LOS ANGELES — Bring on Dodgers-Phillies. Again. Finally.
Better one or two years late than never.
A series worth the wait. Two big-markets teams. Two of the top three betting favorites to win the World Series. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ prediction: “It’s going to be a fun series.”
A National League Divisional showcase that will feature two NL MVP favorites (the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber), four former league MVPs (Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Bryce Harper), one Cy Young Award contender (the Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez) and a two-time Cy Young Award winner (the Dodgers’ Blake Snell).
Also an NL batting champion (Phillies shortstop Trea Turner) and home run king (Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber.) Plus Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw – who brings his three Cy Young Awards to the table – in his final postseason and longtime Phillies starter Aaron Nola potentially coming out of the ’pen.
Even old friend Walker Buehler, once the Dodgers’ big-game gamer who has a 0.66 ERA in three appearances for the Phillies – a significant turnaround after the Boston Red Sox released him in late August.
Plotlines galore, a few years coming.
Remember in 2023, when we were all geared up for the clubs to meet in the NL Championship Series? The Dodgers didn’t honor the date. Got tripped up by an 84-win, No. 6 seed Arizona Diamondbacks team, went cold at the worst time and got swept in the divisional round.
Then remember last year, it was the Phillies who dropped the ball, no-shows to the NLCS after the New York Mets upset them in the divisional round.
The Dodgers wound up beating those Mets on their way to beating the New York Yankees in the World Series – in the process vanquishing postseason demons that had been haunting L.A. since its 2020 World Series championship.
That’s what the Phillies – who got as far as Game 6 of the 2022 World Series against the Houston Astros and then to Game 7 of the 2023 NLCS against the Diamondbacks – are trying to do now. They’re trying to tame MLB’s postseason, which always is, as Schwarber described it, “a wild animal.”
They’ll be up against a unicorn in Game 1, with Ohtani – who no-hit the Phillies for five innings in his first career start against them last month – set to start Saturday in Philadelphia. The Phillies’ 96-win regular season gave them a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the best-of-five NLDS.
“Very talented ball club,” Roberts said. “It’s going to be a fun environment; we match up really well with those guys – they’re gonna run a bunch of left-handers at us.”
Two weeks ago, the Dodgers – whose record against lefties this season is just 24-23 – scored 11 runs in 20 innings at Dodger Stadium against Philadelphia’s lefties Sánchez (13-5, 2.50 ERA), Ranger Suárez (12-8, 3.20 ERA) and Jesús Luzardo (15-7, 3.92 ERA).
The Dodgers – who last met Philadelphia in the postseason in 2008 and 2009, losing to the Phillies 4-1 in the NLCS both years – are going to have to score even more in these next few games the way their bullpen continues hemorrhaging runs.
Dodgers relievers combined for a 10.38 ERA in their otherwise perfunctory two-game wild-card sweep of the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday and Wednesday.
And considering the way the Phillies have been hitting – posting their best team batting average and OPS of the season in September, when they tagged the Dodgers for 15 runs in a game that all but guaranteed a top-two seed in the playoffs.
And considering Philadelphia’s bullpen has actually gotten better down the stretch! A novel approach. Since the trade deadline, Phillies relievers have led the majors in saves (20) and been charged with the fewest losses (four).
It will be a good challenge, a “fun” one, Roberts insisted, for a Dodgers team that believes it has enough to repeat as World Series champions.
“I think we can win it all,” Roberts said. “We’re equipped to do that, we have the pedigree and we have the hunger and we’re playing great baseball.”