by Megan Garcia
Even in mid-September, there was a sense that the Dodgers and Phillies would meet in the postseason.
Well, it’s been 17 days since they last saw each other. And they’ll do so again in the National League Division Series beginning on Saturday.
The Dodgers watched the Phillies celebrate at Dodger Stadium as they secured their second consecutive NL East division title. The Dodgers, on the other hand, were losing ground in their first-place standing in the NL West.
The Dodgers ended up winning the division with three games left in the regular season and swept the Reds in the Wild Card Series.
But now two of baseball’s strongest lineups will go head-to-head in the best-of-five series. The winner will advance to the National League Championship Series to face either the Cubs or Brewers. The NLCS will begin on Oct. 13.
It’s been 16 years since the Dodgers and Phillies last played against each other in the postseason. Philadelphia advanced to the World Series after beating the Dodgers in five games in the NLCS.
Season Series
The Dodgers went 2–4 against the Phillies in the regular season, with five games decided by three runs or fewer. The Dodgers outscored the Phillies 28–27.
These two teams last faced each other in mid-September at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers picked up the win on Sept. 17 to fend off a sweep by the Phillies. Blake Snell pitched seven scoreless innings in the win.
The Dodgers’ .240/.292/.485/.777 slash line through the six games was higher than the Phillies, who slashed .170/.293/.319/.612 against them. The Dodgers also outslugged the Phillies with 13 home runs compared to their seven.
The Phillies were also without NL batting champion Trea Turner and third baseman Alec Bohm in the September series at Dodger Stadium. Both are back in the NLDS.
Dodger starters posted a 2.59 ERA and held hitters to a .134 batting average through 24 1/3 innings pitched.
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The Phillies ended the season with one of the best offenses in baseball. Their .258 team batting average was tied for first in the National League.
The Phillies went 17–8 in September. They led the NL with 128 runs and the Majors with 229 hits, a .268 batting average and an .809 OPS.
The Dodgers ranked fourth in the Majors in September with a .775 OPS. The Dodgers were second in the Majors with 42 home runs and tied for fourth with 125 runs.
The Phillies’ pitching staff’s 3.70 ERA ranked seventh in the Majors in September. The starters’ 3.53 ERA ranked second in the Majors.
The Dodgers enter the NLDS after sweeping the Reds in the NL Wild Card Series. They outscored them 18–9 in two games. Teoscar Hernández, Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts combined for 13 RBI.
Blake Snell (Game 1) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Game 2) started for the Dodgers and totaled 13 2/3 innings pitched and two earned runs.
Strength vs. Strength
The Dodgers and Phillies have the top two NL home-run leaders on their respective rosters — Ohtani (55 regular season homers) and Kyle Schwarber (56) for the Phillies. But for the Dodgers, their home run leader can pitch.
Ohtani will be the Game 1 starter in Philadelphia. It’ll be his first postseason start in his career. He finished the season with a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts. He struck out 62 batters and walked nine in 47 innings.
He tossed five perfect innings against the Phillies on Sept. 16. Although Ohtani still had limits on the mound that start, that won’t be the case on Saturday.
“I think even right before that start he said he was out of the rehab mode,” said manager Dave Roberts. “And obviously you’re playing a very talented team in the Phillies at that point in time. You saw a really good Shohei that night.”
Schwarber led the National League with 56 homers and 132 RBI. He slashed .240/.365/.563/.928 during the season.
Dodger starting pitching is rolling right now. Including the postseason, the starting rotation has a 1.995 ERA since Sept. 1.
Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez had a 1.59 ERA over his final five starts of the season. Ranger Suarez had a rough landing with a 7.53 ERA over his final three starts.
Dodgers’ Top 3 hitters vs. Phillies in ’25:
– Andy Pages: .368 (7-for-19), 2 doubles, 1 home run, 1 RBI
– Teoscar Hernández: .273 (6-for-22), 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 5 RBI
– Mookie Betts: .261 (6-for-23), 1 home run, 4 RBI
Phillies Top 3 hitters vs. Dodgers in ‘25:
– Nick Castellanos: .267 (4-for-15), 1 double, 1 home run, 4 RBI
– Bryson Stott: .263 (5-for-19), 3 RBI
– Bryce Harper: .263 (5-for-19), 2 doubles, 1 home run, 4 RBI
2025 NLDS: Dodgers and Phillies are a matchup of power was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.