season because of a stress fracture in his ribs and a calf injury he sustained in a short-lived return to action earlier this month.
If Judge is healthy, however, no AL contender has as many weapons as the Yankees.
Their rotation is stacked, with veterans Gerrit Cole and Max Fried lined up behind presumptive Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler. Their offense is dangerous, ranking second in the majors in home runs (41 of which came from breakout star Ben Rice). And a potential World Series meeting with the Dodgers would provide them with their own shot at redemption, looking to avenge the Dodgers’ dramatic triumph in the 2024 Fall Classic.
