DODGER STADIUM (Los Angeles) \u2013 Before they took the field on Opening Day, Dodgers players had a gift waiting in their lockers, courtesy of their best player.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Next to a brand-new Seiko watch was a note.<\/p>\n
“From Shohei Ohtani. Let\u2019s three-peat.”<\/p>\n
The goal has existed on the periphery all season, usually unspoken yet omnipresent as the Dodgers attempt to accomplish what no team has done since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. No National League team has ever won three consecutive World Series championships.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers understand the opportunity ahead, even if it\u2019s not something their manager chooses to bring up often. When they clinched the division for a fifth straight year on Sept. 17, manager Dave Roberts instead focused on his team\u2019s toughness and hunger and the sacrifices it would take, including time away from family, to make sure this October would be another to remember.<\/p>\n
“You never know who is going to be the guy, who that moment is going to fall to,” Roberts told his team. “Many people have lived it in this clubhouse. My ask is, be ready to be that guy.”<\/p>\n
He did not mention the phrase “three-peat.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ohtani’s veteran team knows what\u2019s at stake, especially as the club\u2019s aging core gets a year older and labor strife invites uncertainty about the future. What the Dodgers have built, and the chance in front of them, is not guaranteed forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re all aware we have a chance to do something that\u2019s never been done in the National League and what it would mean for this franchise, this fanbase,” Roberts said. “But it just makes life more difficult when you don\u2019t focus on the job, that\u2019s winning this next series. I think our guys are pretty focused on that.”<\/p>\n
They\u2019re also equipped for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2024, the Dodgers\u2019 talented bullpen arms made up for a patchwork rotation on their triumphant postseason run. Last year, their surplus of starters gave them extra relief options to manage an unstable bullpen. In Game 7 of the World Series, all six pitchers who entered the game for the Dodgers began the year as starters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year, the Dodgers anticipate a more reliable mix of arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything is set up smoothly for them to make history. They are the least-flawed group in the playoff field \u2014\u00a0Do the Brewers have enough power to win? Do the Braves or Padres have enough reliable starting pitching? Will any American League team have a chance against the National League winner?\u00a0\u2014 with a rotation that could go down as one of the best October units ever assembled.<\/p>\n
Tarik Skubal, the reigning American League back-to-back Cy Young Award winner, will take the mound for Game 1 against the Braves in the National League Division Series. Roberts delivered the news to Skubal right after their star deadline acquisition exited his final start of the season in San Francisco, where he needed just 75 pitches to strike out 10 batters in seven innings.<\/p>\n
“I thought in the moment I was going to be able to finish the game,” Skubal recalled. “And he\u2019s like, ‘Get ready for Game 1.\u2019 That\u2019s how I was told, and obviously excited and fired up and ready to go.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Dodgers have another two-time Cy Young Award winner, Blake Snell, and the reigning World Series MVP, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, ready to follow in some order for the ensuing games. Tyler Glasnow, who struck out 21 batters over his final two starts of the season, would be the top arm on some playoff teams. He is the Dodgers\u2019 fourth starter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In my opinion,” Freeman said, “we\u2019ve got four No. 1s rolling out there.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Contrast that with their National League Division Series foes. While Tyler Mahle has stepped up in a significant way to give Atlanta more pitching depth, Chris Sale is the lone ace of the group. The Braves used Sale twice in their wild-card series, once to start Game 1 and again two days later to secure the final five outs of the series \u2014 a decision that now yields significant consequences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Braves will likely use a bullpen game against Skubal on Saturday in Los Angeles, and Sale\u2019s status for Sunday\u2019s Game 2 is up in the air.<\/p>\n
The Braves should have the bullpen advantage, but there are reasons for October optimism \u2014 certainly more than a year ago \u2014 once the Dodgers\u2019 full stable of arms gets narrowed down to those in Roberts\u2019 trust tree. In August and September, Dodgers relievers combined for a 3.20 ERA, which ranked fourth in MLB.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In September, Alex Vesia was 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA while Evan Phillips had a 2.16 ERA with 12 strikeouts and one walk in nine appearances. Most notably, after a miserable season for Edwin D\u00edaz, the Dodgers\u2019 $69 million offseason signing started to resemble the player they expected to get. After returning from the injured list, D\u00edaz made five scoreless appearances in which he struck out nine batters and allowed just two baserunners to finish the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lefty Tanner Scott has enjoyed a bounce-back season in the second year of a four-year, $72 million deal and is the likeliest option to pitch the ninth to begin the postseason, though that role is not set in stone. If D\u00edaz continues to look more like the player the Dodgers expected, he gives the club another closing option. They also have starter Roki Sasaki ready to make his annual postseason pilgrimage to the Dodgers\u2019 bullpen, only now with a much more consistent season under his belt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roberts said he feels comfortable with any of Scott, Phillips, D\u00edaz or Sasaki closing games.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Dodgers\u2019 struggling hitters have finally caught fire. Entering September, Mookie Betts, Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez were the only hitters on the team who had received at least 300 plate appearances and produced below league-average results. Then, in the season\u2019s final month, Betts had a 1.112 OPS, Hern\u00e1ndez hit .341<\/a> and Tucker homered six times.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition, catcher Will Smith returned from a nearly three-month hiatus with a neck issue to slash .290\/.400\/.548 with four home runs over his last 21 games. All-Star center fielder Andy Pages, meanwhile, returned from a fractured hand for the final six games of the regular season and proceeded to go 6-for-18 with two home runs.<\/p>\n That doesn’t mean that the Dodgers enter October are without any concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n Snell left his start early on Sept. 16 with a groin issue, though he returned to deliver four innings of work on Sept. 26. A sore right knee sapped much of Freddie Freeman\u2019s power in the second half. Meanwhile, the team\u2019s biggest October question mark centers on the player who delivered that Opening Day gift.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lingering left knee and right biceps issues impacted Ohtani\u2019s production in the season\u2019s second half and forced him to the injured list in September. Neither Freeman nor Ohtani are expected to be 100% on this postseason run.<\/p>\n